People, it turns out, are not great at making the two most important life decisions: (1) choosing a partner and (2) choosing a career. We are often somehow simultaneously confused by the wide array of options available to us and convinced that only a few narrow options are possible. So we tend to just jump in to a career path that presents itself without too much analysis or thought.

This can be especially true in the legal field where an ex-lawyer recently wrote in an Atlantic article “Law School is very often the default choice of people who don’t know what else to do.”

While this may be true, law students and lawyers are not doomed to unhappiness. In fact, there are so many options for those with law degrees that quite the opposite is true. Some excellent legal career paths that often go overlooked include:

• Labor and employment law
• Public defense work
• State and local government law
• Starting a solo practice

You do not need to be a lawyer to use your JD. Non-lawyer jobs where a JD is very helpful include:

• Mediation and conflict resolution
• Compliance
• Human resources
• Project management

As a law student, you will only be positioned to make the best career choice for yourself if you are aware of the many different areas of law and engage in a rigorous analysis to determine which one is the best fit for you. LawFit recently spoke with a law school career counselor who told a story about a 3L student who had not yet found an area of law she was interested in pursuing. That student decided to try an externship at the public defender’s office and she came alive. Finally in her final semester of law school, she found her true calling. Had she not serendipitously stumbled upon public defense work, she might never have found a good career fit.

Do not leave it up to serendipity. Make sure that you are researching the vast landscape of legal jobs and considering how your personality fits in with different practice areas. LawFit can help by assessing your interests and strengths and sending you in the right direction.

If you are an attorney looking to transition into a new area of law or even outside of the law, your best bet for finding a good fit is to get out and do the work in a volunteer capacity or to talk to people in fields you are interested in exploring.

If you find yourself overwhelmed with options and unsure where to begin, LawFit can help guide you to areas of law you never considered and even pinpoint strengths you might have in fields outside of the legal sphere.

Engaging in a true analysis of yourself and talking to people in different fields about their career paths is essential to finding your true fit. If you do not where to start, LawFit can set you on your first steps. Our assessment is designed specifically to guide both current and potential law students to areas of interest as well as strengths. Our assessment is also effective for those who are already working in the legal field but considering a different practice area or a transition outside of the law. Contact us today and learn about new areas of practice you never considered.