A lawyer is a specialist who provides high-level legal assistance to both individuals and legal entities. Did you know that the attorney profession is one of the oldest in the world? For the first time, representatives of this craft appeared in Ancient Rome. In that era, they were called “patrons.” The first associations and exams for lawyers arose in the same Ancient Rome (the age of the Empire). These times are considered as the beginning of the development of the whole legal industry.
Nowadays, the attorney profession is considered one of the most popular and respectable. The direct duties of this specialist are to represent and protect the rights of individuals or organizations in court. The career ladder of an attorney begins only after graduation and professional internships. Before to discuss the top challenges of the attorney career, let’s list the advantages of this work:
- Opportunity to help people. In most cases, average citizens do not know their rights upon arrest or in any criminal case. The lawyer helps them understand how the legal system works, protects in any situation, provides a chance for freedom even in complicated, hopeless situations.
- Flexible work shift. If we are talking about a private representative, then they choose their own affairs and work with them on a specific schedule. Thus, they can take a vacation or relax after a trial, which is very important for recovery.
- High salary. Salaries, even for novice lawyers, are high. If we are talking about an expert, proven specialist with great experience in one’s impressive attorney resume, then he or she can count on very high fees from each case.
- Beneficial connections. The higher the level of the lawyer, the more successful his/her clients. Thus, after 5-10 years of a successful career, an attorney can have a vast number of influential connections.
But to fully enjoy these and other advantages of the legal profession, a young specialist must go through thick and thin. It is a severe and responsible work, which is suitable only for a particular type of people. Read on to know what lawyers go through when building their professional careers.
1. Get the Diploma
In any case, a lawyer must be competent. On average, studying for a bachelor’s takes 3-4 years, and 2 years to complete a master’s degree. During training, future lawyers read millions of pages of professional literature and create numerous written works.
Over the years of education, all lawyers must develop an excellent memory, as they must remember by heart a lot of valuable information. According to statistics, only 65% of students graduate and work in the legal industry. Not everyone can handle a heavy workload.
2. Take the first internship
Firstly, the very first internship is almost impossible to find. As a rule, companies like to hire interns, but with experience. But how can you have experience before your first internship? It’s a vicious circle! Students can work at the university, organize some projects, do volunteer activities. There are many options, but it is tough to find free time and combine with the learning process.
3. Find the first job
Finding the first full-time job will be even more challenging than an internship. A young specialist should have experience in court, have an excellent resume, and recommendations from a university (practice).
And the biggest mistake of newcomers is a poor resume paper. Many do not attach any importance to this and might stay unemployed for years. A lot of resume writing services were created specifically for such cases. Sometimes you may need a piece of advice to make the right decision what service to choose for yourself: https://federalresumeguide.com/how-to-choose-the-best-resume-writing-service/ Beginners (or already experienced) lawyers who cannot cope with writing a resume or cover letter, have an excellent opportunity to order this service online. It is convenient, saves time, and guarantees an invitation to an interview.
4. Coping with stress
Training and first work experience are only halfway to a successful career. Then the fun begins! Billing pressures, deadlines, angry and dissatisfied customers, changing laws, and many other reasons to get stressed.
Almost all successful experts in the legal industry do not recommend this profession to the younger generation. They believe that life is too short to spend it on other people’s problems.
5. Competitive labor market
Even though this is a rather stressful job, labor market competition is only becoming tougher. The attorney profession is still popular, while thousands of law students graduate from universities every year. Experts already take the most prestigious jobs, and the new ones appear very rarely. So now, the country is crowded with hungry, unemployed lawyers. Some of them do not lose hope when others have long been re-qualified into less competing specialists.
6. Not all of the clients are good people
It is probably one of the most usual problems of many lawyers. Novice attorneys are faced with very unpleasant people who may be from dysfunctional families, impolite, rude, and difficult to communicate with. When a lawyer becomes more prestigious, the situation with clients does not change much. Rich, arrogant, and perverted people replace poor criminals. They can do terrible things, while the attorney has to keep the lawyer’s secret.
Of course, not all clients are bad people, and not all have committed crimes. But from time to time, all lawyers meet up with the culprits which they must defend.
7. Work hard
Everything is simple – to be a good lawyer, you need to work hard. Moreover, attorneys never stop learning. They must study all laws updates, and be aware of all the legal news. They have to cope with a heavy load, about 50 hours a week (sometimes even more). Successful lawyers do not have a balance between personal life and job.
Every person with a passion for the legal industry can build an attorney career. You can overcome all the difficult stages of training, job search, and the working process itselfonly with a great desire. Every minor problem can be solved. For example, you can write a resume with attorney resume services, and deal with stress through yoga and spa. So, if you have a goal, go forward!
