| Topic Name: |
What careers would be best for me? |
| Message Name: |
What would you do instead? |
| Date Posted: |
09/10/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
I am a 44 y.o. attorney (successful practice, unfortunately, my partner is my estranged wife so I have to change jobs) also looking at a career change. Before you invest three years of your life (and untold thousands of dollars - most young attorneys we have hired are coming out of law school close to $100K in debt) think about whether you really want to practice law. First, there are too many attorneys out there (starting salaries at major firms are good, but you are effectively working 2 or more jobs since you will be putting in 80+ hours a week; but at most firms, starting salaries are in the 30K to 40K range); Second, most of the lawyers I know (including me) want to get out of the practice of law.
Good luck in finding what you are looking for (I believe that happiness in life starts with happiness/contentment in career - its where you spend most of your waking hours). |
| Message: |
If you could do it all over again, what would you do instead? I went to law school (dual JD/MBA) directly from college, graduated and decided I would never practice law. Since I never had any real work experience, my first job as a recent MBA was very entry level in market research. I got stuck in that field for 6 years (trying to get out through a couple of different jobs), and now am looking at a major career change. I'm actually considering law in Estate Planning (it seems different than most other practice areas) and I like the marketing/sales aspects that might go along with it. I hate research and I need something where I'm not stuck at my desk all day in front of a computer monitor. I'm looking into sales or corporate training/employee development. Anyone have any thoughts on estate planning as a practice area? Just netowrking with attorneys to explore this area makes my stomach turn at times as I begin to reexperience everything that made me never want to practice again. I hope you find something you like. Life's too short and the world has too much to offer.
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