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Life Advice
couldcause
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
In ten days I will graduate from law school and thirty days after that I will be flying to a new city to start my career at a law firm. Only one problem: I don't want to become a lawyer.
Long story short, I want to do something with my life that will make me happy and I am considering scrapping the law route and going back to school for two more years to complete a Bachelors in Computer Science and become a software developer. I would love to work for a game company and write code and work on my own projects. The idea of doing something creative excites me, while the idea of ten years from now being a bitter lawyer profiting off people's misery terrifies me.
The biggest thing holding me back is my age: I would be 28 by the time that I graduate. I need an objective/outside opinion. Should I just stick with my current path or am I still young enough to switch courses? I keep swinging back and forth from thinking I'm too old to consider a new career path to thinking there's all the time in the world. What do people think?
Long story short, I want to do something with my life that will make me happy and I am considering scrapping the law route and going back to school for two more years to complete a Bachelors in Computer Science and become a software developer. I would love to work for a game company and write code and work on my own projects. The idea of doing something creative excites me, while the idea of ten years from now being a bitter lawyer profiting off people's misery terrifies me.
The biggest thing holding me back is my age: I would be 28 by the time that I graduate. I need an objective/outside opinion. Should I just stick with my current path or am I still young enough to switch courses? I keep swinging back and forth from thinking I'm too old to consider a new career path to thinking there's all the time in the world. What do people think?
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However, I strongly suggest getting some experience where you're currently going. After a few months, if you really don't like it, then consider other things. Also: everything Mushroom just said.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Of course you are. My maternal grandfather went to medical school at age 34, and ended up being a neurosurgeon in charge of a neuro intensive care unit. You're a goddamn spring chicken still, go do what you want to do.
Now, whether being a software developer is a good idea, I have no clue.
I'm just putting that out there, in case that's an alternative law career path you might want to consider.
But if you really don't want to be a lawyer and your heart is set on computer science, I say go for it.
1. If you really hate law, then being a lawyer will make your whole life miserable. You're 26. You'll retire maybe at 76. That's 50 years of a career and life you'll despise. 2 years of study to avoid 50 years of misery is a really really good trade-off.
2. Starting a new degree at 26 and graduating at 28 is really not that old. Seriously.
3. With both a law degree and a CS degree, you'll be much more employable than other CS grads. Any team leader who's ever tried to design a new software while trying to find his way through a jumble of legalese EULA and copyrights will jump at the opportunity of having a programmer on his team who's also a lawyer and can make sense of all that stuff.
And this is coming from the girl who in the last 3 months considered getting a second bachelors to follow her childhood dream of being a marine biologist. After last year thinking about law school. And 2 different programs to get a second masters degree.
I think this is what I needed to hear.
While most of the lawyers I know do have horrible long working hours and certain level of stress, they do have a life and take pleasure in doing a lot of things outside their work. That's what vacations days are for.
P.S Congratz on becoming a lawyer and good luck in your career.
Normally I would say "you need to do what makes you happy" - since I switched from computer engineering to psychology and had pretty serious anxiety about "wasting" two years of my life - but you're an accredited lawyer and you have a job set up? If you will be 100% miserable being a lawyer, then leave and chalk it up as a lesson to making changes earlier when the consequences are fewer. If you think you can handle it, take the job and work your goals of software development into the long term while you work.
It's harsh, but I got the lecture from a doctor at my old university. She told me about two friends of hers growing up who both separately went into medicine, and after completing their doctorate promptly killed themselves because they hated being a doctor but tried to power through it. Just something to keep in mind.
You're also totally young enough to change paths, but think long and hard about whether a coding job is really going to be what you're imagining.
Why not try it out? It's not like you can't quit after a few months and pursue your CS degree. Test the water, see what happens. Like everyone else has said, there are a lot of different career paths for a lawyer.
Just take your job, get some experience and move on later if you really want to. Try out several fields in law if you want, it won't hurt you and you will be making money rather than taking more loans. School is not going anywhere.
They all of them, every single one, hated their lives. I have never met a more alcoholic group of people than that group of 3Ls.
The majority of them have gone on with different careers in law and are ridiculously happy with the choices that they made. Apparently the last semester of Law School is enough to make even the perfect students contemplate hopping on a train and riding the rails for a few years.
That being said, you made it. You've gotten through law school, you're graduating and you have a job. Holy shit congrats! Seriously, goodonya.
I'm 29, I just finished my first bachelors last summer at the ripe old age of 28 (because I did that stupid thing where you look at graduating college and having to maybe either go do more school or get a professional job and I panicked, leaving school 1 class short of my degree, and went to live in subsistence for 5 years..)
