What should I do? Forum

[monarchylover]

My relatives keep telling me how shitty the legal job market is. My father keeps telling me to become a pilot like him because it is about to be the biggest boom in hires since the 70s. I really like the idea of flying but only recreationally. I have seen how flying internationally has aged my father and does not seem like the life for me. He says the seniority list for the mainline airlines will be cut in half (because of retirement) within 12-15 years meaning I could check out left seat by then if I get in on the floor now. This all sounds great but I really want to be a lawyer and I have had a spike in blood pressure before so I could potentially invest 6 figs in training and bust a first class physical ending my career. So is the legal field bad enough to go against my dreams and do something I will likely regret but likely have a better chance of making 200-300k by the time I retire?

[EliHBCU]

If you want to be an attorney, you can do it.

But if you are already a pilot then you could always do that for a few years and then go to law school when you get tired of it. (That would be my advice.)

[monarchylover]

If you want to be an attorney, you can do it.

But if you are already a pilot then you could always do that for a few years and then go to law school when you get tired of it. (That would be my advice.)

not really an option I can't invest the 100k+ to get the flight time to be competitive for even regional carriers, without committing and definantly not turn around after a few years and invest another 100k+ in LS

[094320]

..

[scammedhard]

My relatives keep telling me how shitty the legal job market is.

Well, the labor market for lawyers sucks; so your relatives have a point.

So is the legal field bad enough to go against my dreams and do something I will likely regret but likely have a better chance of making 200-300k by the time I retire?

If you really want to be a lawyer, you have to make sure: (1) that you go to a school that will allow to find legal employment upon graduation; and (2) that law school won't ruin you financially.

I think going to a Tier 1 school (or higher) with some scholarship money (or in-state benefits) does the trick. Anything less than that and you run the serious risk of doing menial and boring legal work (i.e., doc review), underemployment/unemployment, and/or drowning in debt.

Good luck!

[FeelTheHeat]

Should I admit that I've made mistakes?

Should I remind you that I've done this before?

[scammedhard]

Should I admit that I've made mistakes?

Should I remind you that I've done this before?

Can you please elaborate?

[FeelTheHeat]

Should I give you a history lesson?

What should I do? Should I tell you how much fun we had?

[scammedhard]

Should I give you a history lesson?

What should I do? Should I tell you how much fun we had?

Go ahead.

[Samara]

Not to discount what your dad said, but if I were you, I would read a few pertinent "Ask the Pilot" columns on Salon by Patrick Smith first. From what he writes, being a pilot isn't exactly a slam dunk either.

The legal market is not good, but it's still pretty bimodal. It's a lot worse for TTT grads than for T1 grads. My vote would be for law school.

[scammedhard]

OP:
I don't know your numbers, if you have them; and without them it's hard to give you an opinion for your specific pilot/lawyer issue.

[BackToTheOldHouse]

Split the difference. You know, become an in-home lawyer for remote locales. Imagine this: get a JD and a pontoon plane/floatplane and then fly into romantic destinations to deliver stellar legal services to remote inhabitants.

You could be like Baloo in TaleSpin, but instead of delivering food supplies and other goods, you'd be supplying your lawyer skillz. Now, you just need to find someone to be your Kit Cloudkicker . . .

[monarchylover]

Not to discount what your dad said, but if I were you, I would read a few pertinent "Ask the Pilot" columns on Salon by Patrick Smith first. From what he writes, being a pilot isn't exactly a slam dunk either.

The legal market is not good, but it's still pretty bimodal. It's a lot worse for TTT grads than for T1 grads. My vote would be for law school.

Actually my father and grandfather work or worked for Usairways which is like the shittiest of the big airlines and we have lots of family friends who go we go on vacations with who work for jet blue and fedex they all say this is going to be one of the biggest pilot shortages the industry has ever seen.
My gpa is 3.41-3.49

[Real Madrid]

Not to discount what your dad said, but if I were you, I would read a few pertinent "Ask the Pilot" columns on Salon by Patrick Smith first. From what he writes, being a pilot isn't exactly a slam dunk either.

The legal market is not good, but it's still pretty bimodal. It's a lot worse for TTT grads than for T1 grads. My vote would be for law school.

