Career Options Pt. 1

I'm at the point in my schooling right now where it's time to start seriously considering my career options. The time to start applying for legal jobs starting in Fall 2010 is rapidly approaching, and it means that some preliminary decisions have to be made and some pre-screening has to be done. With the economy being what it is, for better or for worse, I realize that I have to be flexible; however, I've narrowed my ideal choices down to a few select types of job that I'll be seriously looking into.

1. Public defender- this is probably my ideal job at this point. The work is interesting, I have a decent background in it, my law school curriculum has been tailored toward criminal law, and with a government salary, you don't have to worry about clients who won't pay. There are plenty of drawbacks, to be sure, but I think this job is one that I would really enjoy and would be good at. Plus, there are criminals in every single state in the United States, so the job market spans far and wide, leaving plenty of room for choice of location.

• Pros: flexibility, autonomy, relaxed work environment
• Cons: poverty, lack of resources, tight economy, risk of getting curb-stomped

2. Human Rights/Relief Worker- this job would require a bit more sacrifice, since it would likely be in Africa or another developing or third-world area. However, this job would be a great combination of my educational background (foreign language, public administration, law), my work background (criminal law, politics, administration, immigration), and my liberal douchebagginess and guilt. I'm really interested in this job, but I know so little about it, so I'll have to flesh out many more details before I can really explore this option

• Pros: humanitarianism, travel, adventure
• Cons: poverty, malaria, difficulty in securing employment, risk of getting kidnapped

3. Dark wizard/Ringwraith/Witch King of Angmar- this job is almost too cool for words. Just yesterday I was reading the Lord of the Rings books, and I realized that the coolest character in the series is by far the Witch King. I realize this may be a difficult job to come by, and it seems to end badly for those who hold it, but that doesn't scare me. Also, I was the best man at a wedding this weekend, and I was in charge of keeping the ring, and I feel like I did a pretty good job. I feel like the ability to cast dark magic on people would be a very transferrable job skill.

• Pros: job coolness, autonomy, direction, wicked uniforms, badass transportation
  
• Cons: white wizards, hobbits, sunlight, risk of getting sword-chopped, crappy health plan

4. Professional Bass Fisherman- Although I'm not super keen on the idea of wearing a shirt with some corporation's logo on it, being able to ride around in a boat and wear sunglasses for a living seems pretty cool. Just look at those who have done it before- Jimmy Houston, Bill Dance, Don Johnson. Plus fishing is awesome, and it seems like the job is somewhat recession-proof, as I can't imagine fish particularly care what the Dow or Nasdaq is doing at any given time. This might also be a hard job to come by, but if I could maybe start out as a dark wizard and learn some cool magic, it would be a lot easier to both get the job and succeed as a professional bass fisher. One Spinnerbait to Rule Them All...

• Pros: wicked sunglasses, tackleboxes, worms, giant checks, mustaches
  
• Cons: fish and game regulations, corporate sponsorship, risk of drowning, accidental hookings
  

I'm going to do some research and see where it goes from there. More to come...