Quitting your job before law school Forum

[juicebox]

Curious to see if anyone is in the same boat or has opinions on this.

I have a job that I'm not so crazy about, is insanely stressful, and keeps me living paycheck to paycheck. It is a prestigious job and is a huge plus for my application, but I hate the day to day of it.

Advice/opinions/thoughts welcomed and appreciated!

[Marquis]

man, I'm planning on doing the exact same thing!

[juicebox]

man, I'm planning on doing the exact same thing!

Good to hear!

[wealtheow]

Hi there. I can definitely relate - good looking job, but totally soul-crushing (and dumb). I'm in the position where I have to work as long as possible to pay my bills, so I'm looking at quitting in late July-early August at the earliest. If I could swing it, though, I would absolutely leave in May or June (or like tomorrow, honestly...).
If you have money saved up and if the lack of paychecks won't hurt you, I'd definitely leave as soon as you are able, so long as you are POSITIVE about where you are going and your ability to go.

eta: good luck!

[Clearly]

[McAvoy]

Yeah, I think there are a lot of us in this boat. At this point, I'm planning on giving like two months notice in early May. If they don't want me to stay that whole time, more time off for me; if they do, then I head to school with more cash. I, too, dislike my job, but it's not very stressful; I'll leave it up to them.

Either way, in these kind of situations, I think (in a generic FT job) you don't leave a good impression giving two-week/short notice, as you've known for a very long time you're making this change. Unless you get the feeling you're immediately replaceable and you still have financial commitments before LS, I'd suggest giving as much notice as possible.

But if you're not saving any significant amount of money, I would personally call it good sooner than later.

[monsterman]

I'm in a very similar position, though without the prestige of the job--I'm more of an indentured servant. Anyways, I plan on leaving at the beginning of June and travelling for most of the summer. This is not to say I have an incredible amount of money saved up, but I want the chance to regain some of my sanity before I begin law school in August. Also, I say travelling, but that is mostly living at my parents' house and visiting some friends in neighboring states. I haven't told my employer yet, and I do not plan on it until perhaps a month before I plan to leave. Take the chance to travel a bit and read for fun!

[NYC2012]

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[juicebox]

Thanks for your responses. This seemed like a no brainer to me at first but now I'm worried that it could potentially look bad to throw in the towel on this job sooner than I had to for any number of reasons (i.e. for interviews while in law school/for how it would look on my resume in general, for any perception that since I could technically stay until July I should, because it's potentially disingenuous to eliminate the soft that could potentially be what ultimately gets me admitted, my list of worries goes on...)

Definitely would give 2 months notice. And in regards to needing a paycheck, it is costing me money to have this job so even if I worked at an ice cream shop for the months before law school I would be in better financial shape than I would be if I stayed here until July/August.

And, definitely ok with leaving this job in the rear view mirror. I have solid options already that I would/will choose over this job, but it sure would be nice to get into one of my reach schools (H or S) to make leaving that much easier.

[juicebox]

I'm in a very similar position, though without the prestige of the job--I'm more of an indentured servant. Anyways, I plan on leaving at the beginning of June and travelling for most of the summer. This is not to say I have an incredible amount of money saved up, but I want the chance to regain some of my sanity before I begin law school in August. Also, I say travelling, but that is mostly living at my parents' house and visiting some friends in neighboring states. I haven't told my employer yet, and I do not plan on it until perhaps a month before I plan to leave. Take the chance to travel a bit and read for fun!

This sounds like a fantastic plan

[Kevinlomax]

Curious to see if anyone is in the same boat or has opinions on this.

I have a job that I'm not so crazy about, is insanely stressful, and keeps me living paycheck to paycheck. It is a prestigious job and is a huge plus for my application, but I hate the day to day of it.

I am obviously going to leave my job to go to law school in the fall, but I'm starting to wonder just how long I can (or should) take off between the end of my job and the start of law school. Am I crazy for wanting to end my job in May or sooner, move home (aka pay no rent) and work a less-stressful job and just save money? I'll definitely need at least a month of a breather between this job and law school, but I'm starting to think it's silly for me to put myself through this stress for even a day longer once I've already gotten into the school I am going to attend. And yes, I've already considered how much of a drag it would be to move back in with my parents, but I think the ability to save money and not be working here could outweigh that.