Actually my father and grandfather work or worked for Usairways which is like the shittiest of the big airlines and we have lots of family friends who go we go on vacations with who work for jet blue and fedex they all say this is going to be one of the biggest pilot shortages the industry has ever seen.
My gpa is 3.41-3.49

You got that right. Which is the most prestigious? Delta?

[Tiago Splitter]

Should I admit that I've made mistakes?

Should I remind you that I've done this before?

Can you please elaborate?

[monarchylover]

Not to discount what your dad said, but if I were you, I would read a few pertinent "Ask the Pilot" columns on Salon by Patrick Smith first. From what he writes, being a pilot isn't exactly a slam dunk either.

The legal market is not good, but it's still pretty bimodal. It's a lot worse for TTT grads than for T1 grads. My vote would be for law school.

Actually my father and grandfather work or worked for Usairways which is like the shittiest of the big airlines and we have lots of family friends who go we go on vacations with who work for jet blue and fedex they all say this is going to be one of the biggest pilot shortages the industry has ever seen.
My gpa is 3.41-3.49

You got that right. Which is the most prestigious? Delta?

mmm all my dad bitches about is southwest senior captains making 300k while he gets much less. I think American pays really well too. Also a lot of Asian airlines like Cathay Pacific pay really well too.

[scammedhard]

OP:

Give yourself some time; it seems that you are very unsure about what to do.

And the shortage of pilots is great IF you want to be a pilot; otherwise, it is irrelevant. I can tell you from personal experience that there nothing worse than working in an industry where you don't want to be; and there is no amount of money that can compensate for that.

So, both piloting and lawyering have risks and rewards. If unsure, just give yourself more time (and/or work experience) to figure out where you want to go.

[monarchylover]

Not to discount what your dad said, but if I were you, I would read a few pertinent "Ask the Pilot" columns on Salon by Patrick Smith first. From what he writes, being a pilot isn't exactly a slam dunk either.

The legal market is not good, but it's still pretty bimodal. It's a lot worse for TTT grads than for T1 grads. My vote would be for law school.

Actually my father and grandfather work or worked for Usairways which is like the shittiest of the big airlines and we have lots of family friends who go we go on vacations with who work for jet blue and fedex they all say this is going to be one of the biggest pilot shortages the industry has ever seen.
My gpa is 3.41-3.49

You got that right. Which is the most prestigious? Delta?

Also just so the public knows this if you think USairways has shitty service compare any aspect of their workforce ticket agents/flight attendants/pilots to any other major carrier and you will see why they are all disgruntled

[monarchylover]

OP:

Give yourself some time; it seems that you are very unsure about what to do.

And the shortage of pilots is great IF you want to be a pilot; otherwise, it is irrelevant. I can tell you from personal experience that there nothing worse than working in an industry where you don't want to be; and there is no amount of money that can compensate for that.

So, both piloting and lawyering have risks and rewards. If unsure, just give yourself more time (and/or work experience) to figure out where you want to go.

this is what I'm saying like I like the idea of flying but could never live practically half my life in airports/embassy suites.

[scammedhard]

this is what I'm saying like I like the idea of flying but could never live practically half my life in airports/embassy suites.

Then if lawyering is what you want to do, do it. Just make sure your decision doesn't ruin your life: get into a Tier1 with money and do well in school.

[Tiago Splitter]

Not to discount what your dad said, but if I were you, I would read a few pertinent "Ask the Pilot" columns on Salon by Patrick Smith first. From what he writes, being a pilot isn't exactly a slam dunk either.

The legal market is not good, but it's still pretty bimodal. It's a lot worse for TTT grads than for T1 grads. My vote would be for law school.

Actually my father and grandfather work or worked for Usairways which is like the shittiest of the big airlines and we have lots of family friends who go we go on vacations with who work for jet blue and fedex they all say this is going to be one of the biggest pilot shortages the industry has ever seen.
My gpa is 3.41-3.49

You got that right. Which is the most prestigious? Delta?

Also just so the public knows this if you think USairways has shitty service compare any aspect of their workforce ticket agents/flight attendants/pilots to any other major carrier and you will see why they are all disgruntled

Yeah like Chesley Sullenberger. Talk about a disaster of a pilot.

