What is interesting though, is that another girl who also wanted litigation, did not get hired back. Litigation is traditionally a tough field to get hired back into (for example, this year we had 4 people fighting for one spot.) However, this girl had been busting her ass all year, people knew she really really wanted to work at the firm, yet SHE didn't end up with any position at all.
Although I had applied for government positions last year, I am thankful that I eventually ended up working at a law firm. I don't think I really understood the meaning of "politics" until I did. In a nutshell, politics is just human nature - people will want people who are interested in their work to work for them, since they think those people will do a better job. In addition, people will ask around the office to see who has done good work before giving someone who's never worked for them an assignment, as they want to make sure their assignment will be handled well. Finally, there is a hierarchy to the value of someone's word - certain people will have more credibility or power if they decide to vouch for certain people. Don't believe that hierarchy is always correlated to a person's position, although it often is. Certain people with non-senior positions may have a great deal of respect within an organization. As a result, their word will receive the same amount of impact as someone with a more senior title.
So, back to my story. What really surprised me about these results, was the fact that the person who ended up getting the litigation position was not someone I had expected. I was told that this kid was very well-liked within my firm, and that he would get any position he wanted. I had always believed though, that he wanted a corporate role. I ran into the girl who didn't get hired over the weekend, and boy, was she pissed. Apparently he had told her that he had not wanted litigation, that he would turn it down if offered, and she had killed herself on some of his litigation assignments so he could go out to enjoy some firm activities.
Now, this is when the story of politics becomes more ugly. When someone's self interest collides with your self-interest, 99 times out of 100, they will choose their own self-interest. The problem though, is that you cannot always tell that people are doing that, and that some people will fool you into believe that they will fall into the 1 time out of 100 category. I had always liked this guy and although I believe there may be another side of the story that I'm missing, I do believe that something shady possibly happened. Which brings me to the one observation about politics that I did know before I started working at the firm - it is always the people you do not see coming, that you need to worry/be careful about the most. Everyone always talks about the keener who's willing to step over people on the way to the top. Those people, however, are not the dangerous ones, as they have already made their objectivies known. The people who seem nice and friendly but have not disclosed their objectives, are the ones who can do the most damage, as any trust you give them could end up biting you in the ass.
Final ugly side of politics? The assignments that the girl ended up taking for the guy was for a lawyer who was someone who would not be appreciative of the work you did for them. You could bust your ass for him, but he would neither be thankful, nor stand up for you when reviews came to tell people that you did all this great work for him. So, he would end up monopolizing your time, yet not do a thing for you come reviews, and because he monopolized your time, other lawyers would not had a chance to work with you (and then stand up with you.) Avoid these types of people at all costs as nothing good can come of it.
So, yes, I do have to look for a new job. Which sucks a bit, as the being unemployed bit is stressing me out a tad. In the long run, I know this is the better thing for me. I managed to get some very good references from good people in the process, and now have the chance to look for something in a field that's closer to what I would want to work in. More importantly, I learned very important things about surviving in an office while working at the firm:
- If you want to work with someone, express an interest in their type of work. People want those who are interested in their work to work for them, since they think those people will do a better job on their assignments.
- Try to establish a good reputation, as people will ask around to see who has done good work before giving someone who's never worked for them an assignment.
- Try to establish a good reputation with people higher up on the hierarchy, since certain people have more credibility or power when they vouch for people.
- Remember that hierarchy is not always coorelated to seniority - some people with non-senior positions may have a great deal of respect within an organization so their word will have the same impact as someone with a more senior title.
- Be careful about believing someone if they tell you they will do something which means putting your self-interest above theirs, as people are naturally inclined to act in their own interests.
- Don't be afraid of the obvious keeners, as you know their objectives. It is the nice friendly folk who have not disclosed their real objectives that you need to be careful about.
- Some people will never vouch for you, no matter if you do good work or work very hard for them. Try to avoid working for these types of people at all times.