Advice/opinions/thoughts welcomed and appreciated!

quit job. go on unemployment. enjoy life. relax before school

[NoDayButToday]

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[juicebox]

I was in an unpaid internship from the new year until last week. I was working very hard and essentially filling in for a staff assistant position the office had no intention to fill...for free. I was very unhappy and the staff in my office treated me like a subhuman, frequently ignoring even my "good mornings," or acting annoyed when I would tell them someone was calling for them. I realized that after August it would be nose to the grindstone for the foreseeable future...so I gave them two weeks notice and I quit! I've never quit anything before and it was one of the most liberating feelings.

NBD really, because I'm staying very busy volunteering and the like; I also don't really need the money and I didn't tell half my school list that I was doing this internship....

But if you have the option to at least take advantage of your last summer of freedom, I think you should do it!

(By the way, two months notice seems like rad overkill IMO; I think two weeks to a month is sufficiently generous in most cases)

That sounds crazy liberating. And definitely sounds the right decision. At least they're paying me here even if it is extremely humble pay.

The two months is because I think my boss will freak and will need a lot of time to find someone she trusts enough to replace me. But I'm going to float the idea of one month first probably. We'll see how it goes...

[McAvoy]

(By the way, two months notice seems like rad overkill IMO; I think two weeks to a month is sufficiently generous in most cases)

If you're in a full time job that pays you a reasonable salary, depends on you, and treats you with respect, you will look like an ass hat if you give less than a month, as it is obvious you've known you were quitting for well over six months and you've intentionally put them in a crappy situation.

If you're in an illegal unpaid internship (you should sue them, by the way), two weeks is overkill -- don't show up! That's not a very ass hat-like thing to do -- they were the ass hats.

Err on the side of not looking like an ass hat if you have an employer that respects you.

[NoDayButToday]

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[dreamerchic19]

I'm tired of working full-time, will need a break from it all. Don't want to feel burnout before starting school (when admitted)

would like to stop working by July to have August to transition, possibly relocate, and relax a bit

I cannot fathom moving back in with my parents although I guess that would be nice to not have to pay rent... great thread OP gives me something to think about!

[sunnyd101]

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[Optimist Prime]

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[BPlaura]

I really doubt anyone would look askance* at you for leaving your job at the beginning of the summer. That said, I also wouldn't plan on being able to get a job for just 2-3 months (unless you're cool with not telling them that you're going to be leaving for law school) - even something like an ice cream parlor probably would want someone who can stick around a little longer than that.

*man, what a great word. "askance" should be used more often.

[juicebox]

BPLaura you make a good point. Imagine if all of us 0Ls took jobs from high school kids trying to make summer money. I'm envisioning a situation where a community pool gets two applicants: one from the public high school, one TLSer who is weeks away from going to HYS. (I personally would take the high school student, less neurotic )

And yes, that $ would of course be quite insignificant compared to the loans. But a few things: one, I personally would only advocate for that if I left earlier than June/July, say in mid-April or May. Two, it would be a good way to keep busy. And finally, in my case, living in NYC has drained my savings so I'd like to feel as if I was doing at least a little something to build that back up. Even if in the end it's futile.

[dreamerchic19]

Working at Sonic Drive In is pretty cool

[lambchawp]

I am doing the exact same thing. I resigned earlier this year, but remained on as an independent contractor and work part-time doing random projects for my previous employers while living at home with my parents (telecommuting to New York from South Jersey). Living rent-free but still making some extra cash on the side. Maybe you could talk to your employers and see if they can keep you on for special projects while you wait for school to start? Doesn't hurt to ask, especially since they'll still have you to do some work for them minus having to pay for your benefits, etc. Food for thought. Good luck!

[ler2017]

Question - I've already left my full time job because I hated it and my lease is expiring really soon, so now I'm wondering if I need to contact the schools I've applied to and let them know that I've left my job. Someone at the admissions office for one school called to let me know that I'd gotten in after I quit the job, so I asked him if they needed that information and was told it wasn't necessary, but I'm not sure if that goes for all schools. And I really just don't want to waste time calling them up to ask if I don't have to because I'd still have 9 more phone calls to make.

[francesfarmer]

quit job. go on unemployment. enjoy life. relax before school

That's not how unemployment works bro

[McAvoy]

Yeah don't do that. They don't care, and having the job in the first place probably wouldn't have affected your admission one way or another (unless it was something very impressive/it's NU). The adcomms are assuming you're going to quit whatever your current job is in order to go to their school -- why would quitting a few months earlier completely change their opinion of you?