Ever wish you could go back in time to the day you submitted your university law enrolment form, and choose a completely different area to study?
Apparently, the years spent stressing over law readings and cases have not gone to waste.
While Australian law students experience depression at nearly triple the rate of the general population, professionals who studied law are the most satisfied graduates according to a recent survey conducted on 500 Australian professionals by specialist recruitment firm Robert Walters.
It was found that 70 percent of law graduates were pleased they studied a law degree and content to have developed careers which earn them more than $55,000 and can regularly deliver bonuses of over 10 percent of their base salary.
In contrast, only 45 percent of art graduates were satisfied with their degree choice. 77 percent of art graduates don’t get bonuses and 50 percent would have selected a business degree if they had the chance again.
We spoke to the manager of legal recruitment at Robert Walters, Nick Ahern about the type of professionals who come to see him. He said: “Lawyers are generally most satisfied with the type of work they do.”
“For the most part they [legal professionals] will come to us looking for a new challenge, good work/life balance, quality work and a good cultural fit. Only a minor number of lawyers will come to us looking to move to secure a pay rise,” he continued.
Key findings in the research:
- 66 percent of professionals chose their degree subject because they thought it would lead to a well paying job
- 62 percent of professionals would not change the subject they studied.
- If professionals were to change the degree they studied, a business degree would be most popular at 22 percent followed by medicine at 14 percent and arts at 13 percent
- 43 percent of engineering graduates haven’t taken a job in the industry
- 68 percent of graduates work in a profession directly related to their degree
