is it a bad idea to look for a new job while in the middle of LSAT studying

Comments

• 2 Likes

  Ohnoeshalpme Alum Member ⭐

  February 2018 2531 karma

  Regardless of the LSAT, if you're losing your mind and can't imagine working there for another year, it's time to find a new job. The reason to stay is financial security. As I am not aware of your financial situation, I cannot make that call.

  Good luck.
• 2 Likes

  nathanieljschwartz Alum Member

  February 2018 1723 karma

  I was in your exact same situation. And i decided to pursue a new job. Just got the offer today. Do what you need to do to retain your sanity
• 1 Like

  studyingandrestudying Core Member

  February 2018 5254 karma

  Yes, definitely take your time and wellness seriously.
• 1 Like

  TexAgAaron Alum Member

  February 2018 1723 karma

  Unless the job provides you financial security you can't achieve anywhere else, then I wouldn't hesitate switching jobs if it is becoming a major issue in your life. At some point it will start to really affect your LSAT studies which will derail your ultimate goal of law school. The LSAT makes people's lives crazy; don't let a job you can't stand magnify the craziness.
• 1 Like

  KEverett93 Free Trial Member

  February 2018 53 karma

  I was in the same boat as you! I was stuck at a job where I couldn't put time away to study while also planning my wedding. A month before my wedding I got a new job that is much more flexible and allows me to manage my time better. Now I'm just beginning LSAT studying Round 2!
• 1 Like

  Seeking Perfection Alum Member

  February 2018 4428 karma

  If you really hate it, I would change jobs.

  But I wouldn't really do it because of the LSAT. Sure looking will have a distracting effect as will settling in at a new place. The new place having an energy you like more could be either motivating or distracting.

  If it were like a month before the test I would recommend waiting. As is, if you need to, there is no reason not to start the search. One other option would be to wait until you apply early next cycle to change jobs. There is no expectation to update your resume after you have applied to schools. However, if it is drving you crazy and sapping your motivation, I probably wouldn't wait that long.
• 1 Like

  Artorius Alum Member

  February 2018 edited February 2018 188 karma

  I think one factor to consider is whether the new job will affect your LSAT study schedule or not.

  Aggressive employers will call employees on weekends to ask them do things, and expect employees to provide results within the same day or the following Monday. I happen to have an employer like this. Although he did not call every weekend and the tasks he asked for wasn't taking long to complete (less than an hour), it still affected my mood of study.

  Therefore, if the job pay well, close to your home, and will not affect your LSAT study, I suggest you stay until you get a satisfied LSAT score.
• _oshun1_ Alum Member

  February 2018 3652 karma

  @"Seeking Perfection" I am concerned about a new job possibly being a distraction. One benefit of doing this brain-dead zombie work is that I have a lot of brain power/energy left over for studying after work.
  Another huge concern I have is the possibility of law school interviews next cycle. If I keep this job, and an interviewer asks me about my job, I'll have nothing to say. If I get one of those "what's a situation where you had to...at your job" like a teamwork question or handling stressful situations at work or whatever, I wouldnt be able to answer. I'd have to answer based off of my legal secretary job from 2016 and I dont think that would look good.
• 1 Like

  Artorius Alum Member

  February 2018 edited February 2018 188 karma

  @"surfy surf" said:
  @"Seeking Perfection" I am concerned about a new job possibly being a distraction. One benefit of doing this brain-dead zombie work is that I have a lot of brain power/energy left over for studying after work.
  Another huge concern I have is the possibility of law school interviews next cycle. If I keep this job, and an interviewer asks me about my job, I'll have nothing to say. If I get one of those "what's a situation where you had to...at your job" like a teamwork question or handling stressful situations at work or whatever, I wouldnt be able to answer. I'd have to answer based off of my legal secretary job from 2016 and I dont think that would look good.

  If your current job makes your LSAT study easier, you should definitely keep it until you reach your target score because LSAT supposed to be the primary goal in your life right now.

  As someone who has prior experiences interviewing people, I would say there is always a way to make your current job sound more interesting or more meaningful. Try to write it up, practice it by telling other people and see what they think, then adjust it if necessary.

