Can sumone help me in deciding?

[faizan3]

Hello every1,

I hope u guys will must try to help me in it, as i m lost ... I have just finished my LLB(hons) from the university of Greenwich london with second division... I spent like 5 yrs in london all alone... it was my dream to become a Lawyer but now I dont feel to do a practice but not sure what shud I do now ... dont want to stay in london anymore ... want to go back to karachi and stay there ... and want to do sum other course like ACCA or any other professional course as I dont want my Law degree to get wasted as I gave alot of time and really spent hard time there..... So I m not sure wht shud i do now ?? Shud i go back and work in london and do practice there ... or shud go to khi and do ACCA ... does any1 of u think if I will do ACCA it wud be useful for me ?? I simply hate maths and accountacy as before going to london I started Cat after my FSC... but didnt like it so I left it.... anyway my bhai did BA finance and acounting and he did ACCA part 1 as well... and he is getting better job easily while there isnt any job for lawyers .... (

I dont know wht shud I do as it seems i wasted all my time and energy in spending 5 yrs of my life studying Law... as it was so hard and it made my life miserable.... PLEASE PPL READ it and advice me wht exactly I shud do which wil be related with my Law degree... there isnt any1 with whom i can discuss all this.. I m extremely worried and confused about everything !!

Waiting to see early replies

Regards
Faizan

[Sitara]

Salam,

well its realy sad to read it all. And some what I am glad that u have completed your llb. As you said that you hate maths and accconting. It would be rather good for you to practice your law.

Acca is in good demand in abraod. I am not senior And want seniors to come here and reply.

Rabia-k is doing ACCA and has much info. she and other member would help you. Like kamranAca, odysee and many more

Insha Allah you will do well.

[Osama Rules]

Salam,

Well it was disappointing to read ur story but don't worry bro u can overcome these difficulties with a bit more hard work as real hardwork has already been done!!

So don't be double minded now just continue with what u r doing as u already have spent 5 years with it & got a degree! [)]

Anyways u don't like accounting so no point in starting ACCA or whatever!!

If u feel that u need to study further for law then just go ahead & still if u r not able to find the job in pak then move abroad..
There is whole world out there from Middle East to Europe to USA etc.

It's not the end of life dude!!

Good luck.. [D]

[rabia-k]

if you wanna study for aca/acca/cima etc etc then you will "HAVE TO" fall in "LOVE" with accountancy. don't be scared from the maths, you wont be studying robotic engineering maths!

how about career as a sports agent? many of them have a law degree, but you will have to do a research on its scope in Pakistan. personally i don't think its of any sue in pakistan, but you should research about its demand in UK. you should do research on your own and decide whats best for you. try googling "what can i do with my LAW degree"

http//www.mahalo.com/how-to-become-a-sports-agent

[Sitara]

Here comes Rabia-k

[faizan3]

Thanks Osama and Anam, thts really kind of u both !! rabia the thing is tht I hate living abroad so I want to leave it as Law is in demand there but life is horrible and I find myself so misfit there... so i wanted to come back as my family live in dubai and I m from pak... but after coming here I found tht there is no scope of Law degree here in these both countries while my bhai who just did part 1 of ACCA with normal BA is getting far better job than me.. well thts not the point the main thing is tht Law wasnt tht easy it was harder than accounting... I worked really hard but the only thing is tht we need to have an interest in the subject ... I simply hate maths I m not gud at numbers.... but as u told me accounting is not same as maths or I shud say not horrible like maths then I can give it a try ... coz last time when i was doing CAT 6 yrs ago I just left it without appearing in the exam !! but now I feel accounting and finance is a kind of field which is in demand all over the world... while law degree is gud only in few countries including UK.. but i dont want to live in uk all my life so now i feel i shud do sumthing which will help me in living in dubai or in pak !!

My main concened it if I will do ACCA as its basically all about accounting and I will become accountant after completing ACCA ... then wht about my Law degree or I can continue both at the same time ... Not sure how will tht work if I will have a Law degree plus ACCA... but I feel i can either be Accountant or Lawyer so if I will do ACCA , does it mean I m leaving LAW ?? coz its totally a different field altogether.... Rabia I have seen my brother's ACCA book of TAXATION and I found tht u guys also need to look at the ACTS and have to understand the law to some extent... so I feel maybe it will help me now in studying ACCA ...wht do u think ?

