I just read an article on stagnant wages and how people at the low end of the scale have more trouble with price hikes than, say, doctors and lawyers. Well, lawyers in the top 10% of their class who went on to private practice, anyway. Ben Stein thinks that parents will be suggesting to their children that getting more education will be beneficial.
I agreed with him all the way up to more education. I did that a few years ago and am one of thousands of unemployed attorneys in the Midwest. There are tons of us out there as there are no caps on admission and you don't know the right questions to ask until you're in the middle of law school. By then it's too late. Jobs go to the lucky ones in the top 10% of the class, the rest of us poor fools are out of luck in this economy; layoffs and more conservative hiring in the upper echelon of law firms trickle down and make it more difficult for the rest of us. Jobs with solo practitioners and small firms are only practical for those with a trust fund or spouse that will support them as these jobs have no benefits, don't pay a high enough wage to pay for food, clothing, shelter and student loans. Document reviews are occurring in India. Some corporations are offshoring additional legal work.
There are tons of people out there with graduate degrees who are in the same situation that I'm in; looking for a job and looking for temp work. Even agencies have nothing going on or projects that reschedule or cancel. It's ugly out there and in many cases, more education will do no more than act as an albatross around the neck of the educated person.
Some days it's difficult to remember that they can't repossess my diploma.
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2 comments:
Hey FLA, have you ever thought about waiving into to DC and making the trek down here from where ever you are from. It might give you a few more options in the long term.
I have but my understanding is that I wouldn't be able to get on a project before waiving...
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