  As for the teamwork or stressful situation questions, I would say unless the interviewer clearly stated "your current job" in the question, otherwise you could always use example(s) from previous jobs. As long as you could tell the interviewer what you did in a specific situation, the question is answered.

  Hope this help.
• _oshun1_ Alum Member

  February 2018 edited February 2018 3652 karma

  @Artorius said:

  @"surfy surf" said:
  @"Seeking Perfection" I am concerned about a new job possibly being a distraction. One benefit of doing this brain-dead zombie work is that I have a lot of brain power/energy left over for studying after work.
  Another huge concern I have is the possibility of law school interviews next cycle. If I keep this job, and an interviewer asks me about my job, I'll have nothing to say. If I get one of those "what's a situation where you had to...at your job" like a teamwork question or handling stressful situations at work or whatever, I wouldnt be able to answer. I'd have to answer based off of my legal secretary job from 2016 and I dont think that would look good.

  If your current job makes your LSAT study easier, you should definitely keep it until you reach your target score because LSAT supposed to be the primary goal in your life right now.

  As someone who has prior experiences interviewing people, I would say there is always a way to make your current job sound more interesting or more meaningful. Try to write it up, practice it by telling other people and see what they think, then adjust it if necessary.

  As for the teamwork or stressful situation questions, I would say unless the interviewer clearly stated "your current job" in the question, otherwise you could always use example(s) from previous jobs. As long as you could tell the interviewer what you did in a specific situation, the question is answered.

  Hope this help.

  There really is no way to play up my job without straight up lying. All I do is go into hospital computer systems and obtain patient documents. It involves no understanding or anything. A retail/service job would be better bc at least I can talk about people skills gained from it. I'm concerned about possibly having to say I haven't been doing anything remotely intelligent or meaningful for a year+ if I keep this job.
  && I still have like 2 months left until I'm done with the 7sage curriculum so I'm not gonna be at my target score any time soon.
  I just went through all the office and legal jobs in my area and got a couple interviews already so we'll see.
• 1 Like

  Artorius Alum Member

  February 2018 188 karma

  "I am the liaison between my company and the hospital. My job is to obtain documents from the hospital in order for my company to (insert the purpose). After I got the documents, I (insert what you do with them)." This should sounds better.

  Good luck on your interviews!
• 1 Like

  Seeking Perfection Alum Member

  February 2018 4428 karma

  @"surfy surf" said:
  @"Seeking Perfection" I am concerned about a new job possibly being a distraction. One benefit of doing this brain-dead zombie work is that I have a lot of brain power/energy left over for studying after work.
  Another huge concern I have is the possibility of law school interviews next cycle. If I keep this job, and an interviewer asks me about my job, I'll have nothing to say. If I get one of those "what's a situation where you had to...at your job" like a teamwork question or handling stressful situations at work or whatever, I wouldnt be able to answer. I'd have to answer based off of my legal secretary job from 2016 and I dont think that would look good.

  If it makes you feel better my best job experience is tutoring people and my cycle is going okay. At my interviews so far, I have managed to navigate any work related questions without drawing any additional attention to my deficit of experience. I certainly wouldn't have hesitated to harken back a couple years to a better job though. Additionally, my best outcome so far is at a school which did not interview me.

  How about something like this as a response to the stress question...
  "Many jobs can involve an element of rote work and at times feel boring and disconnected from the real world. At my latest job, especially compared to the idea of being in law school and ultimately serving my community as a lawyer, the work began to feel extremely disconnected. I wasn't the only one who felt that the important mission of obtaining hospital documents was increasingly rote. My supervisor warned me of it when she hired me. My normally amiable co-workers showed it on their faces after a long day. So I made it my mission to use LSAT related humor to restore cheer to the office as I studied for my retake. The entire office has come on my journey with me and it has begun to make us feel more connected to the ultimate purpose of our work, obtaining justice for patients."

