Alternate Job Options After Studying Law 

Huge manpower is needed in legal academics. By manpower, one indicates young minds because when legislation is drafted, it’s drafted in tune with modern trends; traditional minds cannot produce it. Ever heard of the line "Since you've got nothing to do, try law as a career" this statement is as outcasted as the people who believe that litigation and judiciary are the only options in the legal field. But it is true sometimes, we take up law mostly because it is a respectable professional degree or maybe excellent in liberal arts or even at times people take it up because it is not too bad to take this as a career, but it is not what the heart is calling for.

Maybe you want to do something more creative, maybe you want to do something that includes being in the middle of characters, or maybe you want to do something with your hands rather than something intellectual.  Perhaps you want to be on the front page of Fortune magazine as an entrepreneur. It is often thought this way: are we throwing away our career in law in search of a mirage? Is it even a good choice? 

When the going gets difficult, chase your passion because that is how you will find your opportunity. And that is the moment of reckoning. Once you get into your desired law school, you will start enjoying every bit of the academics that will give you a vast taste of moots, rational debates, internships, and project works. From the MNCs to pro bono services, you get to have a hang of everything in law school, so you finally get to decide what you like and feel like taking up by the end of the degree. 

One thing is guaranteed to all the misfits, rebels, and dreams, especially those who feel like going to the Himalayas, studying law, and the time spent in law school, law firms and courts will always be an asset to you and never baggage of bad investment. 

• The Business side of Law

Law gives you a broader perspective. As a lawyer, you get a glimpse into many industries and businesses; you see the risks, the consequences and rewards from the side-lines. That prepares you for your own business at some level.

Did you know that Ardeshir Godrej, the Godrej group founder, was indeed a lawyer. MDs of companies like Goldman Sachs, Disney and IndiGo are all lawyers. All these entrepreneurs or business-minded people have similar skills as that of a lawyer. Lawyers have some advantages in the skills like Ability to influence others or convince someone, Foresight, their Analysis skills, Market knowledge, Administration& Leadership qualities, Ability to decrease risks, Self-assessment and constant strive for improvement. If you hold some of these abilities or are at least ready to develop them, you could become a successful entrepreneur.

• Legal Journalism 

Taking up law and journalism is the most desirable option one can currently take because you don't need practice for researching and drafting; your law school has taught you enough. Your presentation skills are probably better than a lot of journalism graduates. You also understand how the arrangement works. The most agreeable part is that you can get information through RTI that other journalists who do not know the law will grapple with. A law student is well versed in liberal arts. 

A journalist requires to be proactive, exploring, factious and run by logic. All these features are usually highly detailed in a lawyer as well. If you can write or speak and influence people with your communications, it might just be the appropriate field for you. However, if you are enthusiastic about media or journalism, the options are unlimited. You could be an anchor, host a legal show on TV, become a legal correspondent, or become your show's producer. 

Know that the golden age of traditional media is about to come, so rise and shine! 

• Policy Analyst

I didn't know this was a legit career option unless I participated in my university debates. So, suppose you are someone who actively participates in parliamentary debates in your university and understands how policies are drafted and want to be actively associated in forming such legislations. In that case, a Public policy analyst, my friend, can be just the right job for you.

The lawyers are well equipped with various planning tools and understand legislations which makes them the fittest for the job. Suppose subjects like public administration and governance, abstract concepts, projections or making sense of statistics appeal to you. You desire to impact the governance and businesses in India at the policy level. In that case, you can think of this as a career choice.  

As a policy analyst, you must be continuously updated with the newest laws, amendments, and several policies. You should have a never-ending journey for learning renewed subjects and assure that you have enough expertise on various subjects. A simple way to figure this out is by taking up such courses to help you up to your game and get a leader amongst your peers.  After all, legal talent and policymaking go hand in hand.

• Content makers

Law firms are prohibited from the advertisement as per the commands of the Advocates Act. Yet, law firms these days practice chicer strategies to market themselves. This is done via content marketing, where they produce suitable content on most of the current legal issues and post it on various panels and platforms. The business that they create out of it benefits them to get leads to make better clients.

Even big law firms choose legal content writers and marketing directors at a generous salary. To get commenced with this, you need to have a knack for writing, research and promotion. 

• Law preachers

Being a mentor at the competitive law exams training institute is very rare but assuredly very gratifying. However, teaching is not an effortless occupation at all. It isn't easy to relate with students and teach them as per their demands. Knowledge is not enough; an enthusiasm for teaching is. Teaching is not a profession; it is a passion to help others most nobly.

To top it all, you don't grow to be a mentor; you become someone who has an enormous following. 

Not just CLAT, there are more competitive exams that you can begin your prep institute/teaching for. For instance, AILET, LSAT, SET, CET, GGSIPU, DU LLB, CLAT for LLM students, UPSC, NE, and many other judiciaries clerkship exam. All these provide a huge scope for you to venture into and help all the interested candidate with their career options.

You need to be regularly updated with every legal development in terms of the above discussed competitive exams and be sure that you have adequate knowledge to answer any question that pops up in the students' minds. In my opinion, the task of becoming a legal competitive exam mentor is the most difficult of all development courses because you are not just dealing with young, tender minds but also dealing with the most unsettling, probing and curious minds of all.

If you think your law degree will help you in any of the efforts, it will. However, you will have to change yourself adequately. If you have an exceptional idea to start your business, then develop it further by exploring how to go about it. If you want to grow to be a journalist, write regularly for various newspapers/magazines. Suppose you want to be a policy analyst, be an intern at the right place. If you want to become an investment banker, enhance your knowledge accordingly; if you want to become a blogger, start writing. Grow yourself, speak to as many people as you can, take up subjects to intensify your skills and knowledge and become successful.

However, learn to be brave. It takes a lot of discipline to get a law degree and then do something slightly different from traditional roles. Just know that nobody can take your degree away from you, and in case of a failure, you can get back to practising. Nevertheless, take that first step without shaking feet.