So here is the thing: I have had a pretty decent career in law firms and presently at a PA level (8 years PQE) in a T1 Firm. The pandemic had caused much havoc in my personal life including the loss of a loved one which has consequently caused mental health issues for me. Realising that I am no longer cut for a 14-16 hour high pressure work environment I have been trying to move in-house and it almost seems like a loop. I hear people bashing law firm culture here left, right and centre but given their attrition rate atleast the onboarding process for my peers and I have been great. You have an interview, you either make it or you don't. If you have made it to the third round, safe to say an offer is incoming and in most cases it is a decent raise, you then agree or disagree and move on.

With companies however it is a different story: The entire process may sometime last months- as much as 3-4 months, with multiple rounds of interview to eventually have the post being discarded or suddenly having a budget crisis, like how can you start interviewing someone at a certain pay and then expect them to join at a lesser salary? Why have elaborate 50 mins HR interviews then asking about the expected salary? What sort of budget do they even operate out of that cannot hold good for 3 months and also how do they expect a candidate to stick around or show commitment for that long? 4 rounds of interview with a TAT of 15-20 days between each round, like are you serious? I know a friend who interviewed for a GC position, had 9 rounds of interview, 2 of which involved flying to a different city, only to have been told that the company no longer requires a GC but would hire two juniors to take care of two jurisdiction independently. Like what?!!

Even on Linkedin you would see same job posts being repurposed for months with 200-300 applicants in each post update. Like who the fuck are you guys looking at?

We all know how job hunting weighs so much on a person's self confidence and with this shitty job market. I think it's high time we start calling out these companies on their behaviour and for wasting precious time of candidates. I see legal recruiters calling out candidates for being unprofessional for playing with multiple offers and not sitting for interviews at the last moment. In the same breath I know so many HRs at companies who just ghost you as per convenience and do not even have the decency to update you.

Rant over. Bye.

So true! They want to waste our time and then offer peanuts! Also , moving from a law-firm to an inhouse role we're anyway taking a hit on the tax per centage uske upar se itne kam paise offer karenge! Saari top ki companies ka yahi haal hai. It's heartbreaking....after being interviewed for 6-7 rounds and reaching that stage where you can clearly negotiate what you deserve and then the company suddenly tells you ki issey zada toh nai ho paega...time, effort, money humara toh sab waste ho raha hai na...pehle apna budget dekh lo fir approach karo logo ko. Imagine having to reject an offer from a company that you have been manifesting to work for, just because they can't afford you.

I get you man!! It's frustrating to say the least. For now I have started doing a background search on the companies and if I see the same position being advertised over and over, I have stopped applying. It just means they are constantly wasting time, aint no way you cannot find a junior leven candidate among 400 applications. Its not NASA.

Hi it's usually because companies have very very large HR structures and a legal position isn't really an immediate requirement and is a cost centre. As opposed to this, the engineers/ finance bros have it quite easier like you have it at firms. Compare it to HR people in your own firm.