  Seriously if you hate it though get out. Don't do it for a benefit in law school admissions. Do it for your psychological health.
• _oshun1_ Alum Member

  February 2018 edited February 2018 3652 karma

  @"Seeking Perfection" wow thank you so much for your comment I really appreciate it a lot. If I do remain stuck at this job and I have to answer q's about my job at a law school interview, I'll keep your quote in mind as that was a really eloquent way of tip toeing around saying "I just hate this job" lol
• 1 Like

  lTexlawz Free Trial Member

  February 2018 277 karma

  Hi @surfy surf , Here is what you set aside your time in the evenings for the LSAT. Never,Never, never give up. Keep your job search during the day.This way you keep pursing your dream. Hey, you get a score that gets a scholarship money, you would only have to come up with the seat deposit depending the school. Make the LSAT work for you. If you set 7-11 PM in the evenings for the LSAT, it will be for the the best. This way you are not giving up hope and fighting for your dream. Jobs come and go. But, the LSAT is the future and a stepping stone to a better life. Just a side the mornings for your job search.
• 1 Like

  westcoastbestcoast Alum Member

  February 2018 3788 karma

  as long as it doesn't have an adverse effect on your lsat performance, you should be ok. also, I was wondering if it were possible for you to take a couple months to really hone in on the LSATs. Each point earned on the LSAT is very valuable from an ROI perspective.
• 1 Like

  Leah M B Alum Member ⭐

  February 2018 8392 karma

  I looked for a new job while studying. I also was a bridesmaid and planned a bridal shower, negotiated a new lease on my apartment, had jury duty, the flu, and apartment hunted while working on my applications. I literally sent in applications while still in bed with the flu - not ideal! Haha. Also working full time during all this, and a small part time job too.

  I mean, sometimes life happens. And the thing is, you gotta take care of your life. You have so much time to take the LSAT and go to law school. Take it from me, a 33 year old applicant, you have so much time in front of you. But it's not worth being miserable. Being miserable will also negatively affect your studying. At the very least, you need to make sure that you take a day or two off of studying per week to spend time with friends or family. My job is not as isolated as yours, but I work in an office with 4 people and see those same 4 people every day, and then spent every evening studying by myself at night. I also have some issues with depression and I realized that when I isolated myself by studying a lot, the depression would start creeping back in and I was getting out of sorts. It's really important to maintain healthy social connections, regardless of what else is happening.

  I think it sounds like you should move on and get a new job. When I was fresh out of undergrad, I also left a job after just about 10 months. I was determined to stay at least a year, because I thought it would look bad to leave sooner than that. And I did get asked about it in interviews, but there's always a way to spin things. My real reason for leaving was because the company was bleeding cash and about to go out of business. But also, that's not a thing that you can spread around in my industry. So I BS'd an answer along the lines of, "It's a small office, and I'm looking for a place that has more opportunity for promotions and skill development in the long run." I don't know how much that worked haha, but hey - I got a new job.

  You gotta do what you gotta do. You'll make things work. Take care of yourself. It's not worth the undue stress of being in a job that makes you miserable. Just split your time - maybe take 1 evening per week applying to jobs, 3 or 4 evenings studying, and then split your weekends between studying and spending time with people. It's not ideal but it's manageable, and it's always important to take care of yourself.
• westcoastbestcoast Alum Member

  February 2018 3788 karma

  Wow you have done a lot and still managed to get a good LSAT score! @"Leah M B"

  @"Leah M B" said:
  I looked for a new job while studying. I also was a bridesmaid and planned a bridal shower, negotiated a new lease on my apartment, had jury duty, the flu, and apartment hunted while working on my applications. I literally sent in applications while still in bed with the flu - not ideal! Haha. Also working full time during all this, and a small part time job too.

  I mean, sometimes life happens. And the thing is, you gotta take care of your life. You have so much time to take the LSAT and go to law school. Take it from me, a 33 year old applicant, you have so much time in front of you. But it's not worth being miserable. Being miserable will also negatively affect your studying. At the very least, you need to make sure that you take a day or two off of studying per week to spend time with friends or family. My job is not as isolated as yours, but I work in an office with 4 people and see those same 4 people every day, and then spent every evening studying by myself at night. I also have some issues with depression and I realized that when I isolated myself by studying a lot, the depression would start creeping back in and I was getting out of sorts. It's really important to maintain healthy social connections, regardless of what else is happening.

