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Monday, July 09, 2012

Week Two Starts Now

Today officially brings us to week two of my new job. It honestly feels like I have been here for so so much longer. They said in the interview that they would be throwing me in the deep end, and they weren't lying. There is certainly no shortage of work here and it's clear that the expectation is that lawyers put their work before anything else. None of the young lawyers here have children, or any other commitments for example sporting.


Last week went like this:

Day 1 (Monday) was boring. I spent the morning doing training in their computer systems, and the rest of the day experimenting with them. No one gave me any work so I took a full hour lunch break and had a nice walk in the sun.

Day 2 proved that day 1 was an anomoly never to be repeated. Work was heaped on me, and it was the first of the standard day there where there is no time for lunch. I was still lucky enough to be able to leave the office at 7pm. My supervising partner was annoyed that I hadn't had email access set up on my smartphone yet as "you need 24/7 email access immediately".

Day 3 saw me getting to work at 7:15am for an early teleconference. I left at 7:45pm, which seems to be the regular end time on a good day for most lawyers there. 

Day 4 saw me arriving at 7:30am and leaving at 9:45pm, after being stuck in a 4 hour meeting all afternoon which didn't allow me to finish my other tasks that were due the next morning. When I got back from the meetings at 7pm, there was a note on my desk from a support staff asking me to bring in my computer the next day to have remote access set up (at the partner's request). I need to organise to have frozen dinners in the freezer there as work doesn't provide meals (unless there is a major deal on and everyone is in the office all night).

Day 5 (Friday) saw me arriving at 7:30am and leaving at 7:30pm. The Partner called me in the discuss some research I'd done and it turned out I was wrong and had missed the point of what I was supposed to be looking for. Felt dumb. Most people leave then or earlier on a Friday night if possible, but will be in on the weekend to work anyway. I got remote access set up on my laptop as I had work to do over the weekend from home too.

I am exhausted and not sleeping well because I have bad dreams about work related stresses (which is to be expected). I feel really stupid because it's a new area of law for me and I am highly inefficient (and have to research everything because I don't even know the basics). Again this is totally to be expected, and I'm working on riding the wave and not getting upset (although I struggle with this!). I'm going to be working very long hours regardless of how busy my area is for at least the first few months, because it's a very steep learning curve.

So... if you don't see many blog posts from me, it's because I don't have time during the week to write. I have been reading your blogs but last week at least I didn't have time to comment much. At work I am flat out and by the time I get home I am ready for dinner, shower and bed. Even this post is prewritten on Saturday morning (I know, aren't I the efficient one...)

Who knows whether I'll survive in this environment and if so for how long!

9 comments:

  1. ((((hugs))) you will do great, I am sure. If you decide it's too much it is never too late to change your mind either. Just take it one day at a time and try (if possible) to put your laptop away for an hour or so before bed and have a nice relaxing bath, or treat yourself to a massage on the weekends. Good luck - you will be amazing.

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  2. Good lord, you´re a long way away from public servant hours ! Hang in there, hopefully you´ll get out as much as you put in, good luck !

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  3. Sounds really tough! Hope it gets easier (although it doesn't sound as though your days will get any shorter...)

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  4. I feel terrible for you. I have had a similar experience these last 2 weeks at my new job. A great deal of stress and 11hr days. I completely understand. I hope you start to feel more comfortable there soon x

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  5. Wow, this sounds like a really tough job :( Hopefully you're able to settle in and be comfortable there soon, or if you change your mind find something a little less stressful. Either way, I'm sending you lots of well wishes to get you through your second week! xx

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  6. Thanks everyone! I am going okay and finding it exciting, but I may be running on adrenalin and heading towards a crash sometime in the future. Only time will tell!

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  7. Are you serious???? That doesn't sound like a job, it sounds like a jail term! I can't believe employers get away with that. Unless it pays $1000 a week, I'd be looking for another job pronto.

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  8. Hi Lisa, long time no speak. Just catching up on some blog posts from the last couple of weeks and I read yours. I'm with Gina, I can't believe what some employers can get away with! Those hours are crazy, it's not fair for anyone to have to work that much, let alone a Mum! I hope it's going ok but take care of yourself, as you said above you might come crashing down in a heap before long.

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  9. PS I just noticed you're now over 100 followers! That's awesome, way to go! I remember not too long ago you had a little giveaway for when you reached 50 followers :)

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