There’s nothing unusual about going through law school, only to realize that joining a law firm as a partner and becoming a practicing lawyer is not the right career path for you. There’s an abundance of reasons that people who once planned to become lawyers and completed law school with great success later decide that they no longer wish to practice law, even after passing the bar exam.
- Preliminary Ideas
While it’s natural for anyone to make a change in their career plans, you need to find a new goal to help keep you motivated and to provide you with an alternative way to provide yourself with a good source of income. The sooner you can start to brainstorm a plan, the better.
- Take Some Time to Reflect
If you can afford some downtime, it can be useful to give yourself some space away from your usual routine to help bring about greater reflective insight regarding your life goals and desires. You might even decide to use this time to take up a simple job that’s positive for you in a more general way – or do to some meaningful volunteer work. Just remember that the purpose of this time is not to avoid the issue of life plans, but to give yourself breathing room.
- Contact a Legal Recruiter
Whether you have no idea where to turn for your next step, or have some plan in mind, the best thing you can do is to get in touch with a legal recruiter to go over your options. Since there are many kinds of jobs that allow you to put your legal training to professional use, you can solicit the advice of a legal recruiter to find help getting hired in a legal position that will give you a meaningful career, which doesn’t involve arguing in front of a judge.
Legal Recruiters are known for their expert ability to find top placements for new lawyers in the best law firms, and to find the top new talent for law firms that are hiring. What is less frequently known is that legal recruiters are the best available resource for advice about other aspects of the legal industry and the legal job market as well – which also covers legal jobs other than working as a barrister.
- Considering Your Options
When you’re looking for great legal career choices for non-lawyers, the options are probably more abundant than you expect. You may have already thought about the obvious options like a paralegal or a litigation support professional, but here are some examples you may not have considered:
- Electronic Discovery Professional
- Trial Consultant
- Mediator
- Legal Nurse Consultant
- Jury Consultant
- Legal Secretary
A legal recruiter can add to this list and explain the requirement and outcomes of each path in detail.
You may have decided that a career as a practicing lawyer is not the right option for you, but you are far from out of options. The best move that you can make at this time is to contact a legal recruiter to get help finding a way for you to get the job satisfaction you want using the skills that you already have.