<p>So I landed myself an internship at this small law firm next to the driving academy. Currently I'm loving it and there's always something new to learn and do (Today, I now get to call the courthouse and set up court days according to clients' preferences). Though this is a step in the right direction when it comes to building a resume for college, I mainly am interning so I can learn more about being an attorney and how family law works (after this, I would like to get with a criminal defense attorney. Criminal law is my main interest. But I've always found family law interesting). So, I see that most of you count your community service hours. A lot of people say that internships should qualify as community service, since you don't get paid. Should I start counting my hours? Some part of me thinks that counting your hours shows that you're uninspired, that all you care about is snagging as many hours as possible. But I do feel strongly about this internship, and if you could give me advice, I'd appreciate it so much.</p>
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Some part of me thinks that counting your hours shows that you're uninspired, that all you care about is snagging as many hours as possible.
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Well, at my school, the students have to count their hours. We're supposed to fulfill a certain number of service hours, and if we don't keep track of our time sheets, we get put on social probation. I think it's important to keep track of how many hours you put into this internship - not because you want to snag hours, but just knowing how much time and effort you gave. If this is for school, it might be important to keep a record as well.</p>
<p>at my school, volunteer hours don't count if you earn them at a "for profit" institution. so if you were at my school, your hours would not count; they would have to be done at a not for profit place (hospital, charity, animal shelter, etc.) on your college application it should ask for extracuriccular (sp?) activities, so you can list it in that section. either way, it will show your dedication to your dream of becoming an attorney.</p>
<p>Alright. Thanks for the feedback. No, my school could care less when it comes to community service and what's good for college. However, do you think that listing the hours on my resume when applying for a paying job might help? My mom told me to start listing my hours to prepare for a future job, but I was a bit unsure about the matter.</p>
<p>You might want to start keeping track of your hours so you can decide later if you want to actually list them.</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with keeping track of your community service hours.</p>
<p>Alright. Thanks!</p>
<p>I don't really understand why people do that. There isn't a spot on applications to put "total number of service hours completed." Like when people say, "400 hours community service" -- it makes me think of criminals making retribution lol</p>
<p>I just keep track of where I volunteer and how often..</p>
<p>my hours are listed on my transcript. i have no idea how many i actually have.</p>
<p>I just ballparked it on most of my resumes/college apps. Eh, give or take ten hours I guess...</p>
<p>So if I had an internship, would the hours I put into it count as community service/volunteer hours?</p>
<p>^ I guess it only matters if your school asks for a certain number of community service hours in order for you to graduate. Otherwise, just put it on the app as an internship.</p>
<p>After knowing that colleges don't actually ask for a "number of hours" on the application, I've stopped tracking how many hours I worked at a science museum. I think it's pointless anyhow, and unless you make it to the thousands of hours, 300 hrs is not going to look significantly more impressive than 100 hrs. It won't break or make your application either way.</p>
<p>R_V: How did you find this internship? I kinda want to do the same thing, but I don't know where to go.</p>
<p>I've never heard of an unpaid internship being counted as community service.</p>
<p>Employers won't care nearly as much about the number of hours you've put into community service as the positions you've held and what you've learned. I would list this internship on your resume, but as "Internship at X Law Firm", not undifferentiated community service.</p>
<p>As an employer, I would assume that the internship was something you had to be selected for after an application and interview, whereas a community service position was something you might simply have gotten as a walk-in volunteer. I would view the intern as someone pre-screened (always a good thing when you're trying to get your resume out of the big pile and into the little one).</p>
<p>BTW, it sounds like you're at the firm for all the right reasons. The way you post about this internship here would resonate with employers.</p>
<p>Count it for later use if you so choose; here internships are considered community service.
But focus more on the fact that you like it...this can be valuable when pursuing a career and degree.</p>
<p>If you volunteer 20 hours a week, say it. There's nothing wrong with counting your hours; it doesn't show that you're 'uninspired' or just doing it for the college application. Even the most self-sacrificing people know just how many hours they put in to something...</p>
<p>My school requires 100 hours in order to graduate. I finished in sophomore year, but I now have about 130. I won't put exact numbers on my applications because I want to show that I didn't just do the work to fill the requirement. It was partially like that, but still. I'll say 130+ or whatever it happens to be at that time.</p>
<p>this is my suggestion -- </p>
<p>on your resume (and on the application where you would put work experience or extracurriculars) list it as follows:</p>
<p>Intern, xyz law office (2006-present, ~20 hr/wk)</p>
<p>This would be an accurate reflection of what you did -- you were an intern, where it was, when and how many hours a week average. You could put upaid or volunteer intern if you want.</p>
<p>I would not recommend you count it as community service hours. Everything I have read would could an internship at a for-profit business as work experience and not community service. It would look strange on a college app for you to count it as such.</p>
<p>Thank you, hsmomstef. That was extremely helpful. I will definitely do just that. </p>
<p>xyz2004slc , I simply asked my speech teacher/future debate coach if there were any local lawyers who offered internships to high schoolers. She gave me a name and told me to give them a call. </p>
<p>And simply looking into a phone book in the "Attorneys" section definitely helps. There's nothing wrong with calling them up and asking them if they have anything to offer, even if no one referred you to them.</p>
<p>I hope that helps!</p>