The bottom line reason most people attend law school is to have a satisfying career. A satisfying career can be defined many different ways, but for me it has three qualities. Those qualities are: 1. intellectually stimulating; 2. emotionally engaging; and 3. financially successful.

An intellectually stimulating career is one in which I can continue to learn interesting things. For me emotionally engaging is determined by two questions. Question 1: Do I need an alarm clock to wake-up in the morning for work? (The answer must be no.) Question 2: Does my career allow me to enjoy significant time with family and friends? Lastly, financial success I define as earning enough money to pay my bills and save for the future.

The time to prepare to have a satisfying legal career is when you have decided to attend law school. This is not to imply that you should have your entire career figured out before day 1 of law school, but I suggest you start thinking about what type of legal career you want as early as possible.

Instead of romanticizing the legal profession, begin to investigate what it is like to be an attorney; especially the type of attorney you are interested in becoming. The types of careers attorneys have are as diverse as the people who are attorneys. This is one of the great characteristics of the legal profession.

It is important to create the career you want because one important thing you must realize is that although your career may not be your life, your career will have a big impact on your personal life. For many people their careers dictate where they live, what type of activities and hobbies they engage in, and most importantly, how much time they spend with family and friends.

If you are going to have a legal career you might as well have a career that is professionally and personally satisfying.

The following websites provide career information and information on searching for jobs.

• http://www.law.uchicago.edu/careersvcs/job_searches.html
• http://law.case.edu/careers/students/content.asp?id=155
• http://www.law.northwestern.edu/career/jobsearch/

For a website on the balance between your career and personal life take a look at www.beckyandhollee.com. Other related articles on this website include First Summer and Second Summer.

Good luck in your legal career!

Michael Santana
michael.santana@lawboost.com

If you have any questions or comments about this article, or want to write your own article about the pre-law or law school process, feel free to contact me.