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Old 08-20-2015, 02:18 AM   #61
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Old 08-20-2015, 07:56 AM   #62
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Another dissatisfied, miserable lawyer here. Just tired of the constant stress (my practice is mostly litigation) and lack of reward (either financial [I know way too many car salesman who make more money than I do] or otherwise). It's just exhausting being responsible for other people's problems every single day.

I've been fantasizing about an escape for over a year now but I keep telling myself to stick it out a little longer (because I loved law school so much).
That sounds like me 2 years ago. I ended up quitting, doing some traveling, then going into teaching English. In Cambodia now having the time of my life. The 80% pay cut doesn't look great on paper, but the tradeoff was more than worth it for an infinitely better quality of life.
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Old 08-20-2015, 08:06 AM   #63
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No I'm not. I'm in private investment management and making rich people richer really doesn't jive with my world view, or make me feel very good about my contribution to humanity. I'm looking at taking a pretty hard left turn into an artistic field, where my real passion is.
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Old 08-20-2015, 08:27 AM   #64
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Depends on the day.
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Old 08-20-2015, 08:54 AM   #65
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I'm a stay at home dad - my boss vcan be a real grumpy tyrant at times. Little jerk.
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:03 AM   #66
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I am a mechanical engineer by school but I practice as a petroleum engineer. I complete wells in the Gulf Of Mexico (Completions engineer) and bring them on production. Sounds a lot cooler than it is.

I contemplate my career decision what seems like every other week. I decided about a year ago that I needed to start doing other things so my wife and I started a small business building homes here in the Houston area. I continue to work but my wife manages the business. I find that I really do enjoy building homes more than I do my day job. Not sure if that is because it is new and exciting or if I was truly made to do it.
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:04 AM   #67
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Originally Posted by Makarov View Post
Another dissatisfied, miserable lawyer here. Just tired of the constant stress (my practice is mostly litigation) and lack of reward (either financial [I know way too many car salesman who make more money than I do] or otherwise). It's just exhausting being responsible for other people's problems every single day.

I've been fantasizing about an escape for over a year now but I keep telling myself to stick it out a little longer (because I loved law school so much). Anyway, just started a new position that I think may be promising, so I at least have some hope at the moment.
Same boat here. Loved law school, love law, hate the practice of law. The firm I'm at is probably as good as it gets for firm practice.

People find it surprising, but the money really isn't that good for the time and stress, even in a junior capacity. I know nurses, teachers and salesmen who, when counting pensions/options make far more than I do for far less hours. Vacation is an illusion, since we're expected to be available at least a couple times per day to check emails, etc.

For every great client who is open, honest, and has integrity, there's three who would knife you in your sleep for free work, or to use you as a liability shield.

There's a reason people hate lawyers and its because we're a product of our environment. Every job has its pros and cons though I suppose.

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Old 08-20-2015, 09:04 AM   #68
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I'm a lawyer and don't really like it anymore. I used to, but now I'm a bit jaded by the fact that there's so many #######s in it and so much B.S. I've certainly lost any passion I had for it.

I'm actually jealous of my pal who works as a heavy duty equipment mechanic. Gets to be outside, B.S around with the boys, not always having to worrying about stupid complaints. I'm seriously considering going into the field (I'm in my early 30s with no kids, no debts and some money saved up)

How about everyone else?
There are so many areas of law where you can practice, limited only by your imagination.

I left the big firm long ago and run my own shop. Left Family Law for solicitor work. Much happier now.

I'm thinking of doing something in law around music and entertainment.

The Alberta Law Society has a program offering career counseling (Assist?). Take advantage.

http://www.lawsociety.ab.ca/lawyers/assist.aspx
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:08 AM   #69
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I love my job.

The general public absolutely HATE me, and refuses to actually engage in compromise and conversation, but my job is to convince these fanatical people that there exists two sides to every point, and try my best to see their side as well.

And that's only 50% of my job. The other half is just fun engineering analysis and technical development/research. I have a ton of freedom to make things happen for the better, and ensure things are being done safely and sustainably.
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:10 AM   #70
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I have a decent job in business development at a decent place in town. It was a step down from my previous job, but far more stable. I get a lot of opportunity to engage in strategic planning, especially in the comms area of things. Do I like it? Some days, yes. Other days, I work on my writing, and keep thinking I will send it away in the hopes that I publish.
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:12 AM   #71
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First career was as a journalist, now I'm a financial planner and part-time politician. I've enjoyed both careers and have done well. I'm happy as I've always done meaningful work.
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:23 AM   #72
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Working with the IBM Mainframe has its ups and downs, but its challenging and I enjoy it. Wish the Icelandic krona wasn't in the crapper otherwise I'd be that much happier.

