Career Clinic: I was forced into a tax nightmare!

Take the role in PE. Sure, you'll lose it inside a year with redundancy, but at least by then your CV will look a little better for bona fide transactional work. Also, you shouldn't have taken the tax role if you were certain you'd hate it. Doesn't do any good.

A Headhunter -22 May 2008 | 17:08

First, get over your anger. Your firm is a business and naturally (and realistically) will do what is best for its business needs. It was not obliged to give you a corporate role just because you wanted one. Get feedback on why you didn't get the jobs you applied for - was it really because they wanted City training or was it something else? This will help you work out whether it is worth carrying on applying for roles in law firms or whether you should opt for an in-house role on the basis that you have no alternative. I sympathise entirely with the fact that you don't want to do tax for even one more day, let alone the rest of your life.

Anonymous -22 May 2008 | 17:18

If you go in-house for a short period (i.e. no more than 18 months) then you can present it as having given you the same experience as if you had remained employed by a law firm but gone on a client secondment. No bad thing. As for tax, it is very relevant to PE/corporate so you should take the opportunity to learn as much as you can while you're still there. Treat it as an extra training seat, if you like.

Anonymous -22 May 2008 | 17:33

You need to stop moaning and grow up. Look at it a different way: your firm didn't have space in the group you wanted but chose to offer you a job anyway, which is pretty decent of them, especially in the current economic climate. If you are avoiding going into work, your firm is going to take a pretty dim view of your behaviour fairly quickly and that isn't going to help your future career. If you are really interested in PE, take the in-house role but don't take it just as a way of getting out of your current position. The alternative is to go into work next week with a positive attitude and throw yourself into the job for six months to a year. You might be able to move within your firm later if you build a good reputation now. In the meantime, look for other corporate roles...and make sure you don't tell prospective employers that you are leaving because you hate your current firm: it never goes down well.

Associate -23 May 2008 | 11:04

To be honest it may well be your attitude that has something to do with your failure to find a corporate job. Even if you do not like the work that you are doing you should be using the time to develop your transferrable skills and look for opportunities within your current role to be more involved on the corporate side of transactions. If you want to take a cycnical view - taking every opportunity to avoid going to work is hardly going to result in a sparkling reference for a new position. As another poster said your firm was under no obligation to give you a corporate role - your post suggests you expected it to be handed to you on a plate - maybe this came across to those making the decisions. Also given the current economic climate it is not surprising that firms are less keen to offer corporate roles. I would be wary about taking the in house role unless you are sure it is what you want to do - otherwise you will end up just resenting that as well.

Anonymous -23 May 2008 | 11:05

Go on, give tax a chance. What's the worst that could happen?

Hector, HMRC -27 May 2008 | 14:12

Corporate tax is a great foundation from which to launch a career as a corporate lawyer or as an in-house lawyer, e.g. in a bank as opposed to being used as cannon fodder which is what will happen in private equity. Remember they want you not because you are a tax lawyer (you have no experience) but because you are legally qualified and that is good because it shows you have certain analytical skills which lend themselves to private equity work. I agree with the above comment - stick at it for a while, at least a year or so, get stuck into it and capitalise on the experience which will put you in good stead in whatever you decide to do afterwards. Jobs are few and far between at the moment so now is not the time to have an attitude. Show that attitude in private equity (any excuse not to go into work etc) and you will be out before you've realised what's happening to you; if it happens in the first few weeks or months, they won't even need to pay you off because you have no statutory rights to sue for unfair dismissal.

May -27 May 2008 | 17:37

Thank you for your comments. I have decided to stick it out in tax in the hope that I will be able to use my skills in corporate.

poster -30 May 2008 | 17:14