Becoming a lawyer takes much hard work and dedication. Through education and work experience, your knowledge will be tested. This means the first few years of your career are key to your success in the future, particularly the first 5 years.
As a budding lawyer who’s looking to make their mark on the industry, you’ll take up any advice available to you to get ahead of the rest in your career. Your lifestyle choices can make a big impact on this, so it’s important that you make the most of it.
Here are 5 professional lifestyle tips for the up and coming lawyer to take on board if they’re looking to make a success of their legal career.
Grasp your Opportunities
Making your way to the top and working for your ideal law firm isn’t so simple. In fact, the first few years of being a lawyer can be rather unpredictable of what your CV will look like and where you may be heading.
Regardless of who you work for, you still need to grasp your opportunity when you can. Observe what you can and learn from others in your company. What do the successful lawyers do? Who do they talk to? How do they present themselves? Discover what skills you need to enter your field of choice and what experience you need.
Find your Avenue
Considering the many avenues you can enter in law, it’s always better to discover what you want to do earlier on rather than later. This will give you time to train yourself up in the chosen field and learn about it where you can.
The majority of successful lawyers have learnt the trade themselves and trained themselves up. Read up on your chosen field and check our review articles from law experts. Similarly, showcasing your knowledge on the subject through blogs can always be helpful. Although it might not be the right stance, consider this as a portfolio of your working experience and views you have on the subject.
Manage your spend on the things that matter
In the first few years of your career, your funds are likely to be running low. This means you need to spend your money wisely. Spend it on resources and tools that you know will help to grow. Whether it’s literature, courses or tests, these are all resources that will help you in the future.
Avoid trying to spend money on materialistic things like fashion and cars which you feel will give a good impression to your clients. Your knowledge will be more important to them when it comes down to it. How you fight your case for them will be more important to them than how you look in the courtroom.
Don’t worry about student loans
Like many students, there’s always the lingering burden of student loans to pay off. It’s a debt that we feel will be with us for a lifetime, but at this stage of your life this isn’t something you should worry about too much. There are many people in the same boat to you but their main focus will be their career. The benefit of paying off your debt will come from a successful career path that you have.
Just make up a general plan of ways you can pay off the loan, in a method that will be manageable depending on the stage of your career that you’re at. Obsessing over student loans is never productive, and should be seen as a back burner.
Look after yourself too
Considering the demand of the industry, it can be easy for lawyers to run themselves down in cases that they’re dealing with. This means that we cut out a healthy lifestyle as a sacrifice for our career. This can have deteriorating impacts on our health in the short team and long term.
Let this not be the case. If you find yourself getting to this stage, it’s important that you give yourself a breather and take a break from your career, at least for a moment. Try to find a balance between your career and personal life so you can manage each aspect of your life in a considerate way.
Final thoughts
Whether you’re looking to be a contentious probate solicitor or a commercial property lawyer, the 5 points made above are applicable to all aspects of being a lawyer. The first few years of your life are crucial in your career success. Take on board the points made above and ensure you utilise whatever aspects are available to you.