Non legal employment during bar study Forum

[umichman]

considering getting a job as a waiter or bartender to work 10-20 hours per week at night during bar study. Is this a terrible idea and will it hinder my bar study? or will i be ok working part time and studying for the bar?

Doing online barbri if that makes a difference.

[zot1]

Unless you absolutely need the money, I would so recommend against it.

If you have a job, you risk losing it by not passing. If you're looking for a job, not having a license yet might hold you back.

I'm not saying you'll fail, but if you do, you will no doubt wonder if the part time job had something to do with it.

I was super broke during the bar, and it sucked. But when I passed and was bumped to attorney, it made the bad summer all worth it.

(Side note: I suppose this doesn't matter much if you generally test well, are taking an easy exam, or simply feel confident you can handle it)

[Anonymous User]

Unless you absolutely need the money, I would so recommend against it.

If you have a job, you risk losing it by not passing. If you're looking for a job, not having a license yet might hold you back.

I'm not saying you'll fail, but if you do, you will no doubt wonder if the part time job had something to do with it.

I was super broke during the bar, and it sucked. But when I passed and was bumped to attorney, it made the bad summer all worth it.

(Side note: I suppose this doesn't matter much if you generally test well, are taking an easy exam, or simply feel confident you can handle it)

How do people get by doing stuff like PILI? I understand it is possible, im just wondering i have heard a lot of people doing stuff like that and being ok.

[A. Nony Mouse]

A lot of it depends on your personal comfort level, I think. I know people who worked part time and they passed without issue - some people focus better on bar study when they have other structure in their life, or the mental break of something like bartending. I think especially if you can take off the couple of weeks immediately before the exam, it can be manageable. I think you know best whether you'll do better with structure from work or with focusing only on one thing at a time. (Also you could probably consider your school's passage rate and where you fall in the class - good grades/high passage rate don't guarantee you personally will pass, but they can provide some confidence.)

[zot1]

Unless you absolutely need the money, I would so recommend against it.

If you have a job, you risk losing it by not passing. If you're looking for a job, not having a license yet might hold you back.

I'm not saying you'll fail, but if you do, you will no doubt wonder if the part time job had something to do with it.

I was super broke during the bar, and it sucked. But when I passed and was bumped to attorney, it made the bad summer all worth it.

(Side note: I suppose this doesn't matter much if you generally test well, are taking an easy exam, or simply feel confident you can handle it)

How do people get by doing stuff like PILI? I understand it is possible, im just wondering i have heard a lot of people doing stuff like that and being ok.

[JenDarby]

I stayed at my 2L job through 3L and bar study and working helped me study. I worked 3-4 days a week fpr probably 20-25 hours. I would study in the morning then go in for he afternoon or vice versatile. It kept me on a routine and I passed NY with no trouble. Bar study really does not take 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Even if I wasn't working I wouldn't/couldn't have spent that much time.

Of course this all depends on how good at standardized testing you are and how well you perform with a tight schedule. I worked 40-50 hours a week during UG and prefer to keep busy, so for me it was ideal to keep working. I think every friend of mine that worked during bar prep passed, but of course that's just anecdotal.

[zot1]

I stayed at my 2L job through 3L and bar study and working helped me study. I worked 3-4 days a week fpr probably 20-25 hours. I would study in the morning then go in for he afternoon or vice versatile. It kept me on a routine and I passed NY with no trouble. Bar study really does not take 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Even if I wasn't working I wouldn't/couldn't have spent that much time.

Of course this all depends on how good at standardized testing you are and how well you perform with a tight schedule. I worked 40-50 hours a week during UG and prefer to keep busy, so for me it was ideal to keep working. I think every friend of mine that worked during bar prep passed, but of course that's just anecdotal.

Yeah depending on bar program, the jurisdiction, and the person, bar prep can take less or sometimes more time.

I studied about 6-7 hours M-F and about four hours Saturday and Sunday. I did that because I liked not taking a full break from studying. I had tried taking weekends off (which many people do) but then on Monday I would always be a little forgetful of the previous week. So I started doing a little bit of work over the weekends.

My friends taking california bar though had to study a lot more than I did.

Although during the week I was pretty much off by 4ish, there was nothing better than going to my backyard, opening a beer, and grill dinner. Then just watch a movie or go bowling or do whatever at night. I'm highlighting this because if I hadn't had my free nights, I would have burned out from studying/working all the time.

But like JD said, her personality is to keep busy. So working all the time worked out for her.

So I think it's important to understand what you study like so you know what decision to make.

The good thing about bartending versus working at a firm for example is that you might have more flexibility on quitting. So if after a few weeks of working and bar prep you think you need to ditch the work, you could.

[Anonymous User]

I worked at a restaurant 20-30 hours/wk and passed (UBE). My only piece of advice would be to completely take off ~2 weeks prior to the bar, because I had one freakout about a week before and had to call out sick.

[trebekismyhero]

I worked while studying for the bar and agree with the above it helped me stay focused and keep from burning out. But I didn't work as a bartender, I think late nights would be a bad idea. I took the last 4 weeks off to focus solely on studying

[SFSpartan]

I agree with others that it really depends on your comfort level. However, if you are in a state like CA, I would strongly advise against studying during the Bar. At least IME, there was too much to learn to work while studying for the CA Bar (though personally I took very few Bar subjects during LS, so perhaps that was part of it).

I would also suggest against a job like bartender, that could keep you at work super late at night. I would tend more towards things like driving an Uber, where you can control your own hours so that you can work/study in a way that you have control over.

[zot1]

I agree with others that it really depends on your comfort level. However, if you are in a state like CA, I would strongly advise against studying during the Bar. At least IME, there was too much to learn to work while studying for the CA Bar (though personally I took very few Bar subjects during LS, so perhaps that was part of it).

I would also suggest against a job like bartender, that could keep you at work super late at night. I would tend more towards things like driving an Uber, where you can control your own hours so that you can work/study in a way that you have control over.

Don't listen to Spartan, you should definitely study for the bar, OP.

[SFSpartan]

I agree with others that it really depends on your comfort level. However, if you are in a state like CA, I would strongly advise against studying during the Bar. At least IME, there was too much to learn to work while studying for the CA Bar (though personally I took very few Bar subjects during LS, so perhaps that was part of it).

I would also suggest against a job like bartender, that could keep you at work super late at night. I would tend more towards things like driving an Uber, where you can control your own hours so that you can work/study in a way that you have control over.

Don't listen to Spartan, you should definitely study for the bar, OP.

Fuck. That's what I get for popping in here super quick while waiting for changes to come back. Meant working, obviously.

[Eldon Tyrell]

Worked 25 hours a week until three weeks prior to the bar. It helped me because I was already in a routine for work, so I just went home and got right to studying for a few hours. I never spent more than a few hours a day studying until two weeks before. Even then I wasn't killing myself. I think the bar is more about sustained studying over a month or two, and that is perfectly possible while working part time.