Reading time: two minutes

When you finish your law degree, the world lies before you. But what are your next steps? Do you want to travel the world or kickstart your career? Here’s my quick guide to weighing up your options. 

Gap years – are they worth it?

Now, if I could go back and speak to 18-year-old me, I’d tell her to move abroad at least for a couple of months on a placement year. Legal experience and living abroad… what’s not to love? Personally, I’d want to be somewhere sunny, to go to work nine to five, progress my career and spend the evenings at the beach in the sea watching the sunset. Now, I know this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’d certainly be mine. 

But, once you’ve finished your degree, how do you go abroad? Well, there are multiple agencies, such as Camp America, Camp Bali and Camp Thailand, that support people ages 18-25 who want to travel in a group and tour their chosen countries. This is definitely worth looking at. However, these options may be rather expensive and, obviously, you have to camp. I’m not sure I'm one for camping, but if I was abroad, I may change my opinion. 

There are other options too, such as international internships and taking the leap to move abroad for a year. Internships and placement years can be a handy way to gain some experience and get the chance to live abroad. There are multiple firms who offer the opportunity to work abroad too, you just need to scope them out. 

My advice would be Google, Google, Google. After all, Google is the biggest textbook to ever exist! 

Going straight into a career in law

I went headfirst into my legal career. To be honest, I wish I’d gone abroad but there's still time! Moving straight from education to a career seemed like the right logical step, to me and many others. So, a week after I handed in my dissertation, I bought a suit and started my new paralegal role. Exciting!

There are so many benefits to diving in headfirst, such as gaining legal experience, getting to know people in the legal field and starting to decide which area of law is for you. Although this is a complicated process, it’s very much worth it. 

Not to mention, if you’ve managed to gain a career in law after walking out of university, you’ve done absolutely amazing. We all know how hard it can be to get a foot in the door!

Law’s tricky if you want to go travel the world as, let's be honest, there’s no right time to travel. It’s completely okay not to know what you want to do yet and feel overwhelmed. If you want to travel, know that it's never too late. If you want to kickstart your career, you’re always able to come back home and show firms how you personally developed abroad.

The moral of the story is – do whatever makes you happy, but know that it's never too late to change. No time will be the right time – just go for it!