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.