If you’re worried about what you’ll do for work when you finish law school, you’re not alone. Uncertain job prospects after leaving law school have emerged as a major cause of stress for Australian law students.
Survive Law’s Australian Law Student Satisfaction Survey found that more than 52 per cent of law students were stressed most or all of the time about finding a relevant job after graduating.
Only 15 per cent of law students said they were ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ stressed about finding a graduate role.
The survey of more than 2000 law students was carried out in September and October and aimed to measure how satisfied Australian law students were with their law schools and their legal education. Students responded to questions in five categories: Teaching, Study, Careers, Campus Life and Wellbeing.
The survey also showed that 66 per cent of law students intended to work as legal practitioners after graduating, compared to only 7 per cent who had other career plans and 27 per cent who were unsure.
Career support also emerged as an area for improvement for many universities. 21% of law students surveyed said they were “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the level of career support provided to them. This compared to 11% who were dissatisfied with the quality of teaching at their law school, 10% who were dissatisfied with campus life and 12% who were dissatisfied with their study experience.
Overall, 14 per cent of students said that finding a graduate job was their leading cause of stress at law school. Students who had been at university for several years were also more likely to report this as their leading cause of stress.
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