I’m a newly minted lawyer working at this small firm and I’m being paid minimum wage. Yes, that’s right. I didn’t have a job lined up for me when I graduated, so I was desperate for any legal work, so when this firm offered me a lawyer position, I accepted, knowing I was getting screwed over.
It’s truly soul crushing here. I work long hours all week (including Saturdays which are mandatory). I’m so exhausted all the time I don’t even have the energy to apply for jobs when I get home. I’m getting almost no guidance, and the internal training materials are either outdated or hidden amongst the poorly organised files, so I’m basically teaching myself everything, which is horrible as a graduate lawyer with no experience.
Is this my life now? Did I just spend a quarter of my life at university to be thrown into this meatgrinder of an industry?