[Samara]

Not to discount what your dad said, but if I were you, I would read a few pertinent "Ask the Pilot" columns on Salon by Patrick Smith first. From what he writes, being a pilot isn't exactly a slam dunk either.

The legal market is not good, but it's still pretty bimodal. It's a lot worse for TTT grads than for T1 grads. My vote would be for law school.

Actually my father and grandfather work or worked for Usairways which is like the shittiest of the big airlines and we have lots of family friends who go we go on vacations with who work for jet blue and fedex they all say this is going to be one of the biggest pilot shortages the industry has ever seen.
My gpa is 3.41-3.49

You got that right. Which is the most prestigious? Delta?

mmm all my dad bitches about is southwest senior captains making 300k while he gets much less. I think American pays really well too. Also a lot of Asian airlines like Cathay Pacific pay really well too.

Hmm, well again, I only know what I read in Patrick Smith's column, so I'm not trying to be an expert here, but it's my understanding that it's really hard to get those high-paying jobs. Apparently, seniority starts over when you change companies and it's really hard to stay with one company long enough to get those top jobs. You'd be competing with a lot of people for them and they aren't really based on skill. You could just as easily end up making $60k flying cargo. At least with law, there's some meritocracy.

You don't say how you're doing on the LSAT, but I think if you can get at least T25 or lower T1 with $$, law school is definitely the credited answer here. If you're looking at T1 sticker/T2, it's a little more muddled. However, with your GPA and the resources here at TLS, you should be able to score well enough to hit your targets. From a T1, even ITE, you have a good chance of being moderately to highly successful, even more so if you're optimistic about the eventual future of the economy. Plus, you'll be doing something you enjoy!

[monarchylover]

Hmm, well again, I only know what I read in Patrick Smith's column, so I'm not trying to be an expert here, but it's my understanding that it's really hard to get those high-paying jobs. Apparently, seniority starts over when you change companies and it's really hard to stay with one company long enough to get those top jobs. You'd be competing with a lot of people for them and they aren't really based on skill. You could just as easily end up making $60k flying cargo. At least with law, there's some meritocracy.

You don't say how you're doing on the LSAT, but I think if you can get at least T25 or lower T1 with $$, law school is definitely the credited answer here. If you're looking at T1 sticker/T2, it's a little more muddled. However, with your GPA and the resources here at TLS, you should be able to score well enough to hit your targets. From a T1, even ITE, you have a good chance of being moderately to highly successful, even more so if you're optimistic about the eventual future of the economy. Plus, you'll be doing something you enjoy!

I think so too but actually, I would want to fly cargo you have much greater job security and fedex/ups have really strong unions and better pay scales compared to a lot of major airlines like jet blue united and US. The career search for me would be a little bit better than the general public because we know chief pilots etc and my father is deep in the union. Also yes it is really hard to get high paying jobs specifically if you don't have a bachelors which I would have. As per the job market today compared to what it will be in 3-5 years it will be drastically different. Like look at it this way my father was on very last leg of the boom time for hires but when he retires in 12 years 50% (the entire usairways east crew) will have retired and the first leg of these big retirement waves starts next year. These patterns hold true for American, United and Delta. This has not been the case for 20 years, the pilot sector has been very stagnant. Also Asia has already started a huge aviation boom. Yes I know becoming a lawyer is really what I want to do with my life but for people who shy away from flight school because of what they have heard from the labor markets please understand what you see now is about to radically change within the next few years. If you got your seniority number within the next five years you would likely be one of the most senior (seniority) guys in the airline by 2025 which is pretty awesome.

[Horsefeathers]

OP: So your father is confident that there aren't droves upon droves of furloughed and regional pilots who'll be lining up for the openings with the major carriers, and getting the first shot, therefore making things less favorable for those just entering the industry?

Or, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics says, competition for jobs with the major carriers (The well paying ones that don't involve flying 8 legs a day for $12/hr) should be Keen

[monarchylover]

haha believe what you want man I actually at this point really don't give a fuck about you people so if you don't want to go to flight school because you think a pilot shortage is not coming power to you. I am going to law school because I don't want that life.