Hi all — would really appreciate some honest opinions.
I studied law + business and, going into grad apps, I didn’t really understand how competitive things were. So I applied pretty broadly.
Deloitte got back to me quickly and I ended up with an offer for a Tax & Legal Graduate role (Business Tax – Corporate & International).
I know it’s not a traditional legal path (won’t qualify as a lawyer through it), but I’m not 100% set on becoming a lawyer anyway. My main goal is to do something I enjoy, build a solid career, and earn well long-term.
A few things I’m weighing up:
Salary is \~$74k incl. super (seems pretty standard from what I’ve seen, but not amazing). From what I've seen, law grad salary specifically go from 65k to 85k on average. Only a couple I have seen above that (a few gov roles, and a few high end firms)
Gov roles seem to pay a bit more upfront, but lower ceiling long-term
Deloitte seems to have a well-structured grad program + strong brand name. Other benefits they told me abt that appealed to me: being able to work part time in the future if I wanted and opportunity to go to a different country for some months if I applied
Got rejected from bigger law firms (because no clerkship)
Not sure what area of law I’d even want to go into → worried about locking in too early
I’ve had some legal-adjacent experience and it was… fine? Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it
For further context- I was initially very happy to even get the Deloitte offer because my GPA is very average. I think my interviews went very well though. Point being I feel like grades matter a lot more in Law so idk how successful I would be at getting an equally good job more in the legal industry.
Right now I’m leaning towards Deloitte because it feels like a good place to learn, keep options open, and figure out what I actually like. My thinking is I can always pivot after a couple of years if it’s not for me.
Like surely working in this role in a well known company like Deloitte is better than a more law aligned role in a mid tier or boutique firm right?
But I’m also wondering if I’d be closing doors by not pushing harder for law firm / gov roles now.
If you were in my position, what would you do? Take Deloitte or keep applying? Lol I feel like reading this you can already see where I'm leaning. But seriously what else should I be applying to that would be better than this offer?
Keen to hear from anyone in law, tax, consulting, or gov.
TDLR: Got a Deloitte Tax grad offer (\~$74k incl. super). Not set on being a lawyer. Take it for experience/exit ops or keep pushing for law/gov roles?