Today, a growing number of law school applicants have work experience. Working before enrolling in law school enables students to explore other career paths, save money, and gain maturity and professional experience.
However, this trend has created some awkward situations for those who are applying to law school while working. Many applicants do not share their law school plans with their supervisors and coworkers out of fear of being viewed as less committed to their job. Regardless, if you are leaving your job to attend law school, you will need to tell your employer at some point, and having this discussion can be difficult.
In this blog post, we at Stratus share some tips on navigating the process of leaving your job to attend law school.
Consider Your Needs
Although you may feel some loyalty to your company, you must consider your needs first. How and when you leave your job can impact your stress levels before you start law school, and you want to ensure you are not too stressed when beginning your studies.
When should you quit your job?
First, you should consider how you want to spend the three to six months before law school begins. Many incoming law students use this time to relax and enjoy themselves. Some quit their job to travel, while others choose to move in with their parents or to spend time with friends and family. For some, if their job is not too stressful and they enjoy where they live, they will keep their job and living situation status quo until heading to law school. None of these are bad options, but they will influence you when you decide to quit. For example, if you want to travel, you might need to save up some money, so you should evaluate your finances and see how long you need to work. If you are moving home and your parents are fine with you not paying for anything, you can probably quit a bit earlier. If you are looking to stay at your job for as long as possible, consider giving two to four weeks’ notice.
What are your financial and housing needs?
You should also consider your tangible needs. If you need to save up money before beginning your legal studies, you might need to work longer. Alternatively, if you are overwhelmed about finding a place to live near your law school, you might want to quit the summer before to allow yourself time to search for new accommodations—whether online or in person. This decision could depend on the type of job you have. For example, some office jobs are particularly slow in the summer and might allow you time to search for a new place to live.
If you want to quit your job to make time for general enjoyment but your finances are preventing you from doing so, consider alternative options. For example, perhaps you can live with a family member for a summer to save money on housing. If you want to travel but do not have the funds to do so, look at a website like idealist.org to see if you can find a summer program that would enable you to work in a different locale, such as on a farm, where you can stay for free and potentially get paid as well.
Consider Your Company’s Needs
How much notice should you give your employer?
Although your needs should come first, to maintain your professional reputation and in fairness to your employer, you should consider your company’s needs as well. In the professional world, it’s customary to give an employer two weeks’ notice before leaving a job. But if your company has been good to you and you feel you will create a void by leaving, you might want to provide more notice. The amount of notice you give will vary by situation.
What are the risks involved in giving notice?
The risk with giving notice is that your company could always fire you on the spot. Obviously, if you have a more cordial relationship with your employer, it is unlikely that the company would do that. It really depends on your unique situation. Similarly, if the company is depending on you for a major project that has been planned for a while, you might want to stick around until that project is done or give your employer enough notice to hire and train a replacement.
However, you still must consider your own needs. If you had received a big job offer out of the blue and needed to start in two weeks, your company would accept that you’re leaving. Leaving your job to attend law school is not really much different, though you have more flexibility on the amount of notice you can provide. Just as you might not tell your company you are applying to law school to avoid the risk of being fired, it is fine to not immediately inform them of your acceptance to law school for the same reason.
If you feel that you really must take time off before starting school and your company tries to guilt you into staying longer than you feel you can, remain strong. Think of it this way: if your company needed to lay you off due to circumstances it could not control, it would not be able to keep you on just because you needed the job. This situation is similar.
Always Remain Professional
Why does it pay to be professional?
Even if your current job has nothing to do with the law, you should still remain professional. This is the kind thing to do, and it builds best practices for future roles. Additionally, when you apply for internships and fellowships during law school, you might need your former bosses and colleagues as references. You also never know who they know. Pre–law school work experience is not just an asset for gaining admission to law school; it can also be helpful when you are looking for your first job out of law school. Consequently, you do not want to risk making a negative impression on your current employer.
How should you handle a negative reaction?
If your employer reacts negatively or even unprofessionally in response to you leaving, be the bigger person. Give your two weeks’ notice, thank them for the opportunity, and offer to do whatever you can to help with the transition.
Leaving a job is one of the many situations that aspiring JDs face. If you have questions on any matter related to the law school application process, consider setting up a free consultation with one of our Stratus law school admissions counselors!