I'm considering going back for another bachelors, maybe a masters, who knows. but my BA is in English, and well... Yeah.
Seriously though, congrats on graduating law school. Get that diploma and go beat somebody across the head with it. Then pass your Bar exam and go get em. You done good, you done real good.
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You should really look at your law degree as a key that just opened a bunch of doors. Especially if you have a job lined up, you should work it for a few years, pass the bar, then revisit in 2-3 to see if you're still miserable. At least then you'll have the requisite experience to say "I've been a lawyer" rather than "I graduated from Law School"
This is exaggerated for effect. But not by much. Instead of being a bitter lawyer 10 years down the line, you would be a bitter developer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGar7KC6Wiw
First, congrats on graduation. And on landing a firm gig in this economy.
Second, do not quit. You should practice for a year or two and find out how you like the actual experience. Working as a lawyer is not like law school; some find that to be a pleasant surprise, others grow to hate the profession even more. But also understand that you might be better suited to different areas of law. Maybe you're not a litigator, but you're great at employment law. Try tax even if you're convinced you'll hate it; maybe you're a born anti-trust or energy lawyer and you don't know it. Branch out and explore, you might surprise yourself. If private practice/big law isn't for, try government law, or work for a nonprofit, or try to swing a gig inhouse somewhere. There are a lot of options for someone with your degree, especially if you spend 3-5 years practicing at a big law firm.
Third, even if you don't take my advice about practicing for a while, do yourself a favor and go ahead and sit for the bar. Being a graduate means nothing if you aren't licensed to practice in some jurisdiction. May-July will suck. There is no getting around it. The last few weeks before the bar will be absolutely miserable. But it is essential.
Fourth, I don't know your debt situation, but if you do have loans, I would try to put a dent in them before going back to school.
This is a pipe dream and you should probably set your expectations more in line with what is feasible.
Let's assume you take the two years and get your comp-sci degree.
You're entering the job force and there isn't a single entry level position I've seen where they will let you go and work on your own projects. You work on someone else's projects and work your way up to your own based on a combination of achievement, ass kissing, and who you know. When you work for a game company, unless you own the company, you won't be the creative force driving the ideas. You will be sitting at your desk writing or testing code. For 8 to 12 hours a day due to deadlines and if you have the same experience as one of my friends you will probably not get paid in a timely and regular fashion and then have to sue.
Stick with the lawyer route. You can say that you're profiting off of human suffering, but that's any job. I work with medical software and if people didn't suffer there'd be no need for my product.
This is not something that happens often at all
If I were a game developer, I'd make less. It's not the life you'd imagine, it's not fun. It's boring as all fuck. I've worked on video games and I'd rather work on medical software because games are fucking boring to program.
Go work for the law firm for at least a year. I'd say work in law for at least as long as you went to law school, so you can make a dent in the debt you've incurred.
As far as I can tell, unless you're working for a startup (for peanuts), the vast majority of your coding is fixing/upgrading other people's poorly documented code.
However, if you cleared undergrad and law school debt free then you're probably in a financial position to do whatever you want.
I don't think having graduated law school and having a BSCS is going to make you much more attractive to a game company. If they want a lawyer they'll hire someone (not full-time) who has some experience practicing law. And if they want a developer then you're just another recent CS grad. I'd be suspect of an employer that wanted to employ me in one position, but expect services that an unrelated position would provide, and if I'm expected to provide the expertise of that other position I'd want to be compensated as such (pay me an entry level lawyer salary, not an entry level programmer salary). I only know from small game companies, but they don't hire lawyers full-time; I'm sure EA has dozens of them though.
Seriously, though. Is your job at a big firm? My understanding is that working at those types of firms isn't the most enjoyable experience, but with starting salaries in major markets at $160k, it might be worth it for a few years. Work at your firm, build up your resume, and pay down your student loans (if you have any). Try and live somewhat frugally, and save as much as you can. Again, if you're working at a big firm, this should not be difficult.
If, after a few years, you decide that you hate being a lawyer, or you hate your particular firm, you'll have far more options than most people.
And isn't 30 the new 20, or something?
friend of mine went into a startup venture with a guy he met at my university's venture community,
guy basically was a lawyer for 2 years, made a lotta money, and then decided to start an internet startup
and that way if it fails he can always go back to lawyering because he was good at it
so
i mean hey, may as well work a bit and save up some money/pay down debts, and then change your mind afterwards
Being a lawyer sucks, but not because you're profiting off of someone else's misery - whoever wronged your client profited off of their misery, and you're trying to help. Being a lawyer sucks because you have an unpredictble and relentless schedule and are paid to internalize other people's worries. But you should at least try it before you decide you hate it. How much do you have in loans?
