Written by Zeshan Amin

How to Manage a Full-Time Law Degree & Full Time Employment – are YOU up to it?????

Doing a Law degree alone is a challenge within itself but managing a full time job alongside it is a whole other story.

Law Students will fear the massive amounts of debt they will incur while studying and may seek to be employed while working. The advantage of having a full time job is the fact that there is an income coming your way regularly, reducing the financial strain against you.

Managing your money while studying for a law degree is difficult, but being employed makes this a whole lot easier by not having unnecessary stress about money whilst studying. The importance is to find the right balance between a work life and social life. Another point to note is this is a good way to save money for your LPC!!

Benefits to Your CV

The employment market has become very difficult to enter especially after qualifying. Employers are not only looking for qualifications but many other skills which are gained through working. These qualities include punctuality, experience, people skills, team work, credibility and a professional work attitude.

While being employed you will develop these skills which will help you sell yourself to potential employers in the future. Being able to demonstrate to employers that you have experience of working life shows maturity and reliability, making you stand out from other applicants.

Working and being able to provide for yourself means independence for some. The feeling of independence is the most important feeling you can have. The fact that you are able to rely solely on yourself helps student “grow up” in a sense, and allows them the adult respect they deserve and seek. To learn to manage independently whilst young will prove beneficial rather than struggling when leaving university and having to work and be independent.

The Difficulties of Balancing a Law Degree and Full Time Work

As there are advantages to holding down a full time job there are also disadvantages.
If a person is not able to find the right balance between work and study there can be serious consequences to face. One of the most fatal is that your law degree will suffer due to the fact the time spent on studying will decrease.

My personal experience is working as a Project Worker/Support Worker to young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 and also managing the agency that provides those people support work, which is very extensive.

While working approximately 60 hours a week I find my studying has not suffered. Organising your time is the most important ingredient to you success. As one of my duties is to create a roster I am able to work this around my university commitments and allow myself to have free time to study and socialise, not everyone has this ability so speaking to your employers can help you achieve this.

The overall answer most people will agree to is to have the right balance between work, university and a social life.

What DG Academy Says about a Law Degree/Work Balance

As long as it doesn’t interfere with your studies we do throughly recommend that you take on part time employment whilst studying for your law degree. As Zeshan says, practical work experience can help develop your maturity, independence and time management skills and we as employers recognise these as important skills to have.

Your experience in working life can help give you skills to discuss in AN interview, working behind a bar or in a shop can help you develop customer service skills which are crucial in a solicitor’s role.

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The views expressed by DG Academy contributors are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to Duncan Gibbins Solicitors

All information is supplied in good faith but we accept no responsibility for any loss you may incur by following the advice here on these pages.