Reply to Big Law - HR meeting out of the blue

Forum Index » Jobs and Careers

Reply to "Big Law - HR meeting out of the blue "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In my experience "rockstar" doesn't quite mean that.  It's not the top performer, smartest, top performer, or most personable. It's who the partner decided to invest in.  Often due to connections, etc.  I didn't appreciate this when I started out. It sounds like it's still the same.[/quote]

This is the absolute truth.  Rockstars are chosen based on who the partners like the most or need the most because the associate has connections, or any other "soft" factor that gives them an edge past the merely super smart and hardworking regular associates.

If you're not one of the chosen few, you're going to hit the "up or out" ceiling and they will counsel you out just like they've done with hundreds of associates before you.[/quote]

That’s not true at all, there are massive differences in talent and performance among associates, which are usually immediately apparent.  This whole “star associates are just the favorites” thing is, in general, cope by lower performers and championed by people on the HR side who don’t want to be held accountable for recruiting outcomes.  [/quote]

This sounds like it was written by a partner. I worked closely with some rockstars (and I was correct that they were the chosen ones because they eventually made partner), and their skills were just not very good. Terrible writing that needed heavy editing, terrible research that would miss obvious lines of argument, not good at delegating work, and even an inability to meet internal deadlines -- but they had great connections with the rainmaker for whatever reason and just seemed to get along well socially with the rainmaker.

I get it; this is the way the world works. And I don't think a partner would ever want to admit that their preferences are not based on merit (and maybe they've fooled themselves into thinking that they would never pick someone with worse skills to be the rockstar over someone with better skills). It happens in every work setting. Not everything is based on merit. And if anyone goes through their professional life convincing themselves that doing excellent work alone is enough to merit promotions and raises, then they likely will not have a very successful career.[/quote]

…answers like these are spot and provide an important insight for eager junior associates. You have to figure out whether you can find your “person” at the firm. Someone like partner to help you develop and provide opportunities or realize you may need to move if you want to make partner.  One thing worth adding is it seems like a high percentage of those who progressed straight through from first year associate to partnership (with no government or private sector detours) also possess this superhuman willingness to grind out billable hours at the expense of their personal life…cancelling  dinners or dates, leaving early from events, frequent weekend work, rescheduling planned trips, working through vacations, and generally exhibiting an attitude that the firm is their top priority.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics