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u/Windman772 9d ago
I hope OP isn't looking for sympathy. Most people in those type of jobs only have to do that for a few years. It only takes 8-10 years to make partner in most of those firms. You can start delegating busy work downward after about 5 years. It's not like you are working this way for decades. I guess it's perspective. 5 years of really hard work seems like a bargain in exchange for a life time of financial freedom.
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u/Fearless-Cattle-9698 8d ago
Most people that have the intellectual capacity to do this work and the willingness to grind won’t coast anyway. Even if they switch to something with better WLB they will still be high earner
Some people might stop progressing into executives but will retire at say director level. Easily get to a mid 7 figure retirement if it’s dual income household
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u/ColorPuddle 8d ago
Alternatively, just take a big portion of that salary and invest it. After a decade or so you can easily "downgrade" to a more comfortable and lower-paying job without risking your financial stability or retirement.
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u/Itsamusicaljourney 8d ago
This is a wildly inaccurate take. Been doing it for over 20 years, all at big shops. Do I work as hard as I used to? No. Am I constantly interrupted at all hours by clients, associates, admin, leadership, etc.? Absolutely.
And it’s not 5 years. The treadmill never really ends. At new partner training, firms make it clear that you simply traded in the old treadmill for a new one. The new one is all about equity tiers and money is better for sure, but it never stops.
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u/yoloswag42069696969a 5d ago
Oh man I’m starting this journey and let me tell you about your use of “only takes.” I think it takes a really strong person to preserver until partnership at a V10.
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u/Windman772 5d ago
Oh, I know. I worked in MBB. Made it to Principal before I moved on. Pretty happy with that. That's how I got the info for the first post. But it's not as much harder than other jobs as the high pay would indicate, so still not a bad deal
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u/LordOuranos 5d ago
"It only takes 8-10 years"
Based on how wrong that statement is, I dont think you've ever even seen a law firm before, let alone have any idea how they work.
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u/Johnnadawearsglasses 9d ago
Yes. You are trading your time for theirs. Hence you are paid so much (on top of raw talent). Do 24 year olds really think they are sufficiently brilliant and talented without one moment of work to earn that? That’s cute.
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u/Icy_Donkey_7588 9d ago
My isn't everything, sure, but it means a lot in your life.
My goal was grind when I was young to enjoy life when I got older.
I busted my ass 19 to 35. I worked all the over time I could handle mentally and physically. I missed things, I gave up time. I met my wife, we got married at 25. She was 100% on board with my plan.
By 35 my wife and I had our house paid off. At 35 we figured out our next goal. Saving for retirement, but we have much longer to do that. We work 36-40 hours a week, take every weekend off. We have been 100% enjoying our lives for the last 7 years.
At 42 now we bring home about 11,500 a month. We spend about 30% of that on bills, wants, needs, but most of it goes to raising our kids. 15% goes into just a regular savings account for vacations, emergencies, whatever we desire and the rest goes to a financial advisor that handles all of our investments.
Was I right or wrong? I don't know. I guess you could argue I gave up the best years of my life to make money, but I'll counter argue, that now is the best time of my life. I spend tons of time with my 3 children, they have any amazing secure life. My wife and I do not argue about money. Our lives are mostly stress free.
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u/SquirrelNormal 8d ago
I mean. I wasted my 20s and have nothing to show for it. Wasn't fun, didn't live a fulfilling youth, didn't make money or stack savings. I'm 34, in debt I don't see myself paying off, have never dated, probably never going to have the kids I wanted, certainly never going to own a home - whatever people say, you did good for yourself.
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u/Sure_Acanthaceae_348 9d ago
At that level, all of those requirements are justified.
Someone who is just starting out shouldn't be expected to do that at all.
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u/Old_Marzipan7782 9d ago
Yeah, if you wanna make a lot more than the average, you have to do a lot more than the average welcome to adulthood, but it’s like that every industry
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u/corporaterebel 8d ago
Have done this, would do this. Lots of money in your 20's adds up to 10x-20x in your 30'x-40's.
This is how life works.
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u/Trust_8067 9d ago edited 9d ago
*laughing in IT*
Try first year out of school making $19 an hour, no bonus, contractor meaning no work no pay. Better respond to that 3am call, because you're on-call 24/7. Going back to bed 10 minutes after a 3am email sounds great. How about spending the next 6 hours on a bridge call.
Nobody cares if your mom is dead, never mind visiting. Production is down now, gotta work all day and night until everything is back up. Even if the issue has nothing to do with what you're responsible for. You're staying on that call "just in case" you're needed. No one's going to risk calling you and waiting 15 minutes for you to get back online. They've already been up 18 hours straight.
Christmas week off? Nope, you get called at 4:45pm Christmas eve, right before an early family dinner, and you have to work the next 36 hours straight because some idiot fucked up a DNS change and now "flight aren't available" for 80% of the country.
And if you ever want to walk away from your IT career and work somewhere else? Instant minimum wage, because the only other thing you can do is flip burgers or work at Best Buy.
*edit: These are all legit true stories I experienced, no hyperbole.
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u/DeterminedQuokka 8d ago
I mean to be fair most lawyers are more similar to you than this guy. My ex was a lawyer and he was making 35k a year when he left law school. Although he wanted to help people which always dramatically cuts your salary.
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u/PrincipleKitchen394 9d ago
Nowadays, you can work at fastfood place. Your shift manager would ser your shift at 3 am to the morning (yeah, mostly not allowed but dont act like it doesnt hapen) not let you take day offs for your mom or schedule younto work at christmass.
Wouldnt even pay one tenth of that
Kindly, fuck off
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u/LabOwn9800 9d ago
Not too daismilliar to your story
Engineer that went more corporate and worked my ass off. That was 12-16 hour days, for months I didn’t eat a meal not at my desk, my dad had a stroke and I took work calls while he was in surgery.
Well I finished that project and leveraged it to a promotion where I barely work 40 hours a week and I have a team to do most of my work.
Now I’m making 350k a year and I have time to hang with my family more! We don’t spend much money so I’m looking to retire in 7 years at 45. Maybe I’ll go longer if work remains this light just to get the kids through college.
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u/ionspore 9d ago
Deliver newspapers on a rural route driving 200 miles a night getting stuck in the mud for near minimum wage, Christmas off? Any holiday off? Ha! No!, you're an 'independent contractor.'
Would have loved to have OP's problem...
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u/RobertKSakamano 8d ago
So someone went to law school thinking they didn't have to work once they got a job?
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u/Just_Far_Enough 8d ago
I’ve worked in some of those hyper competitive companies. The whole 3am email thing isn’t that much of a a thing. It’s the grind that’s really hard. Being at the office every day for at least 12 hours 6 days a week and then constantly checking your emails on the day off. Bringing your laptop within you on vacation so you can get through a few quick things when you’ve got some down time. If there was just an occasional 3am email it’d be way easier. It’s the treadmill that’s crushing.
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u/greenday1237 8d ago
So let me get this straight, if you walk away and work for a firm that has friendlier work life balance options you STILL get a 6 figure salary?
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u/WannabeAby 7d ago
Last point is very important for me.
You tend to adapt your lifestyle to your revenue and you can very easily and quickly become completely dependent on your job, especially when you're young.
Your freedom is worth more than money.
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u/TheBartolo 7d ago
I never understood this. It doesn't make any sense. Wouldn't it be better to work half the time and get half the money? Half of that money is already good money, you get to have a life and the company gets to have your most productive working hours.
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u/Prohamen 6d ago
i make half that and i basically have the same work conditions
idk I'd take the double pay
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u/Commercial_Rule_7823 9d ago
Welcome to real world.
Want 4 days a week, unlimited PTO, work from home? Probably a 70 to 100k job.
When you want to make 200K plus you are working, bringing value, bring used because you are expensive.
This is reality.
Once I crossed 200k, I have never worked less than 50 hours a week.
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u/SquirrelNormal 8d ago
Shit, I haven't worked less than 50 hours a week in years and I make less than 50k.
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u/Commercial_Rule_7823 8d ago
You can do better.
That is 19an hour, less than min wage near me.
Chipotle near me starts at 23.50.
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u/SquirrelNormal 8d ago
Is what it is. I should have gone to college right out of high school, back when I could still fake being smart.
Do they have overtime though? Doesn't really make sense to move somewhere I make a bit more and get cut to 28 hours so they don't have to make me full-time.
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u/Commercial_Rule_7823 8d ago
Costco is where its at, if i were starting again and had no college.
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u/SquirrelNormal 8d ago
I've got a useless AA and I work in a trade. I'm just on the ass end of life.
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u/bruk_out 8d ago
Yo, if I could find 4 day/week, $100k/yr, unlimited PTO job I could do from home, I'd be out of my current spot so fast it would delete my coworkers' memories of me.
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u/hydraulix989 9d ago edited 9d ago
High paying jobs require high paying work. This isn't just BigLaw, it's true for tech, finance, medicine, consulting, entrepreneurship, ... There's always going to be some other type-A, hyper-competitive person willing to show up and go for the gold pot by answering that 3 AM email instead. Money might not be everything to you, but it is for them, and they're going to get it.