Brain drain

My brother is leaving his job at the end of the year at a prestigious firm. This marks the fourth person I know to leave their "real" job this year with no real plans for their next step. His complaints are the same as everyone else.

1) No time for yourself or family
2) Unrealistic expectations in an increasingly bureaucratic and isolating corporate culture
3) No feeling of contributing to society through work

It is interesting to see that everyone I know who has quit their jobs graduated towards the top of their respective class in college and in graduate school. The doors of "prestigious" firms and career tracks open to the brightest people in a class. Unfortunately, the downside to these opportunities is that they are often found in firms and businesses that do not nurture the intellects that come through the door. I propose that the result is that the smart people think over their situations and get out, leaving people behind who are insensitive to the real problems of the business culture because, after all, those who are left behind have succeeded. Why would they tear down the ladder that they managed to climb (even if it was due to the more talented people leaving)?

Where does this leave the dedicated students at the tops of their classes? I believe they must take their decision of where to accept their first job offer more seriously than simply choosing the highest paying or most prestigious position immediately following graduation. The cost of doing otherwise may be early burnout and a change of career path when, in actuality, it may not be the career that is a problem but the culture in which that person was forced to first train for his or her career.

Starting for a takeover

How many start-ups are begun with the hope of being taken over when the business becomes successful? A friend is embarking on just such an endeavor. What a different business landscape it has become.

Making the alma mater proud

I'm back from a 3 week hiatus from my home-bound self-unemployment. For the first time, I saw the California coast and how amazing it is (especially the Big Sur drive)!

After such a trip, I had a funny feeling when I returned home. I was hemorrhaging. Hemorrhaging money, that is. Naturally, I look to my cups and buckets of loose change lying around that seemed negligible when I was working. My regard for those coins change ended yesterday when I joined with a friend who has also recently quit his law firm job to take our change to a free coin changing machine. My "take" was fairly paltry compared to his total which set a new record at the bank branch we visited.

As we toted my box of change and his two backpacks of coins to the bank, we said,

"We both went to one of the most prestigious law schools in the country. Now, we have both quit our jobs and are spending our time seeking out a free coin changing machine and dragging bags and boxes of loose change in the middle of the afternoon. This is definitely going in the alum magazine."