As a headhunter going through many profiles, I thought I'd share this advice since various people are posting information (in some cases disinformation) on LLMs abroad. The advice is for those returning to India only.
- In some countries a foreign LLMs are highly valued. Germany is an example that comes to mind. India is not such a country.
- In India, what matters most is where you did your BALLB from, plus your work ex. Unfortunately, we have an NLU/non-NLU caste system. This is furthered by lazy HR managers who find it easy to sort CVs on this basis. Plus. HR people generally like imposing hierarchies and making some people feel inferior. After a while, only your work ex matters, not your college.
- An LLM is seen more of an incremental addition, e.g. if you pursued a specialist course or made global connections that may be helpful down the line. Or perhaps a useful asset to show off in meetings with foreign clients. e.g. "Meet my associate Amit, who studied in London" may sound more impressive than "Meet my associate Amit, who studied in Bhopal".
- Keep in mind that 95% of partners do not have foreign LLMs. The 5% that do will probably look upon it favourably. The ones that don't will probably ignore it at best or make judgements at worst (e.g. rich kid went to NY/London/Singapore to party). Reasons like "I went to XYZ university abroad to deepen my knowledge and attend lectures by good faculty" is not good enough for the second type of partner. You may well be speaking to a GLC/DU alum who never attended a single lecture in his life and instead was a "lifelong intern". He/she fails to understand the value of an intellectually stimulating lecture, or writing a research essay supervised by a top academic, when one can learn by interning under a lawyer. He/she may even ask you: "Why do an LLM if you don't want to join academics?"
- The QS Law Ranking is a reliable indicator for selecting colleges, but certain ranks are questionable. It's best to stick with "safe" brand names if one is returning to India. These would be:
UK:Oxbridge/LSE/KCL/UCL/QM/Edinburgh/Warwick etc.
US: Harvard/Stanford/Yale/Columbia/Berkeley/Cornell/Chicago/Duke/Georgetown/Northwestern/GW etc.
Apart from the US and UK, the colleges below are very good, but not so familiar among partners and HR managers in India. Or rather, known only among a small circle.
Australia: Melbourne/Sydney/UNSW/Queensland/ANU
Singapore: NUS
Germany: RKU aka Heidelberg/HU aka Berlin/LMU aka Munich/GU aka Frankfurt/Hamburg Uni/Bucerius Law School
Sweden: Stockholm/Lund/Uppsala
France: Sciences Po
Switzerland: Graduate Institute Geneva
Netherlands: Leiden, Amsterdam
Bottomline: If you choose to do an LLM abroad, be confident about your choice and do what you want to do in life. If you are sensitive and hurt by judgmental comments from HR managers and partners, you will not succeed in any profession. Give your 100% whichever university you go to and be proud of that university and your degree. Also, there is nothing wrong in having a good time in NY or London or Berlin. Go to bars, concerts, etc. You won't get the opportunity ever again.
- In some countries a foreign LLMs are highly valued. Germany is an example that comes to mind. India is not such a country.
- In India, what matters most is where you did your BALLB from, plus your work ex. Unfortunately, we have an NLU/non-NLU caste system. This is furthered by lazy HR managers who find it easy to sort CVs on this basis. Plus. HR people generally like imposing hierarchies and making some people feel inferior. After a while, only your work ex matters, not your college.
- An LLM is seen more of an incremental addition, e.g. if you pursued a specialist course or made global connections that may be helpful down the line. Or perhaps a useful asset to show off in meetings with foreign clients. e.g. "Meet my associate Amit, who studied in London" may sound more impressive than "Meet my associate Amit, who studied in Bhopal".
- Keep in mind that 95% of partners do not have foreign LLMs. The 5% that do will probably look upon it favourably. The ones that don't will probably ignore it at best or make judgements at worst (e.g. rich kid went to NY/London/Singapore to party). Reasons like "I went to XYZ university abroad to deepen my knowledge and attend lectures by good faculty" is not good enough for the second type of partner. You may well be speaking to a GLC/DU alum who never attended a single lecture in his life and instead was a "lifelong intern". He/she fails to understand the value of an intellectually stimulating lecture, or writing a research essay supervised by a top academic, when one can learn by interning under a lawyer. He/she may even ask you: "Why do an LLM if you don't want to join academics?"
- The QS Law Ranking is a reliable indicator for selecting colleges, but certain ranks are questionable. It's best to stick with "safe" brand names if one is returning to India. These would be:
UK:Oxbridge/LSE/KCL/UCL/QM/Edinburgh/Warwick etc.
US: Harvard/Stanford/Yale/Columbia/Berkeley/Cornell/Chicago/Duke/Georgetown/Northwestern/GW etc.
Apart from the US and UK, the colleges below are very good, but not so familiar among partners and HR managers in India. Or rather, known only among a small circle.
Australia: Melbourne/Sydney/UNSW/Queensland/ANU
Singapore: NUS
Germany: RKU aka Heidelberg/HU aka Berlin/LMU aka Munich/GU aka Frankfurt/Hamburg Uni/Bucerius Law School
Sweden: Stockholm/Lund/Uppsala
France: Sciences Po
Switzerland: Graduate Institute Geneva
Netherlands: Leiden, Amsterdam
Bottomline: If you choose to do an LLM abroad, be confident about your choice and do what you want to do in life. If you are sensitive and hurt by judgmental comments from HR managers and partners, you will not succeed in any profession. Give your 100% whichever university you go to and be proud of that university and your degree. Also, there is nothing wrong in having a good time in NY or London or Berlin. Go to bars, concerts, etc. You won't get the opportunity ever again.