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dave88
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Joined: 22 May 2009
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 10:35 am Post subject: what to do with a law degree!!!??? |
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I have completed my law degree, and do not want to go into a career in law after spending 2 summers doing work placements, i feel that i struggle to grasp the legal mentality required for such a job.
I will come out of my degree with a 2:2, yet everywhere I look for jobs whetehr it be in accountants, finance, government, etc; they require a first or even a 2:1....I can't help but feel that my degree has been a waste of time, and feel that i will just be going into a job now what my friends have done since they left school at 16, yet on the same money or less...I thought a degree was supposed to put you at a higher level then a person with gcse's.
Just wondering if anybody has any idea's on what I could do for a career?!?!?
thanks Dave |
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Pauloz
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Joined: 02 Oct 2007
Posts: 1160
Career Advice: +3/-0
Location: Sydney
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| Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 11:21 am Post subject: |
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dave88
The demand for firsts, etc, is caused by a perception of a "buyers market" during the crash.
The legal mentality, admittedly, in its slavish conformity form, isn't for everyone, but there are exceptions, and people do break the moulds.
Law degrees don't have to involve actual practice of law in the conventional sense. A lot of lawyers work in politics, government, and specialize in areas where they're actually interested, not just commuting.
I've worked with a lot of lawyers, and I can tell you the enemies are boredom and weird culture and sometimes the nature of the work. The legal profession contains as diverse a group of people as any you could wish to find, but the law is also a job. Some of it is frustrating, infuriating, insulting, pedantic, or merely mindless.
In the political and government spheres, you can write policy and actual laws, and be driven up the wall in the process. You can do criminal law, and find yourself living in prisons talking to clients.
If any of that suggests that a career in law is what you make of it, that's the fact.
Important: It's not advisable to allow yourself to drift too much, with a law degree. Drab as it sounds, currency is important in law, even at entry level. A year's gap is permissible, from there on they want to know what you're doing with your career. This is a truly middle class profession, and it tends to think like a middle class profession, even despite good intentions.
It can't be something it isn't. The legal profession will rarely if ever be a hotbed of revolution and original thought unless circumstances demand it. It doesn't usually get the opportunity.
Career: Take some time to assess, pick and choose how you approach your career. You can afford to be a bit picky, but if you can find out what you want to do, and can avoid the things you don't want to do, you're getting somewhere.
Don't get scared off by people wanting firsts. Not everybody gets firsts, and not all firsts want those jobs. Not all jobs require firsts, either. They ask for firsts mainly to raise the prestige of the job and by implication the management. It helps budgets, not employment conditions, and some of those jobs are really for cleaners.
The sooner you find your way into a meaningful job, the sooner you'll be able to decide what you want to do. Legal jobs, like any real professional job, have to relate to the person to be acceptable.
Be patient, and go looking for what you want. |
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dave88
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Joined: 22 May 2009
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Hi, thanks for your reply. I forgot to mention I did a Law and Criminology degree, its just that it is a qualified law degree as I originally thought I would be doing an LPC or BVC, so i refer to it simply as a law degree.
I don't know whether that will show that I have various skills that could be linked with doing criminal law. I've always been good with stats and numbers, identifying patterns in society as I did sociology at A level, and have an A in maths and stats GCSE's. This is one of the reasons why i thought maybe a job in finance or accounting? I have already applied for jobs regarding accountancy vacancies but have been unsuccesful so far.
I've seen jobs such as draftsman, but I never know how you go about getting into such a field? Also, the jobs within the Government, I never know what area to be looking at and for what job description to be looking for?
Thanks Dave |
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Pauloz
Expert
Joined: 02 Oct 2007
Posts: 1160
Career Advice: +3/-0
Location: Sydney
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| Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 11:56 pm Post subject: |
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| dave88 wrote: | Hi, thanks for your reply. I forgot to mention I did a Law and Criminology degree, its just that it is a qualified law degree as I originally thought I would be doing an LPC or BVC, so i refer to it simply as a law degree.
I don't know whether that will show that I have various skills that could be linked with doing criminal law. I've always been good with stats and numbers, identifying patterns in society as I did sociology at A level, and have an A in maths and stats GCSE's. This is one of the reasons why i thought maybe a job in finance or accounting? I have already applied for jobs regarding accountancy vacancies but have been unsuccesful so far.
I've seen jobs such as draftsman, but I never know how you go about getting into such a field? Also, the jobs within the Government, I never know what area to be looking at and for what job description to be looking for?
Thanks Dave |
dave88
Bingo! Your ideal job would be as a legal policy officer, specializing in criminal law and stats. You've also got the sociology area socked in, and I will bet you on any given day of the week there are at least ten of those policy things in progress, with related research, etc.
This is a potentially great career, and you get to see how things are done, (and not done), at government level.
You also have some real built- in advantages over other people in this area, because not many people have that skill set.
For the government jobs, it's a bit easier to speak directly to the employers, too, thanks to EO, contact officers, etc, so you can get a lot of useful information with just a phone call or so. You'll inevitably meet the odd bureaucrat, but the specialists are worth the price of a phone call. This is information on tap, every day of the week, regarding job opportunities.
I know this because I used to work in government in Australia, and our setup is a hybrid of the US/UK systems.
Looking for jobs, you go direct to the government websites. That gives you an instant feel for quality and style of the work. Some agencies use recruiters, but it's not hard to find contact people to sound out the jobs, and get the sort of background you need to write an intelligent application.
Even at entry level, the way up is ready made, and these agencies have to recruit by the rules, not some slap- happy HR ritual, so it's relatively painless, and you probably won't have to go through endless interviews.
For CV purposes, jobs like these are excellent. Having a government job on your CV means you're showing jobs the employers can assess easily, if and when you move on. It's also useful for sideways and upward moves in government agencies, for that reason. Everybody understands the work you've been doing, and knows how to check it.
There are a few caveats here:
1. Government jobs aren't "dynamic". They tend to be slow moving, sometimes pedantic, things. Some patience is required, until you learn how to get around the occasional hurdle.
2. At some point you're going to have your own strong views on what you want to do with your career. The government jobs can do some things, and can't do others. If you want to move into some form of private practice, you can find yourself with a big cultural gap to deal with.
3. Some people are simply not cut out for the government job environment. That's manageable by moving around till you find a good fit, but it can drive you up the wall in the short term. Patience, whether you have any or not, is the only way to deal with these occasional brick walls.
Stats and sociology
Although these are likely to be more immediately effective in combination with your degree, these extra skills are potentially excellent careers in their own right, but you'll need to develop them to turn them into career material. Actually, you'd probably be OK for entry level, and be able to find out what additional qualifications you need for demography, etc. The best shot is to approach a government statistician, there's always a few lying around somewhere, and sound them out on the possibilities.
You can also use those skills as job- getters in these areas. The baseline work isn't that complex, and you could have one of these jobs, and use the job experience as added value when applying in the policy areas. Stats and policy are inseparable.
You've got a lot of potentially very good shots here, particularly using your various combinations of skills. Anything at entry level in these areas will go somewhere, and this sort of job doesn't give a damn about firsts, they want someone who can do the job and cover the skill sets properly in their job criteria. |
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