What might have been

Imagine this:

Firm X offers you a summer job with the intention of giving you a permanent job when you graduate from law school. You like Firm X, but you like Firm Y just a tiny bit more. So you use your offer with Firm X as leverage with Firm Y.

“Hey, Firm Y, Firm X just offered me a job. I need to let them know if I accept their offer within the week. What can you do for me?”

Firm Y responds with an offer of summer work with the intention of giving you a permanent job when you graduate from law school. You accept, regretful that you have to tell Firm X that you chose Firm Y.

At the end of the summer, Firm Y says, “Hey, you’re a great guy, but we can’t afford to offer you a job when you graduate. Good luck, and have a nice life.”

To make matters worse, your friend, an attorney at Firm X, informs you that ALL SEVEN summer associates at Firm X got permanent offers.

Desperate, you quickly contact Firm X, hoping that they’ll remember you. Firm X remembers you, but says that they’re “finished hiring.”

This is what happened to me. I try not to let it bother me. And to be honest, I don’t often think about “what might have been” had I gone with Firm X. It’s over. I have to move on. I can’t change the past. But every once in a while, I get into a sulking/raging mood and feel like yelling. At somebody. At anything. Tonight, thinking about fatherhood and looking desperately for a job, I’m in one of those sulking moods. So I’m taking it out on you, internet. Arghh.