Emily Hayes knew what she was signing up for when she turned a lawyer.
Lengthy hours, tough shoppers and billing pressures are synonymous with the job. But, for Hayes, the mental problem and the prospect to assist individuals made these sacrifices really feel worthwhile.
What she did not anticipate was how rapidly burnout would set in — or how a lot her job would overshadow different components of her life.
Hayes, 32, graduated from Stanford Legislation Faculty in 2019. She spent the following two years working at a big worldwide regulation agency in Redwood Shores, California, adopted by a place as a federal district courtroom regulation clerk in Portland, Oregon.
In October 2021, she joined O’Melveny & Myers, a big regulation agency in Los Angeles, as an affiliate.
After years of transferring between jobs and cities, Hayes was optimistic about this new chapter in her profession.
Her colleagues have been supportive, the assignments have been participating and the pay was beneficiant. By the point she turned 30, Hayes was incomes over $300,000 a 12 months.
But, beneath the floor, the grind was taking a toll.
Her “breaking level” got here in April 2023. Hayes discovered herself working time beyond regulation on a Saturday morning to organize for an arbitration, simply hours after leaving the workplace at 11 p.m. the night time earlier than. She was getting ready for a significant trial, however her stress and exhaustion had been constructing for months.
That morning, as she stared at her laptop display screen, she broke down. She recollects, “I began sobbing” as a result of somebody near her was going by way of a tough time, and he or she regretted being on the workplace as an alternative of supporting them at dwelling.
“It felt like I had to decide on between displaying up for my job in the best way that was anticipated of me and displaying up for the individuals I really like in the best way that I wished to,” she tells CNBC Make It. “I panicked in regards to the stress between the 2.”
Hayes provides, “Working at a regulation agency could make your life so unpredictable. You may by no means rely on free time within the evenings or logging off earlier than 10 p.m. I believe you actually have to like the work you are doing to make that trade-off of your time really feel price it.”
At that second, Hayes made a silent promise to herself — that she’d discover a new job inside a 12 months.
Switching from regulation to tech
That spring, Hayes started reaching out to former classmates and colleagues for recommendation. By way of these conversations, she discovered a couple of rising profession path throughout the authorized sector: product counseling.
Product counsel roles, significantly common in Silicon Valley, contain working in-house at tech corporations to supply authorized and regulatory steerage on services.
In contrast to conventional regulation agency roles, product counsel positions usually mix authorized experience with enterprise technique. “You are rather less within the weeds with the regulation and far more concerned in enterprise technique, which I’ve at all times been actually taken with,” Hayes explains.
In October, a Stanford classmate talked about that the tech firm she labored for in San Francisco was hiring for product counsel positions.
The job got here with two trade-offs: Hayes would wish to relocate to San Francisco, and the bottom wage was about $220,000 in extra to an annual bonus, beginning after her first 12 months, of as much as 15% of her whole pay, relying on her efficiency and different firm metrics.
This represented a big pay reduce from her regulation agency wage — about $150,000 lower than her present earnings of $370,000 (comprised of $295,000 base pay and a $75,000 bonus) and $200,000 lower than the $435,000 she would have earned the next 12 months as a fifth-year affiliate with wage and bonus will increase.
Nonetheless, the function promised a extra balanced way of life: a constant 40-hour workweek, the pliability to make money working from home two days per week, and the chance to advise on cutting-edge applied sciences like AI and cloud computing.
After cautious consideration, Hayes determined the lower salary was a small worth to pay for her well-being and a recent begin in an thrilling new discipline.
She utilized for the place in October 2023, obtained her provide letter in December, and began her new job in January 2024.
Her colleagues at O’Melveny & Myers have been “actually form and supportive” of her resolution, Hayes says. To facilitate a easy transition, she created an in depth listing of her ongoing instances and a urged succession plan for her departure from the agency.
Residing on a tighter funds
Adjusting to the six-figure pay reduce was “a lot more durable” than Hayes had anticipated.
Along with her earlier revenue, Hayes says she may “spend with out a lot thought or stress,” whether or not ordering takeout a number of occasions per week or making vital funds on her pupil loans with out worrying about having sufficient cash left for lease.
Now, making about $150,000 lower than she was a 12 months in the past, Hayes says she has needed to pay nearer consideration to her month-to-month spending and saving, whereas additionally holding herself accountable to a funds.
Final 12 months, she began making TikToks to doc her budgeting efforts and collect recommendation from different professionals in comparable conditions.
“I am actually lucky that I nonetheless make sufficient to dwell comfortably,” says Hayes, who provides that her dwelling bills are barely greater after transferring from L.A. to San Francisco. “The largest change with this pay reduce, something, has simply been shifting my mindset round cash — I spotted I needed to suppose onerous about my purchases even after they did not appear extravagant.”
‘Having that freedom and that steadiness has been priceless’
Now, as she approaches her first anniversary on the tech firm (which she has chosen to not identify), Hayes says she’s “actually blissful.”
For Hayes, the $150,000 pay reduce wasn’t a sacrifice; it was an funding in her well being, her relationships, and her future. Within the first 5 years of her regulation profession, she usually struggled with sleep deprivation and stress
“I could not flip my thoughts off,” she says. “I had hassle falling asleep at night time and developed persistent jaw ache — however from the second I give up my previous job, all of these signs disappeared … it is loopy.”
The toughest a part of her new gig, she says, has been determining easy methods to spend her instantly free evenings and weekends.
“I am spending extra time with mates on weeknights, going to Pilates, choosing up new hobbies, I purchased a stitching machine,” she says. “Having that freedom and that steadiness has been priceless.”
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