A law degree doesn’t imply that you must be a lawyer and work in a courtroom or a law office for the rest of your life. Even Frank, who is a professional Springfield will attorney, says that if he ever gets bored of what he’s doing right now, which is unlikely, he would still have a ton of other options when it comes to his law career.
Naturally, here we’re talking about nontraditional jobs that law enthusiasts can or would want to pursue. In this respect, the truth is that a lot of career opportunities go unnoticed, not only by those that possess a full law degree. A variety of careers are usually ignored simply because the media doesn’t bother taking them into account.
But this article does! So, let’s take a look at 10 nontraditional jobs that anyone with a law degree can do.
Paralegal
This is one of the more well-known jobs in the field, as it’s directly connected with law offices or other legal entities. Paralegals are usually hired by lawyers and law firms to take care of legal documents, engage in research for various cases and also conduct interviews with clients or potential clients.
In short, they do pretty much everything that a lawyer does besides court representation — and it is strictly an office law job (in most cases). This particular type of job comes with a salary averaging about roughly $52,000 a year.
Investigator
Also known as a private investigator or private eye, this type of job implies — more or less — classic detective work. Investigators have to go around and gather evidence and information on a crime they’ve been informed of by their clients. But that is not all.
Due to the degree that they hold, they can also speak to witnesses to find out more details about their case, access criminal databases and, in some cases, also arrest people.
Mediator
Instead of fighting other people in the court of law, holders of a law degree can choose to mediate the conflicts between such people. This is the most cost-effective and civil way to end a dispute between two parties.
In general, a mediator is the person who makes communication easier between the two, who answers potential legal questions, and also interviews both people to make sure that, in the end, everyone gets what they want out of the mediation.
Financial Analyst
Former business lawyers or those who have been trained as such can pursue a financial analyst career if they find it interesting. Their only job as this type of analyst would be to analyze the finances of the entity they’re working for. Be aware, this usually doesn’t imply fund management.
Financial analysts have to keep themselves up to date with financial trades, engage constantly with the fund management team, analyze transactions that go in and out of the company and also keep a record of what they’re doing. It is no easy job, but it does pay close to $75,000 a year.
Real Estate Agent
Many lawyers that ultimately decide that law is just not for them anymore turn to the world of real estate — more specifically, they become real estate agents. As most people already know, such agents directly represent the person that is connected with a property on the market. In this respect, an agent can work for homeowners, sellers of homes, and buyers of homes — usually all at the same time.
With a salary of roughly $85,000 a year, real estate agents have to prepare the property that is for sale and present it to potential clients. Naturally, a lot of paperwork is not out of the question.
HR Director
Studying law often gives people great skill at managing human resources. On top of that, they also know pretty much all about how to manage a pool of people in a legal and ethical way. Therefore, it’s no wonder why holders of law degrees can usually be found managing the human resources of various companies.
A director of HR looks over the staff of the HR department of a company. Usually, their tasks consist of providing advice concerning staffing, company budget for HR purposes, labor relations and so on. Obviously, such directors also act as mediators in disputes and negotiations between upset employees.
Chief Financial Officer
A CFO is one of the positional pillars that every company or enterprise must have. Overall, they are directly responsible for the financial decisions of the entity they work for. Naturally, given that this is a job paying close to $140,000 a year, you can expect to be working hard and constantly on your toes.
Chief financial officers will pretty much not be able to leave the cash flow of their company unattended at any time. Ultimately, their only goal is to keep the business in good health, financially speaking, and to avoid financial deficiencies entirely.
Chief Executive Officer
The CEO is not only a positional pillar of a company but also the highest-ranked type of officer in an enterprise. As a result, they deal with more than just finances — they manage a company at its core, so to speak.
This position enables people to directly engage in corporate decisions, have a say in the entity’s operations, and also talk on the behalf of said entity (usually to shareholders and sometimes even to the public). Last but not least, they are also responsible for creating goals that will help the company evolve over time.
Fund Manager
Unlike a financial analyst, a fund manager is in charge of directly managing the funds of a company, busines or similar entity. They also manage financial and other types of analysts that might be working in the same company.
Bonds and stocks are two of the main things that they have to manage. However, the scope of their work extends to everything fund-related, including fund securities.
Investment Consultant
When companies don’t know where to invest their money, they call an investment consultant to help them. Entities that have issues reaching their financial goals or simply don’t want any trouble in the future will often rely on such a person.
An investment consultant comes up with multiple investment strategies that can put a business on the right track — the one-way track to success.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, forfeiting your career as a lawyer does not mark the end of your journey in the law world. Due to the training that a law student gets, they are able to fill in a multitude of jobs and positions. Luckily, most of them are involved directly in companies — and in their high-ranking positions as well.
But there are options that tone things down as well, such as being a real estate agent or realtor. With such jobs, you’ll spend most of your time interacting with clients and showing them homes, apartments and so on.
