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Speak to people in the industry/ place of future work you are targeting - see what they say about the work culture.
Legal industry - thinking is a bit rigid, so most places have a “work hard for 12 hours” mentality.
For, judiciary, fyi - in-hand is 1.25 a month + 35k allowances (30 earned leave, 12 casual leave, some more medical, + 14 days minimum summer break, 7-8 days of winter break, 5-7 days for diwali, and all public holidays). working hours are 10-5, the work u bring home is as per your schedule and timeline. though it is not hybrid, 6 days a week type of calendar in routine.
In my 6th month as corporate lawyer, as fully grown 23 year old male child, I cried to my PA saying that this job is not meant for me. I also did that with a friend, she comforted me (bless her) saying that she had also gone through the exact same (crying in the bathroom, hating the work) thing but came out of the other side in flying colours (which is true, given the jobs she has been at and trajectory).
I’m now in the 5-6 bracket and I couldn’t have been more wrong.
There are many things I don’t like - hours, politics, bad faith, externalities - but at the core, I really like the work that I do. Around the 6-8th month, I also thought that LLM was the logical explanation, and I applied but chose not to go to as I was able to find some method to the madness of the work I was doing, and then on doors opened on a regular basis to work on more interesting things or take more responsibility.
There is no quick fix to this. A lot of what you’re complaining about are factually true, or a product of extreme externalities that you don’t control (for example, you don’t control who your SA, PA and Partners will be nor how pushy your clients will be) and worse still, you also don’t control your training. Unlike University, you don’t know that Tax Law will arrive in Year X, Semester Y. You could be drafting the first cut of the SPA in your first year or your fourth year, depending on circumstances. That’s exciting but also a lot of pressure. The idea is to convert it from pressure to some sort of excitement, and most importantly, it is important for you to be in control of your time, something I enjoyed at my first and second (current) job.
I’m very impatient as a lawyer, and I would trade growth for money at this stage of my career (I’m privileged enough to say that) but I’ve to remind myself that you can’t really trade off time.
I know none of this might sound actionable to you - and I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. If I can help you, please let me know and have a conversation - if that means going through some concepts your seniors did not explain, or some work you don’t know how to approach (which costs a lot of time you’re losing) - I’d like to help. I don’t know how to leave behind a contact without exposing my identity - but if you have a better suggestion, I’m happy to help! :)
I really care about people enjoying AT LEAST some aspects of this profession, and time permitting I’ll try my best to help.
If you go with an open mind and let it change you, you may think of new things you want to do. I chose a path I had never even considered because it was seen as a dumb/ loser choice at my law school. That path was also hard but I kept going for 2 years and now I can say it was the best decision of my life. I love my work and did better at it than I ever expected. My classmates call me to ask how they could sell their ferrari and be happy.
Maybe you will decide that law firm work is for you after all. I know some people who genuinely enjoy it. Maybe you will choose something else. Whatever it is, it will be hard at first so you need to know why you are doing it and you need to do it because you want to, not because everyone else is doing it.
I wont incite you for violence but I am on my way to cause them (seniors) serious injury to let them suffer for whole of their life.
This is India and this is how it works!!!
Quitting after 6 months. Try explaining that to your next employer who is going to immediately brand you as a quitter and non serious person. It cuts but so does life.
Stick there. Prep for your LLM and then leave with a credible reason. Not some namby pamby quitter reason!
Just remember “The mind fears what it does not understand”