  I think it sounds like you should move on and get a new job. When I was fresh out of undergrad, I also left a job after just about 10 months. I was determined to stay at least a year, because I thought it would look bad to leave sooner than that. And I did get asked about it in interviews, but there's always a way to spin things. My real reason for leaving was because the company was bleeding cash and about to go out of business. But also, that's not a thing that you can spread around in my industry. So I BS'd an answer along the lines of, "It's a small office, and I'm looking for a place that has more opportunity for promotions and skill development in the long run." I don't know how much that worked haha, but hey - I got a new job.

  You gotta do what you gotta do. You'll make things work. Take care of yourself. It's not worth the undue stress of being in a job that makes you miserable. Just split your time - maybe take 1 evening per week applying to jobs, 3 or 4 evenings studying, and then split your weekends between studying and spending time with people. It's not ideal but it's manageable, and it's always important to take care of yourself.
  
• Leah M B Alum Member ⭐

  February 2018 8392 karma

  Let me tell you, I am exhausted to my bones! Hahaha. I'm moving to a new apartment this weekend and finally will have a chance to breathe after that. No. More. Deadlines!

  @westcoastbestcoast said:

  Wow you have done a lot and still managed to get a good LSAT score! @"Leah M B"

  @"Leah M B" said:
  I looked for a new job while studying. I also was a bridesmaid and planned a bridal shower, negotiated a new lease on my apartment, had jury duty, the flu, and apartment hunted while working on my applications. I literally sent in applications while still in bed with the flu - not ideal! Haha. Also working full time during all this, and a small part time job too.

  I mean, sometimes life happens. And the thing is, you gotta take care of your life. You have so much time to take the LSAT and go to law school. Take it from me, a 33 year old applicant, you have so much time in front of you. But it's not worth being miserable. Being miserable will also negatively affect your studying. At the very least, you need to make sure that you take a day or two off of studying per week to spend time with friends or family. My job is not as isolated as yours, but I work in an office with 4 people and see those same 4 people every day, and then spent every evening studying by myself at night. I also have some issues with depression and I realized that when I isolated myself by studying a lot, the depression would start creeping back in and I was getting out of sorts. It's really important to maintain healthy social connections, regardless of what else is happening.

  I think it sounds like you should move on and get a new job. When I was fresh out of undergrad, I also left a job after just about 10 months. I was determined to stay at least a year, because I thought it would look bad to leave sooner than that. And I did get asked about it in interviews, but there's always a way to spin things. My real reason for leaving was because the company was bleeding cash and about to go out of business. But also, that's not a thing that you can spread around in my industry. So I BS'd an answer along the lines of, "It's a small office, and I'm looking for a place that has more opportunity for promotions and skill development in the long run." I don't know how much that worked haha, but hey - I got a new job.

  You gotta do what you gotta do. You'll make things work. Take care of yourself. It's not worth the undue stress of being in a job that makes you miserable. Just split your time - maybe take 1 evening per week applying to jobs, 3 or 4 evenings studying, and then split your weekends between studying and spending time with people. It's not ideal but it's manageable, and it's always important to take care of yourself.
  
• westcoastbestcoast Alum Member

  February 2018 3788 karma

  Haha nice! Its been cold, for California these days haha. You said you were from socal right? You will be well acclimated to the busy life of a law student and a lawyer.

  @"Leah M B" said:
  Let me tell you, I am exhausted to my bones! Hahaha. I'm moving to a new apartment this weekend and finally will have a chance to breathe after that. No. More. Deadlines!

  @westcoastbestcoast said:

  Wow you have done a lot and still managed to get a good LSAT score! @"Leah M B"

  @"Leah M B" said:
  I looked for a new job while studying. I also was a bridesmaid and planned a bridal shower, negotiated a new lease on my apartment, had jury duty, the flu, and apartment hunted while working on my applications. I literally sent in applications while still in bed with the flu - not ideal! Haha. Also working full time during all this, and a small part time job too.

