Grains of Salt
Other legal industry publications (the ABA and the popular Above the Law website/blog) have recently noted a survey that identified “associate attorney” as the most unhappy job in the United States (citing this publication).
Those who are having trouble finding lawyer jobs can maybe derive some kind of solace from this report (although the worst job of all jobs is definitely the job of looking for a job).
Those who are miserable associates can maybe derive some kind of validation that they may be in good company.
But, on the other hand, CareerBliss, which purports to have conducted “the study” is a little thin on describing its methodology. “The data is comprised from more than 65,000 independent company reviews from 2012.” I don’t know about you but I have no idea what that means. (And CareerBliss.com’s list of “happiest jobs” seems strange and hard to believe.)
Misery is in the gut of the beholder, of course. Fact is, though, that we are in a business that has been collapsing for the past five years. Jobs are going away that will not come back. There will always be happy lawyers (and “associate attorneys”), there will always be unhappy ones, and, these days, no one should be surprised by a report of low spirits among those just now setting off in these tough times.