Why should you be open to choosing an alternate career after law school?
I’ll start with a little bit about myself. I recently graduated from Jindal Global Law School. Just the 2nd batch of the law school I honestly did not have much of an idea of what to expect from life as an 18-year-old when I came here. The journey, however, has been awesome and I am excited to share it with you all.
If you could be anything in the world, what would you be? Take a moment and answer this question.
Now I ask this question only because I believe everyone makes choices based largely on circumstance, situation, pressure, preconceived notions and similar traits. What if you had the chance to be anything in the world what would you be?
Remember to free your mind, dream with your eyes wide open and think aloud. Anything from space explorer to a deep-sea diver, president of a country to world famous singer, humanitarian to a business tycoon.
Again, think from your heart and let the child in you speak.
I shared this because growing up and even now I have been extremely passionate about sports. Now as many may think it, it does not mean I have to become a sports person. The idea is translating any passion or love into work.
Entrepreneurship gives you the scope to make money and solve a problem based on the things you’re really passionate about.
I’d like to share a few more examples with you.
Elon Musk
He founded PayPal, Tesla and Space X. Just because he was interested in space becoming an astronaut was not the only option. Today he makes money through satellite launches and asteroid mining. Who would have thought he would be giving NASA a run for their money?
Lesson: You can read and learn and acquire knowledge on just about anything.
Sachin and Binny Bansal
They sold books on the roads of Bangalore and today we all know what Flipkart is! This revolution happened in just the last 5–7 years.
Lesson: Once you kick start your idea and execution will take various shapes and forms.
Varuna Shunglu
A friend of mine who graduated as a lawyer from DU Law Faculty was passionate about Yoga and today she’s got an MSc in Yogic Sciences and tours the world for Yoga retreats. She’s launching a health and wellness start-up.
Lesson: If you’re passionate about something work on becoming the best at it.
I don’t think anything in life is “easy” or any future is “secure”. There is only one thing that defines us and that is the hard work we put into our passions.
I’m still finding my passion. It’s a long journey of self realization. I’ll tell you how it worked out for me.
Career Confused?
I started my +2 with PCMB. It was either becoming a doctor or marine engineer that I had my sight on.
Law and the Legal Profession
I loved speaking and debating and I felt law school or the legal profession would allow me to hone that skill in some way or the other.
I was keen on being a litigator and kicking ass in a courtroom for the rest of my life. Turns out that wasn’t me. I had a series of average internships where for a variety of reasons I didn’t enjoy the work and the culture.
Intern at a Startup or Feel Free to Start Your Own
As law students, we do an average of 8 internships during our law school. I can guarantee that each student has at least 1 internship they feel wasn’t worth it. All I can encourage you to do is choose to intern at a start-up or in an unconventional space instead of wasting that month. Choose to take two months off and work on an idea that you have thought about or considered and it will change the ball game altogether. That’s when the journey of self realization will begin.
For me, it began with EShack and that’s how I embarked on the journey of Entrepreneurship!
Lawyers are risk averse and entrepreneurs are risk takers! It took a dear friend and business partner, Ashwajeet Singh to make me see this side of myself. I knew we would be able to connect the dots and create something magical and fun out of thin air. I knew we could breathe life into an idea from nothing into something tangible and meaningful.
We took the plunge and launched and e-commerce start-up retailing drinking, party and bar accessories. As student entrepreneurs, it was the most enjoyable journey. Bloody tough as well because multi-tasking becomes a way of life.
There is no bigger joy than creating something
The experience allowed us to immerse ourselves in to every aspect of running an organisation. We retailed our products to over 25 cities in the country and had retail tie-ups with over 15 other brands. We had the opportunity to interact with international suppliers and local logistic companies. The range of people that you get to deal with on a day-to-day basis expands your horizon to no end. You’re your own boss- the motivation and learning are all on you.
I wasn’t sure what to expect after law school. I was keen on pursuing a career in trademark law. I was thinking whether I would survive in a courtroom in black and white. I decided to work at a start up so I could be as close to entrepreneurship as ever.
Change in Career Trajectory after law school
As I graduated from Law School I began to work at Embibe. Embibe is an ed-tech startup, which aims to help students preparing for massively competitive exams in improving their scores using data and technology to provide personalized feedback to a student on metrics such speed, time, accuracy and behavioral factors such as nervousness and stamina.
This was my first experience of working at a start-up organisation other than my own. The start-up culture has a charm of its own.
• It doesn’t matter how you dress or what you look like.
• It’s your “get shit done attitude” that matters!
• Learning on the go and team building are the most challenging aspects.
• It will change the way you look at everyday things.
Risks, Failure, and Success
It’s okay to fail! As cliché as it may sound, I can assure you there is nothing truer than actually learning from failure and mistakes. I have failed many times.
• Some may look at eShack as a failed venture but I am where I am today only because I gave that a shot. I was at a bar in Mumbai with some NUJS graduates and they were talking to me about eShack saying some dude in Jindal started this fancy thing. For me just saying ‘hey that was me’ is a measure of something I have achieved. No experience or learning is ever wasted.
• I stood for the Student Council Elections in my 2nd year and lost by a huge margin. I was definitely down but not out. I knew that very moment that I will give it another shot and it worked out.
• We performed well in all our football tournaments outside of University but lost 2 semi-finals in back to back years on home turf Surprisingly we played and we won on home turf for the 1st time. Its your perseverance that does the trick.
I am saying all this because I think everyone should involve themselves in activities that let you experience risk, failure, success and teamwork as that will help you grow as a person a lot more, even counter strike tournaments work.
What’s next?
The world is my playground and I hope it will be yours too in whatever you do! I am not advocating any lifestyle or career choice. I am only advocating for you to do what makes you happy and content and work towards achieving your dreams!
Update: Ashwajeet and I have ventured out again and are working on our next big idea! Stay tuned for more 😀
PS:
- I read every response on Medium and every reply on Twitter.Do not hesitate to share your thoughts — Arman Sood
- If you enjoyed this post do ‘❤’ to promote it to others.
- You can mail me at soodarman@gmail.com to get it touch.
Originally published at armansood.com on February 18, 2016.