But I would definitely work for a few years as a lawyer until a) you have some money and b) the economy doesn't suck and the job market isn't awful.
1) Wanting to go back to school for a completely different degree sounds like you're afraid of the real world. Big life change like graduating & moving for a new job is definitely scary, but since you have a job lined up, I'd say go for it! You're in a much better position than many graduating law students.
2) Do you have any student loan and/or big credit card debt? if so, absolutely do not go back to school. Take the job and pay that crap off ASAP. Don't buy yourself a new BMW as a reward for the new job, don't deck out your new apartment with a $5000 home theater system and fancy furniture... pay off that debt with extreme prejudice. Higher education is becoming a form of indentured servitude, with people paying off their loans over 10 or 20 years. Having debt like that can really limit your options and flexibility in life. The fewer financial obligations you have, the easier it is to take risks and try new things.
So ultimately I'd suggest to go do some lawyering, pay off debts & save up money, and re-assess your situation in a few years. If it really isn't for you, then at least you'll be in a decent financial situation where it's easier to make a change.
Working in the game industry also should exposes you to the classic software death march, which generally is worse than what you find in other sectors.
Law is a strange field. It's not many professions where you see new graduates in their mid-late 20s making six figures at their first real job. Of course, they represent a fairly small minority of law school graduates, but BigLaw hires new associates every year, like clockwork.
This leads to a lot of people with little life experience having many times more money at their disposal than they ever had before.
If you buy a BMW, a fancy condo, and a bunch of expensive toys, you might suddenly find yourself in a position where you can't afford to quit your big firm job. And with most big firms having an "up or out" system of lockstep promotion, this can add another layer of stress to what is already a stressful job.
But this is pretty easy to avoid. Just live well within your means.
What makes you think law is uncreative, and what makes you think software development is creative?
If you want to be basic, both involve someone giving you a problem, and you then do research on how to fix it. Both involve using strict rules to do so -- lawyers via prior cases and legislation, software developers via code libraries and your dev language of choice.
Here's my two cents:
Don't quit the law firm. Don't go back to school.
Law school from what I understand is expensive. Do you know how much you'll get paid at a game studio? Not very much. Going back to school for a second degree will equate to massive amounts of debt that you will never escape from.
Also, CS programs at colleges can teach you a lot but you can also learn a lot on your own. Try taking some night classes in CS if you feel like you need an introduction to it, then make a totally awesome game. Game companies like Valve hire people who make totally awesome games, in their parents basement or otherwise. It's the quality of the product you make that matters to game companies.
If you are passionate for games, then make games. Start off with making a mod or making maps for other games and learn how level editors work. You can learn so much on your own just by fucking around. Also, try getting on with a volunteer based game project, you can learn a lot by doing stuff like that. Game projects are where I learned most of what I know, not school.
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This is true. 7 week workdays, 14 hours a day, weee!
The interior decoration at both kinds of office.
I work with a lot of securities lawyers and corporate lawyers and they're pretty nice guys with a good analytical streak. Working at Sullivan Cromwell or Cravathe for a few years is hell, no doubt about it, but it's hell in which you are being paid a lot more to advance into a hard-to-break-into world that pays good money. Meanwhile, software development is hell with a high turnover.
I don't want to be mean, but stay a lawyer unless you loathe it.
Or smattering of television dramas written about them.
Jeez, excuse me while I go make a VB GUI because they broke through our firewall. Here hop on this keyboard and help me.
So, medical students?
I live in D.C. I interned at a political consulting firm, and half the partners had J.D.'s. At the non-profit where I currently work -- an organization that runs international science fairs and puts out a bi-monthly science news magazine -- one of the outreach people holds a J.D. and just made a career change from the FBI. I have a friend who interned i a congressional office, and most of the important people in her office had law degrees. Many lobbyists I run into have a J.D. Many people at non-profit/non-government organizations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Corporate Accountability International have law degrees. My roommate's cousin, a lawyer, works for the Department of Justice's cybercrime and intellectual property division, wherein he gathers evidence against and helps prosecute child molesters who target minors through internet chatrooms and MMOs (and he LOVES his job). This city is absolutely saturated with J.D.'s, and I'd guess that not even half of them actually practice law. So don't feel like you're locked into your profession just because of your degree.
Second, if your heart is REALLY set on IT and game design and all that stuff, you don't have to go back to school full-time. Grab a textbook or two and study in your space time -- I'm guess that if you successfully got a J.D., you have the initiative and discipline for that sort of self-study. Or take a night class. The USDA runs night classes in many cities that are cheap and will help teach you the skills you need while a) letting you work and b) not murder your wallet. In the meantime, you can use these studies to access whether you REALLY want to go into this field.