No, you're not interpreting this correctly. I'm trying to find candidates that are good and have a sincere interest in making a move.
Having done both. Spent 2 years at Big 4 doing M&A tax before switching to a law firm. They both have pros and cons but I personally enjoy the law firm more day to day.
Have you considered national tax? Also, I assume you were a senior or maybe a manager in M&A and essentially a glorified assistant. It gets better.
I was in national tax in my time at the Big 4, albeit in WNT's little brother. I tried to transfer into WNT and move to DC but was continually told "next year" by my main partner. That's when I jumped ship to a law firm because I am well aware of the Big 4 smoke and mirrors game. Since then, I've had big 4 recruiters reach out (within and without WNT) and I have toyed with the idea of going back--even going so far as to calendar interviews in DC--but at the end of the day I enjoy the variety of a law firm and cancelled those interviews. The mix of accounting and hyper-specialization that they have all pitched simply does not appeal to me. All 4 firms have made offers since I finished my LLM, and they are all pretty much the same, so there's no need to distinguish based on firm, either. Plus I hate the fire drills of M&A and largely got out M&A entirely (but occasionally get dragged back in).
I hear you on the hyper specialization. That is a legit gripe. I've considered switching groups, but I think I may be a little late in my career for that. I've been in WNT for a decade now. I never did big law, but have law school friends that do big law tax as well as many colleagues that escaped big law to WNT. Based on what I know and have heard, I think it breaks down to WNT has better hours (work-life balance), better work (more sophisticated clients, tax-first work and not back filling corporate deals), but lower pay (we hire at big law scale, but we generally see lower raises/bonuses). Also, we are literally prohibited from practicing law so we can't draft agreements. It's pretty great.
I thought I would hate drafting agreements when I finished school, but once I began practicing at a law firm it's something I actually discovered really enjoying. It adds a whole other element to the tax planning process, and that's actually what I probably enjoy most about the true practice of law. It's one thing to understand the tax, and then its another thing to implement that tax. Granted, I also really enjoy tax, and I do get pulled into corporate work with zero regard to tax a good bit of the time. That's why I initially stated that there are pros and cons to both law firm and Big 4. The pure tax specialization at Big 4 is nice, but the variety at a law firm is also nice. I should add that I declined a "big law" offer (for my market) to purposefully go to a smaller, more boutique firm due to a variety of personal and professional reasons. So my practice currently is not parallel to that of big law or Big 4. That said, I know a WNT practice group would value the skills I've learned at a law firm, so that option is fortunately always there, as you have alluded to. Nothing is ever off the table, which is why I answered the recruiter's phone call that initially prompted my gripe.
While I was writing that, I got another generic email blast from a recruiter. They are thirsty for mid-level tax associates, that's for sure.
I worked on an M&A deal with someone who was basically on a rotation to my group from a M&E group and I was shocked that a M&E group was even a thing tbh
Been working as an in-house attorney for 4 years now and had a recruiter reach out to me earlier this week to see if I would be interested in a legal assistant role he could offer, in Tampa (a place I have visited only once in my life about 12 years ago). I laughed and said to remove me from his list of contacts.
Would be a 1000% valid reason and acceptable response for why you're looking for an opportunity. I've hired someone who said that, he basically said "There is no room for advancement, growth is stagnant and most are ok with the status quo". While I see through that as interview jargon, I still appreciate it and see it as valid.
I'm in finance and specialize in PE-backed companies. I can confirm they will fucking fire you if it moves EBITDA 0.1% and that's generous. They will also pay the absolutle minimum possible severance. People should not show more loyalty to their company than they get in return
That's why I'm always weary of pe-back opportunities. There's the possibility of getting paiiiiiiid. And the probability of getting overworked and leaving sooner than anticipated.
I'm in that exact boat. I have an interview to explore another opportunity next week and our CEO text me this morning saying I'm getting a bigger equity package next week. I wonder if he knows
Looking at a job that does BYOD. There is a stipend, but then you own it after a year but are also on the hook for any upgrades/breaks/etc. I know it is a bit newer, but places are starting to use it. I have laptops at home, but I don't think I want to mingle the stuff I do at home w/ a work laptop. Anyone work places that have this?
Mine does this with phones but I have zero desire to put the security bullshit on my personal phone. No stipend either
As an information security professional, BYOD gives me anxiety -- and that's just talking about phones. BYO laptop? Pffffft no chance.
I'm slightly concerned about it. Like so if I'm with the company for 10 years I have to buy a new laptop every 3 or so?
Work for a company that isn't fucking poor. Any logical company would say fuck no to those arrangements.
Have an interview for the general manager position at a local mini-golf and fun center. I've never done like 90% of the duties listed on the job description, and I can't even find where I applied for it. ?
I wouldn't, but it says the pay range is $40-50K, which is more than I am making now and is a pretty salary around here for jobs outside of engineering and the medical industry. Plus I basically hated all but like 2 or 3 of the classes I took for my MBA so that's not exactly proving to be a particularly useful degree for me. And my undergrad was in sport management, and I have no interest in working in sports anymore, at least not at this point in my life.
Wow. Forgot about the mba? What do you want to do for a career? This fun park GM gig would not help you get there. At all. You have a master's. $50k is waaaaaay too low of a salary from you.
Have no fucking clue. About to turn 35, at this point I kinda just want something that pays decently with decent benefits that doesn't require me to work 50-60+ hours a week on the regular, so basically the complete opposite of what I used to do.
How do you not know what you want to do? What are your hobbies? Take a career assessment. You gotta have some kind of idea, right?
Because I don't? Aside from my current dead-end job that I just do to make ends meet, everything I had done since I headed off to college was designed to get me working and advancing in a sports career. I've literally never had another job out of sports other than summer jobs and the current job.
My hobbies are watching TV, TMBing, graphic designing, occasionally reading books/comic books/longform articles, catching up on the news, collecting Funko Pops, and visiting museums and historical sites. I guess throw in playing sudoku and solitaire and trying to solve riddles.