Distance Learning - Law or Psychology

I can probably comment on both, but only from the Australian perspective, so I don't know how relevant that is. Firstly I should let you know that my academic background is Clinical Psych, but career-wise, I have worked in corporate management then into HR - both operationally and strategically. Amongst other industries I have headed HR teams in Law Firms and Professional Services Firms and consulted in Change Management Projects (eg mergers, acquisitions, big corporate restructures etc). So I'm going to comment on the aspect of becoming re-employed after finishing each qualification as a mature aged graduate. Psych first: In Australia, in order to practice, you need to have a Masters and worked under clinical supervision for a period of time before you are allowed to register with the national association of psychologists. So, in summary, you would need to do a 4 year Hons degree, then get someone to agree to take you on for your Masters thesis for however long that will take you (it's governed by you), then you will need to have a supervisor in the workforce. My opinion would be that being a mature age would [u'>not [/u'>set you back. Certainly you wouldn't earn a great deal to start with, but people would look favourably on you because being mature, you have the additional life experience to add in to the academic mix. Of course this might change slightly depending on what area of pscyhology you wish to practice in. Now Law: The big firms that have graduate programmes tend to recruit from the university campus. They don't pay a lot, they work you very long hours and they manage your charge out rate dogmatically. While it will never be said, they do not tend to recuit mature age students. Several reasons - they usually have families and can't put in the late hours often required to help prepare a matter under pressure, they are not so maleable - the grads are pretty much used as "cannon fodder" to do very low level things and are more easily shaped to the firm's culture, they don't want any issues about salary because someone may have had a "career" prior to joining the firm that they feel they should be compensated for. They like their graduate population to be homogenous. I can't comment on small local law firm hiring practices except to say I have never noticed their presence on university campuses. There is a wonderful synergy between the HR background and the psych qualification in these times that you could take full advantage of. Mind you, you could say that about the Law degree too, I suppose, just that I'm biased, LOL. With so many companies undergoing the need for large scale change, I believe there are significant opportunities if you are in the right place (by that I mean you need to be in a city where the head offices are located so that you can work with the decision makers). Psychology and Law are both very broad options. Do you have a feel for your areas of interest?

Cheers.

Ok i write you, you can delete it

FAO Breteuil, (Sorry to highjack the thread) I have been looking at long distance learning for quite sometime now and have not been able to find the right course, most of my focus having been on the UK Open Uni. Your reply has made me wonder if I might qualify for a French long distance course. Could you tell me what the entry requirements are, and point me in the direction of the right institute? Merci bcp. I am studying through iedparis8, ( you can google it) which means institut d'enseignement a distance de l'universite paris 8. I know the requirements for the french people ( baccalaureat) but not for the other diploma. You can study different courses and the university has a good reputation. If you give me your email i can give you more details.

Try the University of London External Programme - good value, good reputation and lots of courses to choose from. I am planning to do my LLM through them.

FAO Breteuil, (Sorry to highjack the thread) I have been looking at long distance learning for quite sometime now and have not been able to find the right course, most of my focus having been on the UK Open Uni. Your reply has made me wonder if I might qualify for a French long distance course. Could you tell me what the entry requirements are, and point me in the direction of the right institute? Merci bcp.

I have decided 3 years ago to make this change, at the age of 40. Since then, through distance learning i am studing psychology with a French University. You need to be really motivated to do it. We are 5 students in Dubai, the youngest is 32 the oldest 51. Even if it is really tough sometimes to work on your own, with a lack of interaction with the others, it is very interesting. Before staring this long study, you need to be sure that you are ready to study 5/6/7 years to reach your goal. Good luck !

It's never too late to change career, I did twice, and feel so good about myself. Along the same lines as yours, I also pursued Global Masters and I am almost same as your age. All the best.

Your never too old for a career change. Go for it! Too right! I'm 43 and studing for a completely different career - planning a change when I'm 50.

ladies ..i am in a huge dilemma. I have just turned 35 and am in need of a career change ( maybe am too old ). i have been in hr for the last 10 years and now will like to embark on what was my dream through the years of either being a psychologist or a lawyer. i need some advice from the ladies who have pursued courses in the above and what has your experience been like towards a career change especially in the mid 30s tia Your never too old for a career change. Go for it!

The Sorbonne offers law in Abu dhabi. Has anyone looked into that?

I would think law would be difficult to do for distance learning. Have you looked into psychology here in Dubai. My daughter just started her first year at Middlesex. They also offer Masters later on. Her schedule is not heavy that you might consider taking it full time here.

Also, look into the practical sides of both courses - Law will probably have at least of year of clerking and Psych may have practical therapy time - ensure that you are able to fulfill the course needs here. Good on you.

I just wanted to say that a career change in your 30's is tough but absolutely do-able. I am unfortunately stuck in the same field so can't talk of my own experiences but you need to take inspiration from ladies like Eva Joly who went back to law school in her 30s, got a degree, then went on to be the investigative magistrate for one of France's most prominent corruption cases in France. She is now the party representative for the environmentalists. She started off as a Nanny for a French family! So you can change careers and you can suceed, you just need to believe in yourself. Good luck

I would be interested to hear too and I am much older!!