What I Like About Being My Age

A few days ago I got a call out of the blue from a young associate at one of my former law firms. The partner that I worked for was jumping ship and he wanted to take her with him. The associate had heard rumors that this partner was hard to work for, and she wanted to know what I thought because she had never actually worked for him. She was seriously considering the move because he was offering her a really good deal - emphasis on the really.

Phew. No red flags there.

I navigated my response with honesty and professionalism. I have a lot of respect for my former profession and I don't want to burn any bridges. [I once let it fly in an exit interview and let's just say that they had no interest in speaking with me after I got laid off from the next firm]. I balanced that with the fact that she was making a major life decision and I felt that I owed her some honest, appropriate answers. I explained that I found the partner's reputation to be accurate and that he was extremely difficult to work for.

I also encouraged her to speak to his past two associates before me. All three of us worked for him for less than a year - two of us were laid off and one of us was smart enough to ask to be transferred to a different department before it could happen.

Today I learned that she that she jumped ship with him.

Here's what I love about being my age:
(1) I have learned that I am not going to be, and nobody else is going to be, the one person that can work with or change another person.
(2) I have always made the wrong decision when I have based that decision on money.

Apparently you can't explain that. You just have to live and learn.