1 last thing I might not like accounting as such but shud I give it a try one more time as before I was just finished my inter maybe thts why didnt find it easy and now things wont be same !!

Sorry for long mesg PLEASE READ AND REPLY !!
Regards
FAizan

[Mujahid]

@^
Mujhe ye bhi chahiye aur wo bhi chahiye. [)]

[faizan3]

lol mujahid wht was tht P
well hum ko de koi aisii parhai jis se ghar main aai kamai ... degree hai bas naam ki maula P...lol
honestly after spending so much money on this LLB... no1 is giving me a single penny not only tht but there isnt any trainy jobs available !!

[kamranACA]

Dear Faizan,

Please don't feel my words odd but I firmly believe that a mature person should not get double minded like this.

There is no harm in testing your knowledge, fate and abilities in diversified areas during different phases but such deviation should not be caused by a feeling of misery, misdirection, depression or fatigue.

You are Mashallah a qualified lawyer/solicitor and have a very good qualification with you. The reduction in jobs due to recent financial melt down has lead many to feel that the world is going to an end and economic activity is supposed to to be ceased. In fact this is not the truth of life. World has historically witnessed so many recessions and have rose from each of such storm quite positively. This recession will also vanish gradually (in near future) and you will see that growth rates will resume and start improving. The jobs which you are not seeing in the market currently will sooner be seen available to the aspirant professionals like you.

Keeping the above prediction aside I come to your question.

In my view you need not to go for ACCA "merely" for the sake of finding a job. You have number of opportunities where you can test your fate and who knows you find a best reward of your all hard and difficult times. How can you feel a sense of failure without doing a great deal of search in this globalized market? I must tell you there is no reason to get dishearted. I advise you to consider following options

1. Improve your qualification further at UK regardless of however difficult and harder it may be felt. I know Bar at Law is quite expensive and effort taking. If you can do it, this will be the best decision of your life. Otherwise, you must consider doing LLM and then another Masters (or M.Phill) in some relevant subject like Political Sceince or international relations, or economic etc.

2. After doing the above (or some of the above), you can take a well informed decision about whether you need to stay at UK or revert to Pak? If you get some breakthrough and good job in relevant field, in my view, you should stay at UK. However coming back to Pak will also not be bad decision when you have improved qualification. However, it would be much better if you revert to Pak after improving qualification and GETTING SOME EXPERIENCE of work at UK; Say, of 2 years. If you start all the things with a good planning I guess you will be in a need of further 3.50 to 5 years stay at UK.

3. If you revert to Pak, you will see lots of places where you will potentially be welcomed. There are a number of law firms (not individuals) which have business of millions of Rupees per month and which hire a number of aspirant and assidous professionals. As example I quote the names of some of a few very renowned firms like "Ordignam", "Mohsin Tayyub Ali", "Carlinus and Mufti", "Haider Motha", "Hasan and Hasan" etc. These all firms mainly deal in Corporate, Finance, Civil as well as Criminal matters and have number of local and foreign qualified lawyers, barristors, JDs, and solicitors on their payroll.

Apart from them, there are very very renowned advocates of supreme and high courts who, if intake you on their payroll (may be as trainee), will make your future brightest.

You can search, apply, join and work with any of these options and make a basis of your strong career. Mind it, a lawyer earns millions but takes plenty of time to reach that level. So you will also be required to work constantly, diligently, and assidously with all the honesty (with ur ownself in fact) and patience. Certainly your days will also come.

4. During the currency of your job/training with above, you will find many opportunities in Public as well as private sector such as Judiacial system elements in the shape of official attorney, Judges (if you qualify competition exam), officials of securities and exchange commission, FBR, Competition Commission, Banks, Insurance and other companies in various sectors.

You can try your fortune on various fronts and can diversify your exposure as well.

5. When you will feel that you have made good basis and developed good PR, you can also think on to commence your own practice at High Court or Supreme Court level after getting the required experience. Lawyers are the most united people in Pak, and when you will join that community you will feel immense honour, elevation, privilage and respect. This will increase your level of confidence with the passage of every day. You will feel the pleasure of self acheivements.

Please note, you can do all these things and build your career from scratch even if you don't improve your qualification and opt to revert with LLB Honours alone. However, you will be needing proper guidance, info, planning and execution at right times and at right opportunities. Initially time can be tough but it can never stand long if you will prove yourself.

