u/anti-sesquipedalian

I realise it’s not impossible, but I just wanted to hear from people who have trained/qualified with a national firm (think Irwin Mitchell, Browne Jacobson, DAC Beachcroft) and then made a move to a more global player like CMS, Addleshaw, or Pinsents. What was your journey like? What seat rotations did you do as a trainee? Did you make the move as an NQ or with 1/2 years of PQE? Would really appreciate any insight

Maybe this is just London recruiters in general, but I honestly have never met a more condescending and rude group of people.

I will also name and shame.

At this point, Ryder Reid must be some money laundering front posing as a recruitment agency because I have NEVER heard back from them despite sometimes sending out emails the minute a job posting goes live.

Not to mention the ones who outright ignore you after a phone call despite promises to follow-up.

These same recruiters will then evangelise on LinkedIn about how rough candidates have it just so they can farm some engagement.

I think that they think that this behaviour is justifiable because the ratio of existing roles to candidates is shrinking by the day, but I cannot wait for the day we figure out how to automate 90% of their jobs. There are exceptions to this, but they are fair and few.

Can anyone relate?

I work as a Paralegal as part of an in-house legal team. I got involved in AI initiatives to boost my visibility within the company and strengthen my experience for training contract applications. It has worked, but I feel like a fraud. I'm not naive enough to dismiss the scale of what is happening in the legal tech space, but it has all become so exhausting.

I'm partly to blame because of initial overreliance that has now made me fearful of genuine cognitive decline. But I'm also sick of the slop and this constant need to invent solutions for problems that don't really exist. Just one more agent should do the trick!

It all feels so forced, including the buzz. I am by no means the most technically capable person, but it seems like everyone has become an expert, and I have to mirror this confidence to not feel out of my depth.

I fear I'm in too deep and I can't just walk away. Even if I could, I wouldn't be able to escape the litany of LinkedIn influencer posts telling me that every success I might ever have in my career hinges on even more involvement in the space.

I'm not a luddite and a part of me does find it interesting and worthwhile, but another part of me feels mentally drained by it, and I can't be honest about any of it in the workplace.

I've never posted to Reddit before, but I thought this might be a good way to start.

I'm starting my TC in September 2027 (National firm/Full-service). I am looking forward to it, but I don't think it's too early to also be thinking about the challenges ahead. I realise this question has a broad remit, but any insight at all would be greatly appreciated. If you could go back, is there anything you would have done/thought about differently?