I’m at a small law firm where it’s only my boss, myself and a legal assistant. I’m a young professional starting off my career, and for the first little while, my boss was very attentive to my needs/desire to learn. However, she’s always come to the office sparingly and works remotely otherwise, and since finding out she’ll be going on mat leave later this year, I realize it’s only going to be my colleague and I trying to keep the business afloat for those 3-4 months.
As it is, I lack the guidance/mentorship to be able to feel like I’m thriving, and the experience is WAY more important to me than the money. Having said that, I feel like if I’m not going to be learning much and if I will be stressing for her in her absence, I would rather find my exit, whether it’s during her absence or when she returns. My issue is because it’s a niche area of law and she has a tendency to take things personal, she will be upset, no matter how gracefully I leave.
In case I need a reference from her for a future job, I am not sure if I will be able to get that support, and it’s very possible she’ll have nothing good to say behind my back, in spite of all the extra efforts I’ve made at the sacrifice of my own mental health, at times. What do you do when you need a good exit and don’t want to burn the bridge, but find it impossible to leave just the same?