  I mean, sometimes life happens. And the thing is, you gotta take care of your life. You have so much time to take the LSAT and go to law school. Take it from me, a 33 year old applicant, you have so much time in front of you. But it's not worth being miserable. Being miserable will also negatively affect your studying. At the very least, you need to make sure that you take a day or two off of studying per week to spend time with friends or family. My job is not as isolated as yours, but I work in an office with 4 people and see those same 4 people every day, and then spent every evening studying by myself at night. I also have some issues with depression and I realized that when I isolated myself by studying a lot, the depression would start creeping back in and I was getting out of sorts. It's really important to maintain healthy social connections, regardless of what else is happening.

  I think it sounds like you should move on and get a new job. When I was fresh out of undergrad, I also left a job after just about 10 months. I was determined to stay at least a year, because I thought it would look bad to leave sooner than that. And I did get asked about it in interviews, but there's always a way to spin things. My real reason for leaving was because the company was bleeding cash and about to go out of business. But also, that's not a thing that you can spread around in my industry. So I BS'd an answer along the lines of, "It's a small office, and I'm looking for a place that has more opportunity for promotions and skill development in the long run." I don't know how much that worked haha, but hey - I got a new job.

  You gotta do what you gotta do. You'll make things work. Take care of yourself. It's not worth the undue stress of being in a job that makes you miserable. Just split your time - maybe take 1 evening per week applying to jobs, 3 or 4 evenings studying, and then split your weekends between studying and spending time with people. It's not ideal but it's manageable, and it's always important to take care of yourself.
  
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  February 2018 edited February 2018 23929 karma

  If you're losing your mind, you may need to switch jobs or find a better way to deal. I had a similar problem with my job last year. I took a leave of absence from my job for 3 months and eventually had to return because I'm too poor to survive without my job. Golden handcuffs/student loans and such. Although, I can't stress how much your mental state affects your study, especially when you're spending 1/3rd or more of your day at a particular job. What helped me was putting it all in perspective. It turns out, I would like to return to my company now after I'm done with law school. So now I look at every day as an opportunity to secure that job! Having that end goal makes the tedious work much more doable lol.

  " I'm losing my damn mind. It's super tedious doing seriously the exact same thing for 8 hours and then the exact same thing the next day and the next. Just shuffling documents around on the computer. 0 human interaction like I could literally not speak to a human all day. "

  Incidentally, you may want to speak with some attorneys in the field you wish to practice. It turns out that some of the work I was super into doing after law school had the same issues. The practice of law itself it pretty tedious, for example. That's kind of just the nature of the entire field. An attorney once told me that a lawyer not wanting to do unexciting/tedious/dull work is like a physician that doesn't want to be around sick people. I think that's probably a good comparison.
• _oshun1_ Alum Member

  February 2018 edited February 2018 3652 karma

  @Alex said:
  If you're losing your mind, you may need to switch jobs or find a better way to deal. I had a similar problem with my job last year. I took a leave of absence from my job for 3 months and eventually had to return because I'm too poor to survive without my job. Golden handcuffs/student loans and such. Although, I can't stress how much your mental state affects your study, especially when you're spending 1/3rd or more of your day at a particular job. What helped me was putting it all in perspective. It turns out, I would like to return to my company now after I'm done with law school. So now I look at every day as an opportunity to secure that job! Having that end goal makes the tedious work much more doable lol.

  " I'm losing my damn mind. It's super tedious doing seriously the exact same thing for 8 hours and then the exact same thing the next day and the next. Just shuffling documents around on the computer. 0 human interaction like I could literally not speak to a human all day. "

  Incidentally, you may want to speak with some attorneys in the field you wish to practice. It turns out that some of the work I was super into doing after law school had the same issues. The practice of law itself it pretty tedious, for example. That's kind of just the nature of the entire field. An attorney once told me that a lawyer not wanting to do unexciting/tedious/dull work is like a physician that doesn't want to be around sick people. I think that's probably a good comparison.

  Regardless of which field of law I’m interested in, attorneys speak to each other and clients. A lot of them take depositions, have client meetings, go to trial, do meet and confer meetings with opc. Even if you’re not interacting with clients, you can pop into your coworkers office and shoot the shit about a case or your day. They aren’t in a box with no option of human interaction ever. If I ever encounter a firm where attorneys aren’t allowed to speak to humans then I will not work there.

