Overcome Your Legal Mindset: There’s Life Beyond The Law Firm Can I do anything else except practice law? This is an often asked question. The simple answer is, yes you can, but first you must overcome the legal mindset. Many people develop this frame of mind in law school. Some develop it even before they get there. It is how they deal with the stresses of law school. In their quest to overcome the tribulations of law school,... (514 views)
What To Do When You Are Disenchanted With Being A Lawyer? There are over three-quarters of a million lawyers, give or take, in this country. More are on the way. The law school mills continue running at full capacity. They produce graduates in numbers incomprehensible a generation ago. Practicing law affects differently those who do it. Many love it and that is great. Everyone should be able to work at what they truly love to do. (1041 views)
Know Whether You Really Want To Switch: After All You Always Wanted To Be A Lawyer While intensely concentrating on getting through the law program, many law students effectively put blinders on themselves. They focus day-to-day, rather than on the future. This myopic, near-trance is what most call the legal mindset. Since they have joined law school of their own choice, knowing full well its notoriety for being tough, unforgiving and demanding, one can... (38 views)
Selling Yourself At A Non-Legal Jobs – Do’s And Don’ts Once you have taken the decision, and obviously it is the right one, that you are not going to stay routed in the erroneous belief that law school students must end up as lawyers, convince yourself that you are better equipped than most others for non-legal jobs. (126 views)
How To Make Transition From Legal Jobs To Business Jobs Seamless And Stress-free? There is a dissimilarity between changing a job and making a career transition. A job change means just changing your job, but doing the same thing, albeit at a different location and amongst different people. However, when you leave a job for another that involves doing something totally unlike what you were doing earlier; you are making a career transition. Job changes... (347 views)
What Type of New Non-Legal Career Environment Will Make You Happy? Shifting to a new career environment calls for a lot of courage conviction. Stepping out into hitherto unchartered terrain is not for the faint of heart and many would call it foolhardy. But now that you have taken the decision, ask yourself these questions to understand what your interests are and what sort of new career environment will make you happy. (15 views)
Your Introductory Letter Should Elucidate Why You Want To Switch To Non–Legal Jobs: Here’s How? Whilst resume are important, most interviewers consider the introductory letters more important. It doesn't take long and the letter tells you more about the person than the resume. Letters are personal. Resumes are cookbooks. The cover letter tells how badly the applicant wants the job by how much effort they put into the letter. If they work hard to get the job, they... (55 views)
Tailoring Your Resume To Push Yourself Strongly For Non-Legal Jobs The vast majority of resumes look the same. Why? They look the same because the vast majority of job seekers do not put enough of their own thought or effort into writing them. They use a form resume out of a book as a template. Then, all that is left to do is slap together one page of seemingly unrelated data that ends up reading like an obituary notice, make a lot of... (312 views)
The Non-Legal Business World Is Unchartered: Develop Contacts To Network The Maze You are sending out introduction letters with accompanying resumes. However, you are unsure whether you have covered all the opportunities. Maybe you did not notice an emerging company. Maybe another division within the target leading edge company needs someone. Do you wait to read about it in the next industry publication? There is a better way to find out what might be... (5 views)
Alternatives Available In Legal Profession Given the dissatisfaction rampant in the legal profession and the problems inherent in creating a part-time schedule, many lawyers now face tremendously difficult decisions: (212 views)
Transferable Lawyering Skills This article is a form of exercise that focuses on two kinds of skills: transferable and legal skills. It will provide you with a sense of the degree to which you feel competent in your skills and the degree to which you enjoy utilizing various skills. (2127 views)
Leaving Behind A Career In Law Deciding to go to law school is a risky decision that is surprisingly hard to reverse. Many people attend law school for lack of anything better to do or despite major misgivings. They do not drop out at the top schools, despite the fact that a large minority dislike law school itself. (Harvard's attrition rate is typically under 1 percent.) (2 views)
Alternative Legal Career Profile Checklist You should now begin to focus in more tightly on the ideal position for you. Review the list describing your ideal position and the notes you have taken on your potential career areas. You should also have completed more extensive research and possibly some additional informational interviews before you complete the career profile list. (21 views)
