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- Work only 2 to 3 hours a day. Lots of free time.
-Full WFH gig. Even spent 2 weeks in Goa once and 1 week in Thailand doing this.
- Paid in foreign currency converted to INR: comes to 4 lakhs a month in hand. Earning more than most batchmates.
- Zero rent as working from family home
- Deal only with foreigners who are very professional and considerate
- Doing this for 1.5 years running now very smoothly
Cons:
- WFH is isolating. No office interaction and office chats. Socialising limited to a small circle of friends.
- Feeling a bit left out when I see batchmates at big law firms being featured on Bar & Bench etc
- Not stable like a CAM/SAM job: recession in Western financial markets can lead to termination of my contract. Getting worried at constant Doomsday predictions of a massive global recession
-Stagnant growth: Will never become a partner in a firm and earn 2-3 cr like a CAM/SAM partner if I stick to this. Max can go up to 80 lakhs a year perhaps, when I reach that age.
- Lacks the prestige of saying that I am with CAM or SAM.
- Sometimes face upsetting remarks from society. Neighbours think I don’t do anything because I am at home in t-shirts and shorts and don’t go to court or law firms like a proper lawyer, dressed in a suit. I would never ever consider an arranged marriage, but one random aunty with a daughter came up to my mom and said something like your son does nothing despite being from an NLU. I know so and so NLU lawyer at this court and this law firm who drives a big car and wears Rolex. My mom told this aunty to F herself and mind her own business, but it still feels upsetting.
As someone who worked in Tier 1 and has moved to a WFH set up with different firm. You’re better off outside the all consuming Tier 1 madness. But let’s address your issues:
WFH is isolating -> true. If you’re living in a big city - join a co working space like We Work - should be less than 10k. If it’s near a financial/ office district the crowd in the office will also be good. As humans are social creatures, it’s important for us to be around people who think like us, and this won’t happen at home.
Networking - You don’t have a network sitting at home.
Try reaching out to old colleagues. Or better, try going for classes during weekends. In Tier 1 cities, lot of companies organise wine tasting/ coffee making sessions. Even if you have no personal interest in these, attend the sessions, because they invariably attract well to do professionals who have taste. This will a better way to find people at your level.
This is actually better than being locked in the office with same set of colleagues for 12 hours.
Income - not predictable/ ceiling is capped at 80 lakhs.
This issue is bit nuanced and depends on your own financial knowledge.
Since you said you have lot of free time, you can try a side hustle - maybe do consultancy for some startups on the side. Else, use your money wisely to invest so that your corpus increases due to compounding. You can also try investing in early stage startups which can give 10x returns, but depends on your risk appetite. ( this is more difficult to figure out).
Aunty judging you - if you start going to a co working space, you can dress up as if you’re going to office. Will also help get into a routine. I’m not saying dress up in formals and go to co working space so that aunty gets impressed, but if you’re trying to marry her daughter, dressing up in formals isn’t that bad of an idea. (Or any specific reason you mentioned “aunty with a daughter” which I’m missing?)
Growth - More nuanced, but deals with self fulfilment.
Depending on your interests, try volunteering with some NGO. Don’t just donate money, try to actively volunteer your time to helping people who aren’t that privileged. The joy one gets from helping others is something that is very different than buying material things.
If NGO work isn your thing, and you want self fulfilment, try opening your own business/ firm on the side. This is the best time to take a risk. You have a good flow of income, and you have lot of time on your hands. The sheer amount of things you will learn while working in your business, nothing compared to the legal work we do. In fact it might also help you get a new perspective on the legal work you yourself do.
Lastly, all this sounds like great advice, but you have to START somewhere. For lot of us, we only work when someone assigns us work, and we can’t hold ourselves accountable to getting work done. But if you’re a self starter, there is no limit to what you can achieve. So START now. In the beginning it will take to figure out lot of things, but you’ll learn how to build something from ground up. Then you won’t be worried about not having a CAM/ SAM tag.
I’m only a stranger on the Internet, and I can’t force you to do any of the things I’ve mentioned above. If you do end up starting something or doing something with your life, let us know here.
All the best!
2-3 hours a day giving you 4 lakhs a month? This is impossible even for trading.
It seems like a veiled way of asking how to deal with T-1 fomo.