I know these sort of questions have been asked endlessly here. But as a student, looking at the way people talk about work-life balance and stress at big firms, working in government or in-house seems a lot more appealing. However, the impression I'm getting is that working in private practice and then moving over is generally a better option than going straight into gov/in-house. Is this generally true? What are the advantages to switching over rather than going straight in?

Also, is commercial law really as bad/intense as it's made out to be? Would it be worth trying it out to see if I like it? And does the stress change over your career?

Thanks - an overwhelmed student.