For me though the group I work with are terrific, have one of the best bosses a guy could ask for and that makes all the difference for me.
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:29 AM   #73
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I'm personal training/managing a small gym, and it's a mixed bag - the training is fun and gratifying when you see people achieve things, but there's very little training right now with the economy in the toilet. The managment part is really NOT fun, but the security of the steady cheque is winning out right now.
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:34 AM   #74
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I work in IT. About two years ago I was working for a medium size company downtown doing just about everything in the IT dept. (There were others in the group but I got to work on all facets). I loved it. Then the company got bought by a massively large world wide company. I got stuck just supporting SharePoint and never got to interact with people except over the phone. I really hated it. I knew I would never meet anyone on my team as we were scattered all over the globe, I never met my new boss, there was just no satisfaction anymore.
I decided about a year ago to leave and went to a small company. That was terrible, but that was mainly because the management was terrible and they hired me for a job that was ultimately not what they wanted me for.
Now I work for a small MSP (Managed Service Provider). We support over 50 small businesses. I am on the third tier support queue so I get to work on everything again, every day is different and challenging. It makes coming to work fun again. I get to go to client sites sometimes and interact with them on a personal level and that feels good. Also I just had my review the other day and one thing that my boss told me was that I was one person that he never worries about, when something gets assigned to me he knows that it will get fixed. Also clients have been giving me very good reviews. All in all I like what I'm doing again.
The only thing is that with supporting so many clients there is not that real in depth connection with them. There is a connection with them as I interact with them and get to see their business function but it is not the same as when I worked for the one place and I knew that everything I did was to make them better. Not sure if that makes sense.
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:38 AM   #75
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There are days I wished I had stayed in the Military. I miss parts of that, but then again there are parts of it I don't miss.

I worked for myself for a while and it was financially good, but horrible for my family life. All work and no play makes UCB a dull boy. It got to the point where my wife told me I had to decide which was more important, work or family.

I got a new job, which came with a 25% roll back in dollars. Now, 7 yrs later I am back up and above the salary I was making before.


There are days I hate work, there are days I love work. The variety is the positive thing.

At the end of the day, for me work is something that allows me to live life and do things I like. My current job allows me to coach my kids teams, when I go on vacation I don't work.
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:41 AM   #76
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I went to University originally as a marketing major. I discovered that I enjoyed the design part rather than the selling part and became a pretty proficient graphic designer but I still hated selling and networking.

I inexplicably decided to go to law school out of that foolish adolescent need for pride/identity/status, I switched majors to political science, wrote my LSATs, started getting law-related jobs (Law Library, Alberta Law Society, legal research company, Calgary Bar Association) and quickly discovered what many have echoed in this thread - that a great deal of lawyers seemed to hate their jobs and were constantly stressed out in a conflict/blame driven industry which quickly changed my mind for me.

Around this time, I discovered I was fixing everybody's computers and printers at work instead of doing my actual job so I switched into IT. I started programming and tinkering when I was 6 years old (but stopped for several years) so I always had this as a background as well.

Today I work in IT for an O&G producer managing enterprise systems but with the industry the way it is, I'm constantly looking at backup plans. I've recently blown tens of thousands of dollars in the restaurant business (I like to cook) which I might not be able to recoup because business went down with the economy and embezzlement issues (ex-partner). I've also started a new real-life game/amusement business (PM me for details and CP discount). Interestingly enough, my graphic design background means I am now in charge of a lot of marketing material for these side ventures as well. Nothing is really paying off (financially) right now, but it keeps me busy enough that becoming miserable is impossible because the variety and learning curve (and fun!) is just intense.

The moral of the story is that life doesn't always turn out the way you expect it to, but even if you get pidgeon-holed into one career or your schooling (or lack of schooling) narrows your available field - this doesn't mean you have to start all over again or have a miserable life doing only one thing. There's 24 hours in a day and there's plenty of time to keep a full-time, professional job, and also try ventures on the side from anything in small business to an online startup to a food truck etc. Life is full of opportunity if you are creative and are willing to teach yourself. This is what I tell my 30-something friends who are having early-life career crisis and are constantly going back to school, still struggling with finding a new vocation through traditional means.

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Old 08-20-2015, 09:44 AM   #77
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Interesting to see some of your perspectives - thanks everyone for sharing.

I guess I am pretty happy with my career choice (O&G accounting). Do I love my job? No. But I definitely don't dread it. More often than not I do enjoy it, but the monotony can get to me some times.

Overall I am thankful for the quality of life my career affords me as I am quite happy with where my life is right now. My job is low stress with very little overtime and the pay is ok, but it allows to live a pretty good lifestyle outside of work (which is somewhat supplemented by the girlfriend's much better paying career).

Obviously being in O&G the last little while has been tough, and like many it has made me question going into another field....but it has also made me be more thankful that I still have a job in this industry.

All in all, things are pretty ok. Which I guess I will take considering it could be a lot worse.
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:48 AM   #78
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There are so many areas of law where you can practice, limited only by your imagination.
That's great, but what about leaving the law altogether?

What fields can a lawyer enter and have a realistic chance of success/getting hired in?
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Old 08-20-2015, 09:52 AM   #79
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That's great, but what about leaving the law altogether?

What fields can a lawyer enter and have a realistic chance of success/getting hired in?
I'd say there are a ton of corporate or public sector jobs where a legal background can fit into from financial to regulatory or even just management areas.

That said, I've known lawyers with Juris Doctors who have quit to work in marketing, IT, opened a small-business (legal background makes this much easier!) or become interior decorators...

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Old 08-20-2015, 09:55 AM   #80
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^Tons of corporate roles, tons of government jobs, just to name two disciplines...
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