Nonlegal Careers for Lawyers Review

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(More customer reviews)(I think three and a half stars would be a more accurate rating, but it's not an option.)
I am currently a third-year law student, in debt up to my eyballs, and after spending two summers clerking at small law firms, I realized that I do not want to become a lawyer. So how am I going to pay off my student loans??
This book was a good resource to get my mind in gear, to organize my priorities, and to begin thinking about what kind of job I'd like to have.
As it turns out, many of the careers profiled in this book are as uninteresting to me as the practice of law. Nevertheless, by the time I finished reading the book, I had a list of quite a few options to consider.
I bought this book along with another one, "The Lawyer's Career Change Handbook," which has more of a hands-on approach. Together, these books have been an invaluable resource for plotting the direction of my post-law-school life. After some background information on how to conduct a job search, how to assess one's skills, etc., "Nonlegal Careers" hightlights different types of careers, and includes little stories about people who were lawyers and ended up changing their jobs - either within the practice of law, or finding fulfilling careers outside of the law. While these little stories were cute, and a real-life application of the concepts set forth in the book, they sometimes seemed a bit fanciful, impractical, or unrealistic to me.
Other reviewers of this book and other books about non-legal careers seemed frustrated that the books don't say, "Here, Kathy, disgruntled law student, we think that you should become a teacher - and guess what? We're going to tell you how to do that without needing to get a teaching certificate, or any additional education." Of course the books don't give that kind of advice. What they are good for is making the reader think about potential options - other career paths within the law, career paths related to the law, and career paths that have nothing to do with the law. John Grisham is always listed in these books - he is an attorney, but gave up the practice of law to become an incredibly successful author. Readers of "Nonlegal Careers" need to understand that reading this book is not going to turn you into the next John Grisham. But maybe, if you are already a talented creative writer (which I most definietly am not!), the book will encourage you to investigate a career as a writer.
This book is great as a way to begin thinking about alternative careers - but it is just a begining. (And, really, it doesn't claim to be any more than that.) No book written by someone you have never met is going to be able to tell you what to do with your life! Take this book for what it is - a step in the right direction toward a fulfilling career.
"Nonlegal Careers for Lawyers" is a wondeful guide, but it might be just as useful to check it out of the library as to have it on your shelf.

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Great opportunities exist for law students and practicing lawyers outside the traditional practice of law.This important resource shows you when and how to choose a nonlegal career; the specialized skills legal training provides; how to plan and conduct a job search; and provides details on careers in business and industry, government and public service, associations and institutions, and entrepreneurial ventures. A resource section provides surveys and listings of nonlegal careers in several categories, and a listing of publishers and suggested readings on nonlegal careers.

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