Just don't lose heart. You are carrying one of the best qualifications.

Keep on working hard and thinking out of the frame.

Best of luck!!!

Regards,



Kamran.

(I am posting this message from my blackberry device so there can be some typographical errors).

[faizan3]

hmmm I m speechless now I can only say thank u so much for telling me all these things... actually i was actually going to say those things here but u have already mentioned them which is brilliant masallah u have got an immense knowledge about most of the thing I guess !!

Ok I still want to ask u few things as I have got an idea tht u understand things really well ... first of all as u mentioned tht I shud work in uk and get some work experience and also asked me to do Postgraduate including BVC(Bar at Law) or LPC (Solicitor) LLM etc . But I want to tell u tht all these postgraduate courses r very expensive and its even hard to get admission specially in BVC. As the fees of any of the Postgraduate starts from £15000-£25000 and then living expense and all which means tht I will need another another £30,000 more to do BVC or any other Postgraduate course !! and I m sure u must be aware of the fact tht there r not many students who actually manage to pass BVC or LPC in first go... so the cases r pretty low if i wil spend tht much money and fail in the exam as I will be standing nowhere as I already dont have tht much money !! The second most importnat thing which I want to tell u is tht u need to be a qualified Solicitor or Barister and only then u can get a proper training contract in a law firm atleast in uk. Simple LLB(hons) r not even elligible for it and above all usually they give preference to qualified solicitors more than a LLB.. so in any uk law firm u need to have either LPC or BVC degree to become a trainee.... OK I hope u r getting me so far please tell me or ask me if I m wrong !! the only option i have is to go and ask any DESI Solicitor to allow me to work with him which was one of the only option I had.... ok lets not talk about wht wil i learn with them and wht wud be the value of showing the experience of Lets suppose Khan solicitor or any individual solicitor as compare to working with a Law firm.... Above all living in uk and doing nothing but working with a Desi solicitor which r honestly horrible , one of my frnd is working there and he even asks him to make tea and ask him to do photocopy etc... same the way ppl treat trainies in pak... so I m not sure is it worth spending tht much money of living in london and getting tht sort of experience from there ? I totally agree with u tht if i wil get a work experience from a proper firm tht must be very useful and it wud be worth staying and even if i will suffer I dont mind.... but not sure about the kind of work experience i wil get from these desis as they dont even know much and sit in local places and have no standards and they have same like any pakistani lawyer practicing in pak !!

Anyway the main thing is tht honestly speaking only LLB(hons) without a proper Law firm experience is nothing.. believe me getting a job even when the market wil stable wud not be tht easy.. i have to do sumthing else and I cant afford to do any further LAW course as it is very hard and very expensive too .... thts why I felt lets forget about the law for some time and get something else which is more useful and again I want to ask u.... lets suppose if I will try to do ACCA and also do practice in pak with any lawyer wil it be a bad idea ? and wht if inshallah i wil pass ACCA then wil i have to choose one thing b/w LLB or ACCA... like can I only be a Lawyer or accountant... wht about if i wil work in a firm and wil also work as a Legal adviser as I wil must have some legal exepereince as well by the time i wil complete my ACCA even just part 1 or 2. I m not trying to convince u but tell me does it make any sense whatever i m saying !!

Thanks and waiting for ur earliest reply !!

[awaisaftab]

You can come Pakistan and start your law practice as consultant in tax and corporate laws. It is not necessary for you to become a typical lawyer.

[Mujahid]

You can also opt for CSS exam in Pakistan. It's quite cheap.

[rabia-k]

Faizan,
you have family in Dubai, can't you come here and apply in the local law firms ? you should give it a try. your family or relatives can apply for a visit visa.
ACCA has only 1 paper on LAW, corporate and business law. you can choose the variant i.e. UK law or Global Law.
i am in ACCA's F level , till now the only math i have come across in the papers is O level math! algebra, probability, inequalities, sketching graphs, solving simultaneous equations in the management accounting paper. this is grade9 math!. TAX is a total calculation based paper, but the math is addition/subtraction/finding %s. who cant do all this baby math? you have to understand the law in tax and then apply it to the given scenario. in financial reporting we study the IASs/IFRSs. we have to understand the treatment prescribed by a particular standard and then apply it to given scenario. basically its all business maths.
accountancy is a very interesting subject. but you have to be in love with this subject, if you wanna do ACCA or any other accountancy qual.

