Joint Degrees and Employment Prospects Forum

[FreddyBigShot]

Does anyone know how getting a joint degree will affect job prospects? I’ve seen and read a lot on here about the positives and negatives of an MBA, but what about a masters in history or philosophy, etc? I ask this, because I’m a history geek and would love to pursue a masters degree along with a JD, just because honestly. Some of the schools I’m looking at offer such joint options and I figure why not add an extra year? Does anyone have any opinions on how employers/firms will view a masters in some sort of liberal arts field of study?

Also, BU offers an LLM in European Law. I understand that this would probably be a waste of money for the extra year (and wouldn’t help my employment prospects) but I’m counting on getting some nice scholly money from BU, and wouldn’t mind paying for a year abroad in Paris, but could it actually hurt my job prospects?

[Pip]

The only person I ever knew that did an additional major with the JD and got any meaningful mileage out of it was a guy that did a joint degree with the school of Forestry because he was looking at environmental law as his goal. I'm not sure where someone with a joint degree in history is going to be one up on the others unless the goal was in academia.

You should also realize that lots of firms are very structured... they want to get a feel for potential employees. When you are a 1L the others you will be interviewing against will be potential money makers for the firm at least 1 year sooner than you will. So unless they see an advantage in having a lawyer that has a history degree, why would they pick you?

[nealric]

It's a waste of time and money, and it could hurt your job prospects if you don't have a good explanation for why you did it.

[worldtraveler]

It all depends on your goals and what the other degree is. For certain fields, like the forestry guy, it makes sense. For most, it doesn't. It sounds like you just want to have fun in Paris, which is not a good reason. If you want to go to Paris, go work there for a year, then go to law school.