This summer my classmates and I are moving past law school and seeking post-graduation employment. This process involves a good deal of anger because we now realize how bad the job market is and how little our “prestigious” school actually prepared us for legal work.
Law school feels like a scam.
It is like discovering that your “computer skills” degree from Global Flybynight University is useless, and that GFU is actually unaccredited.
Jill: “Just imagine standing over a toilet and flushing down $100,000. That’s what law school is like. And it’s horrible. It makes you chubby, and awkward, and miserable, and you actually pay for this…”
Ironically, the things that make us employable have nothing to do with school because job interviews focus on prior work experience, social media skills, and extracurriculars. No one actually cares where we went to school, and the crap1 that impresses professors does not impress most employers, especially for non-traditional jobs.
There is an upside here: the scarcity of jobs, depressed wages, and the lack of job security has put formerly “risky” non-traditional careers on par with traditional legal employment. This means that more of us are following our passions since the formerly “safe” traditional legal employment prospects2 are just as bad. If we are going to be baristas anyway, then why not barista while pursing a career as a trapeze artist?
1 This includes law review, moot court prizes, and the ability to string together jargon/legalese while saying nothing…the real question is often: “Is this job applicant annoying? Would I want want to work with this sweaty, desperate person?”
I also think more students are demanding healthy working environments. Why beat down the door for a hellacious 90-hour a week gig? The non-traditional, less stressful alternative doesn’t seem like a waste of a degree anymore. We’ve heard about the associate abuse, and if the job security at the end of the tunnel is no longer there, then the question becomes: for what?
2 Law school is also like undergoing bootcamp. We are more disciplined and organized about our pursuits than before, and probably better equipped for any career because of our legal studies…but we still want our $100,000 back.
6 Comments
thelifeofalawstudent
June 11, 2010 at 10:38 amIs it really true that employers don’t really care about law review and moot court? And if it is true that employers don’t care about participation in either organization, why are they such a big deal?
Jansen
June 11, 2010 at 12:17 pmIt’s about status. Let’s take law review as an example:
1. “Everyone” says law review is prestigious.
2. The top students go for it, because they hear law review is prestigious.
3. The employer’s seek students on law review, because they know the most ambitious students are on law review, and they can tout the associate’s law review status as a status on their websites.
Nevermind that law review – the activity – has nothing to do with actual practice. The point is that law review is deemed a prize, and people know that the most ambitious students will go after that prize, no matter how arbitrary or useless that prize is.
It’s the legal equivalent of abs or a prada bag. And don’t get me wrong, if that status is important to you, or will get you where you want to go, then go for it. Just be aware what you are doing is hoop jumping, and not gaining practical experience.
What I look for in an employer is someone who values my skills over any resume padding/status activities. Those employers tend to be more rational and focus on results, which will mean a healthier long-term employment relationship.
MN 3L
June 12, 2010 at 10:24 pmLaw school IS a scam, pure and simple.
They lie to you to get you in the door (blatantly false employment and salary statistics), and keep buttering you up as much as possible to keep you from seeing the light and dropping out.
An artful scam, given a nice gloss of presTTTige and the backing of asleep-at-the-wheel professional organizations (ABA, NALP), but a scam nonetheless.
Yet the students continue to pile in the doors. I’ve come around to accepting the fact that we’re all just a bunch of morons.
Jansen
June 12, 2010 at 10:30 pmHey, wee will make some super educated trapeze artists.
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