anyways first and foremost you should apply in the law firms in UAE. you already have a Uk law degree , you might get a placement as a trainee in any law firm here. if you need addresses i will post them here or you can Google them yourself .
good luck

[kamranACA]

Faizan

Some how I had have a strong relationship with the field you have choosen and wished to be a Bar at Law in the very earlier days of my studies. However, I did not opt for it for so many reasons including the reason that Bar at Law costs too much (for which I did not wish to bother my family) and without it my ambition was not supposed to be satisfied. So I left the idea unworked.

If the situation is that miserable, you should take a decision to get back to UAE or Pak. You can apply at number of openings in Law Firms, High Calibered Individual Practitioners, Government Job openings and also try your fate in judiciary exams and CSS exams etc.

Things will take time but surely get settled leading to ecstasy and pleasure in the coming days.

By the way why you don't earn at UK during your stay?

ACCA will be beneficial for you as well and at any stage of life you may find it expedient to switch over the profession slightly by joining secretarial, corporate or taxation services. However, to my understanding such switching over will not be possible if you will get settled in your already choosen field. I told you that LAW is one of the most elevated professions once you are really in the game circle.

Think a lot and take a well informed and solid decision.

Regards,


KAMRAN.

[faizan3]

Salam to all and thanks 1000 times for all the help & support !!

I really dont know how to reply to whatever u guys have said so far .. Ok I start with rabia suggestion well I already have a residence visa of UAE and I m also in dubai at the moment ... going back to london on 15th oct to attend ceremony so wanted to decide it whether I will stay in london or will I come back !! Anyway the main thing is tht and correct me if I m wrong we cant do LAW practice in UAE as such ... I can work as a consultant only or with a Law firm which deals with consultancy only as here in this country only locals can go to Court.. So even if i wil work here I wont be doing a Law practice but wil be a LAw consultant !! PLEASE if u think I m wrong then plss let me know and try to find out more about it if u can .... I wil be very thankful to u then !! Secondly actually in a way u r telling me tht ACCA isnt tht hard so I shud try it ? or did I understand it wrong ?? ... coz u have told me tht even if i m not gud at maths I can still do it... but again if u r not in practice as in last 7 yrs since I finished my FSC I havent done any calculation so I might find tht 9th class maths tht easy in the begining !! so maybe I wil find it hard coz in all these yrs I didnt even do these baby calculation !! anyway still I will get back to u !!

Now Kamran bhai ... u guys r amazing & whatever u say it goes straight to my head and make things very clear to me !! first of all I wish and pray inshalah u wil be able to do BVC in future time... its my dad's dream tht I do BVC and he is even asking me to do it but to be very honest with u I dont have a courage to take tht big risk of spending tht much money as I m not even sure tht I will be able to pass it as BVC is still one of the hardest studies among all other courses.... thts BARISTERS r still at the top all over the world !! ook as far as working in uk is concerned if I wil be working full time with any Solicitor from 9-5 everyday then when wil i work ? hardly on weekends and I dont thing by working on weekends I will be able to bear all my living expenses there ....

I will must get back to u guys before I will take a final decision ... coz I m finding ur advices extremely useful !! 1 last thing which I want to ask from Kamran bhai and from Rabia, DO u guys think there can be any connection b/w LLB and ACCA or if I wil do ACCA it wont help me in LAW or LLB wont help me if I will choose ACCOUNTACy(ACCA) as a field. I want to add one very interesting thing to it my bhai is a qualified CA and ACCA he qualified in 1999 from Pak.. but I cant discuss all these things with him coz he is so overconfident on me and says I shud just start praticing on my own dont need any further training etc and if I wil talk to him about any other course he even gets angry ... I wonder even if I will tell him tht I want to do ACCA he will probably kill me P coz I dont know why our family thinks tht if we study in uk and getting a UK degree we have become so perfect... well I know it shud be true coz they spend so much money on students like me... but still I feel if I wud have stayed in pak or in dubai without having all those problems which I had to suffer all alone I cud do alot better in pak or in dubai.. Anyway guys just be patient with me .. I only I m almost killing u with my crap ... but I really appreciate if u guys can just guide me more !!

regards
Faizan