Information Techowha?

I was sitting reading my first post of this blog this morning, and thinking, well its wonderful that I have made a first post, but why the hell law?

I suppose explaining this to my readers is just as important as explaining it to myself. I thought it might also benefit some people who are considering Law, but can't really pin point a reason to 'jack in' their current career and get into lots of debt to participate in Law.

I did the common path into a degree, meandered through my GCSE's and was rushed into deciding A-Lvls before I really knew what I wanted to do in my life, I was on a computing degree, just soldiering forward knowing I had to succeed and achieve. I don't really think I had a moment to truly step back and research what I wanted to do. I know some people in life, have everything set out and know exactly they want, but when I was younger I didn't really have that luxury. Beginning a career in IT seemed the most logical step, as I was great at fixing computers etc I won't bore you with the computing jargon. However computing was my hobby and I think somewhere in life I confused the enjoyment of a hobby with the perception I would enjoy it as a job.

Obviously I was wrong, and after 5yrs of working IT, I felt it was time to move into another area. So that brings us to the question, why law? I suppose everyone has their own personal reasons for choosing a profession, in true Hollywood style I would have you believe its for one poignant reason, but for me that truly wasn't the case. The various reasons included a better salary, a more (perceived?) respectable profession to advertise to my girlfriends family, a greater intellectual challenge and sense of achievement.

IT just doesn't provide those things to me anymore, and to be honest I just find it boring now, if I have to code another webpage or fix another PC hard drive I am going to go crazy and start a mass genocide on motherboards and monitors. Don't get me wrong I not claiming that IT is generally bad, but for me its reached the end of the line.

I am sure I will find things in Law that bore me or infuriate me, I would be extremely naive not to expect that, but I think it will provide me with the challenge I have craved in my life, whilst at the same time allowing me to enter a world that will benefit me in more aspects of my life. The main difference however is that I have had time to research what is expected of me in Law, I have read extensive books about Law, about specific aspects of law such as contract, tort etc. I have had the time to talk to people in the industry and to really take an indepth look at what is needed to become a solicitor/barrister. Unlike IT, I have had time to reflect on what the industry will be like, and thus make an informed decision about whether I want to go into or not.

(I am sure somewhere in my thoughts there is a proposal to improve the manner in which young people get better access to career information and are given more time to make a decision about their A-Levels and Degree programs, but I will leave that for another blog)