Converting to the dark side

There may well come the day, in the near, near future, when you wake up and realize that you do a humanities degree. WHAT?! WHY HADN’T I REALISED THIS BEFORE?

Because you like books. But liking books doesn’t actually get you a job. OH HELL NO. It’s a dark day for all of us. You’re paying up to £9,000 a year to read books. Why not just join the British Library for free?

I may seem like a sadist that likes taking joy in other people’s financial or otherwise misery. I’m actually a humanities student too (I worryingly sound a bit like I’m at a Humanities Anonymous meeting). But whilst I may seem to be saying YOUR DEGREE IS A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY, it’s not. You’ll probably have some of the greatest years of your life and find enlightenment in Jeremy Bentham, and failing that reasons for why

Utilitarianism is a load of old codswallop. And books are important because words are important. (Just keep saying it…) But sometimes when people ask why you chose X-degree, words fall short. So, as I’m finally come to the point of this article, you may decide you want to take up a profession that will justify your years of lavish bookish indulgency. You may decide to convert to law. Hey, you could end up on Silk?

So first things first, your best friend is going to be Legal Week, beginning the 8th October. Make sure you ear-mark 13th October 13.00, Law for Non-Lawyers, that’s you, YAY! Run by none other than Allen and Overy, and no, that’s not an optician, go Google. It’ll help you decide if law’s for you. Join the Debating Society or the King’s Mooting Society. Just don’t forget the ‘t’ or that could be potentially embarrassing: “I’m looking for the Mooing society?” And if you enjoy that you need to actually get some legal experience.

Start volunteering with a local Citizens Advice Bureau to get those transferable skills and begin undertaking some serious research. What area of law interests you? Commercial, criminal, shipping? Do you want to become a Barrister or a Solicitor? Maybe you’ll become a Human Rights lawyer for the UN and go and save the world and that, GO YOU! Use King’s Careers & Employability Library to do more research or use the tag ‘law’ at www.CareersTagged.co.uk. For more inspiration for Humanities students, see http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/blog/humanities/