I just caught up with a good friend who graduated recently from my law school. She’s currently looking for a new career - not because she doesn’t love the law (she does, actually), but because her personality doesn’t take well to much of the work involved in being a lawyer (i.e. hours spent in an office reviewing contracts).
It makes more sense to hear my friend tell the whole story, but she said something interesting that she and several of her friends have realized: when you become a lawyer, no matter what you end up doing (teaching, business, doing PR, day trading, etc), you have instant credibility because you’re a lawyer who is doing these things. The idea is that having a J.D. and being admitted to the bar is, in and of itself, worthy of respect - it is, in a sense, a universal credential.
I’m not sure I’d endure law school because of that and I wonder if the same could be said of any graduate degree (because it sets you apart from the legions of other undergrad degree holders). But it’s an interesting way of looking at it.
Do you think that’s true? Perhaps it’s stating the obvious? Or maybe they’re off their rockers?