  I’ve had to retype a hundred pages of Discovery before and spent days cross referencing a main corporations sales list with one of their stores sales list, I have no problem with tedious work. I can’t have 0 variation in my work, 0 brain use like I don’t even have to read anything to do my job, and 0 human interaction.

  That’s cool that you have that motivating factor of wanting to work with the firm you’re at in the future
• _oshun1_ Alum Member

  February 2018 3652 karma

  @"Leah M B" said:
  I looked for a new job while studying. I also was a bridesmaid and planned a bridal shower, negotiated a new lease on my apartment, had jury duty, the flu, and apartment hunted while working on my applications. I literally sent in applications while still in bed with the flu - not ideal! Haha. Also working full time during all this, and a small part time job too.

  I mean, sometimes life happens. And the thing is, you gotta take care of your life. You have so much time to take the LSAT and go to law school. Take it from me, a 33 year old applicant, you have so much time in front of you. But it's not worth being miserable. Being miserable will also negatively affect your studying. At the very least, you need to make sure that you take a day or two off of studying per week to spend time with friends or family. My job is not as isolated as yours, but I work in an office with 4 people and see those same 4 people every day, and then spent every evening studying by myself at night. I also have some issues with depression and I realized that when I isolated myself by studying a lot, the depression would start creeping back in and I was getting out of sorts. It's really important to maintain healthy social connections, regardless of what else is happening.

  I think it sounds like you should move on and get a new job. When I was fresh out of undergrad, I also left a job after just about 10 months. I was determined to stay at least a year, because I thought it would look bad to leave sooner than that. And I did get asked about it in interviews, but there's always a way to spin things. My real reason for leaving was because the company was bleeding cash and about to go out of business. But also, that's not a thing that you can spread around in my industry. So I BS'd an answer along the lines of, "It's a small office, and I'm looking for a place that has more opportunity for promotions and skill development in the long run." I don't know how much that worked haha, but hey - I got a new job.

  You gotta do what you gotta do. You'll make things work. Take care of yourself. It's not worth the undue stress of being in a job that makes you miserable. Just split your time - maybe take 1 evening per week applying to jobs, 3 or 4 evenings studying, and then split your weekends between studying and spending time with people. It's not ideal but it's manageable, and it's always important to take care of yourself.
  

  Thank you for your kind words. It’s nice to hear that everyone isn’t just like, suffering and putting their life/happiness on hold for the sake of LSAT studying
• _oshun1_ Alum Member

  February 2018 3652 karma

  @westcoastbestcoast said:
  as long as it doesn't have an adverse effect on your lsat performance, you should be ok. also, I was wondering if it were possible for you to take a couple months to really hone in on the LSATs. Each point earned on the LSAT is very valuable from an ROI perspective.

  I could (financially) afford to take a couple months off [by quitting my job] but i’m not sure it’s the best idea. It seems like employers are more likely to interview you when you currently have a job.
• studyingandrestudying Core Member

  February 2018 5254 karma

  @"surfy surf", Yes, keep it until you've got something else along with a letter to confirm. I just don't want you to have to worry about expenses or added stress.
• _oshun1_ Alum Member

  March 2018 edited March 2018 3652 karma

  I got a new job Gave my 2 week notice to management today. HR wasn't here today so I have to wait til Monday to figure out if I can just leave without the 2 weeks. Hoping to just have a couple weeks to chill and LSAT study before the next job. I'll be a legal assistant at a prominent mid size firm and my job will mainly consist of legal writing and research. Commute's gonna be 20-40 min depending on traffic vs 10-20 min before but whatever it's worth it
• 1 Like

  studyingandrestudying Core Member

  March 2018 5254 karma

  Congratulations on the new job! Hopefully you can secure a reference from the job you have now in case you need it on a future application.
• _oshun1_ Alum Member

  March 2018 edited March 2018 3652 karma

  Woooo I get to leave today and not do the full 2 week notice thing. Gonna just LSAT study and chill and workout for the next couple weeks
• 1 Like

  Leah M B Alum Member ⭐

  March 2018 8392 karma

  Congrats!! That’s awesome. I’m a true believer in taking care of yourself, and I think this is going to be a good move for you. Enjoy your few weeks off, and thanks for updating us!