Alternative Legal Careers: Identifying the Right Resources You may find it difficult to discover what resources are appropriate for your non-legal career search. The best way to begin is to think about all of the possible ways you might approach a specific career area and all of the groups, agencies, individuals, and written materials that could possibly have information about the area. (49 views)
Alternative Legal Careers: Planning for a Job Change as a Lawyer The career planning process will go on throughout your lifetime. Although you have chosen to pursue the study of law or are currently practic¬ing law, there are still a number of decisions that you will need to make. There are also a number of myths that you need to dispel as you make your career decisions. Probably the first and foremost myth to dispel is that career... (284 views)
Before You Embark on an Alternative Legal Career, Define Your Goals There are three essential parts of the career planning process. They are the What, the Where, and the How of the career search. (35 views)
Evaluating Your Abilities Before a Career Shift There are a variety of elements that need to be taken into consideration in conducting the self-assessment aspect of the career search. You may wish to consider some of the following: (39 views)
Alternative Legal Careers: Defining Your Perfect Career List the qualifications that your ideal job would possess. These qualific-ations may be tangible or intangible. There are no boundaries, except the ones that you set. (88 views)
Self-Assess Your Transferrable Legal Skills Once you are committed to the idea of a non-traditional career you should remember the importance of beginning the job search in an organized manner. Defining transferable skills is an important first step. Transferable skills are the skills and abilities you possess that you plan to utilize in the new posi¬tion you are seeking. The most important of these to consider are... (146 views)
Setting Priorities: Your Ideal, Alternative Legal Job Setting The "where" has to do with more than simple geography. It may include the types of knowledge one would expect to use in the job hunt, the people internal to the organization and those served by it, as well as the everyday working conditions. "Where" would also include the level or salary you would expect if you worked in this particular organization. (39 views)
Alternative Legal Careers: Chart Your Professional and Social Networks In order to begin developing a referral list, or a chart of your network, you may wish to complete the following worksheet. This should help you get organized. Consider this form as something that will continually be expanded as you consider referral sources— (21 views)
Narrowing Down Your Alternative Legal Career Paths Once you have discussed potential career paths with a number of professionals, you should begin to narrow your options. An easy way to begin is to list the top five titles or occupation areas you would consider. Try to keep the areas relatively broad in scope. Eventually you will need to be specific with a tide. Early on in the process you will be much more successful in... (15 views)
Alternative Legal Careers: Job Hunting Tools There are three main methods utilized in the job hunting process: (108 views)
Long-Term Planning For a Successful Non-Legal Career Search Once you have tested your ideas about your job search through the networking process, you will want to put together an overall job hunting strategy. (6 views)
The Job Offer: Accepting a Non-Legal Position Any job search is an emotional and exhausting time in your life. Search¬ing for a non-legal position with a law degree is especially difficult. You will find yourself educating employers about the specifics of a law degree and all the wonderful skills a legally trained professional can bring to their organiza¬tion, while trying to sell yourself as an individual. It may... (126 views)
Alternative Legal Careers: What are your options if you are planning to leave your legal career? This guide is intended as a reference for career services professionals and as a workbook for law students seeking alternatives to traditional careers in law. (753 views)
Alternative Legal Careers: Writing a Non-Legal Career Survey Exploring Alternative Legal Careers Non-Legal Career Survey (95 views)
Alternative Legal Careers: Comparative Skills Worksheet Exploring Alternative Legal Careers Skills Worksheet (203 views)
Alternative Legal Careers: Create a Non-Law Resume Worksheet Exploring Alternative Legal Careers Non-Legal Resume Worksheet (96 views)
Pros And Cons Of An Alternative Legal Career For Lawyers One of the inescapable facts of any career decision is that it will have both its pros and its cons. Since your needs, interests and abilities will not be a duplication of those of another person, it is vitally important that you give careful consideration to all the factors that might bear upon the success of your final decision. (99 views)