Quote:
Originally Posted by Cefiro22
Hi all, I got into SMU Law and NUS Accounting last year. I chose NUS cos I heard that the law industry was pretty saturated.
My senior told me that things weren’t THAT bad (most can still find a job) and that the pay was probably much higher than studying accountancy.
Still, im assuming that I would probably score much higher in accountancy than law (law is much more competitive), so the pay won’t be that different.
Can anyone give me some advice? Will I be better off as a better-than-average accountant or an average lawyer? How about the working hours? (I think accountancy would be slightly better)
Thanks for any inputs! |
Both law and accounting are vastly different beasts.
It might sound like hollow advice at this stage (I'm assuming you rejected your spot in
SMU?) but you really should choose based on whether you can see yourself practicing in either field, not job prospects, quality of life or starting salary - all these considerations are transient and temporary.
As a lawyer i for the love of God can't stomach a lifetime of staring at spreadsheets full of numbers. But that's just me. You may have a phobia of writing. It really depends on the individual.
Working hours wise the main difference is that you're going to have peak seasons and lull seasons in Big4, assuming that you take the conventional audit route. As a lawyer you are constantly fighting fires so there's no true high-key or low-key period. Your schedule is dictated by either the client or the court, so unpredictability is a greater issue.
Pay wise I really doubt scoring better in uni will give you in edge in accounting since all graduate audit hires start off on the same payscale, like most professional services firms. You could try aiming for more lucrative areas like IB with a first class but then again you could also do the same with a law degree.