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‘I’m a disillusioned science PhD: should I do the GDL?’

Career salvation as a lawyer, potentially…

In the latest instalment in our career conundrums series, a PhD graduate asks Legal Cheek readers for advice on whether he should do the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL).

I’ve recently completed a PhD in a chemistry-related area and have no idea what to do with my life. I don’t want to be an academic, partly because I don’t want to potentially be doing postdoc after postdoc until I’m middle-aged, but also because I’m just not that passionate about the subject. For years, the back-up I had in mind was a law conversion course, but now I have major doubts about that. My lawyer friends always tell me that law is super boring and difficult and that the profession is “in a bit of a rut” at the moment. Their lack of enthusiasm reminds me of how I feel about academia, and is really putting me off. Going through another two years of study, and then having to complete a training contract, seems pointless if I am signing up to a career that I’m not passionate about. On the other hand, being in my late 20s I have maybe 40 years ahead of me in the working world, so a period of further study isn’t huge in the greater scheme of things. What should I do?

If you have a career conundrum and are brave enough to face the Legal Cheek commenters, email us with it to careers@legalcheek.com.

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