<p>What kind of job experience is considered valuable or important in the law school admissions game? I know that GPA/LSAT are "king" when it comes to law school admissions but I was wondering what kind of job experience I should be trying to get in order to help my overall package as a law school applicant. Specifically, I was wondering if working at a law firm as a "mail clerk" or something like that would be as beneficial to one's application as working at at a retail clothing store or as a waiter at a restaurant.</p>
<p>Any work experience can be valuable, depending upon what you take from the experience. In other words, if you learn life lessons through working at your job that provide you with discussion points in your personal statement, than that job can mean much more than just some work experience on a resume. Of course, to the extent that you can show that you were promoted or otherwise recognized for your work, and if you get a recommendation from your boss or someone else who gets to know you well (who, by the way, will often know you much better than would any professor from undergrad), and if that boss says glowing things about your intelligence, dedication, hard work and initiative, all the better.</p>
<p>Of course, to the extent that you are interested in corporate law, for example, and you have worked as an accountant, or in finance or in HR or some other corporate function, that can be valuable. The same can be said for any job that provides some actual knowledge of a function that may be important in a future job. Don’t discount jobs as waiters, bartenders and other service professionals either, though – there is something to be said for knowing how to deal with both pleasant and difficult members of the public and juggling many tasks at once.</p>
<p>In fact, having work experience prior to law school may help you most when it comes time to interview for jobs. Recruiters from law firms (and I assume from other legal employers) love to meet candidates who have worked out in the real world and who understand what it is to get up for work every day, to really be present throughout the day and to accomplish all of the tasks appointed to them. If work experience has allowed someone to show initiative, take charge of projects and meet goals, again, all the better. Recruiters are also very interested in candidates with maturity, and find that those with some real work experience often have that desired maturity.</p>
<p>Thanks for the informative post!</p>
<p>I’m not sure that working a menial job that doesn’t even require a high school degree is going to be a big help to you.</p>
<p>solid work experience also helps in obtaining those summer law positions too. And of course all the experience you gain throughout law school will come into play when you are seeking your first law job upon graduation. I know I am just stating the obvious- but what has struck me based on my kids experience is how quick the law school experience is-
d started law school last August- started her summer 1L job this week and by August she will begin interviewing for a 2L summer associate position.<br>
So within 1 year of entering law school, she will begin interviewing for the “all important” 2nd year summer associate job. In the past, many of those SA jobs led to job offers after graduation- but of course that may be changing too.</p>
<p>but as a parent- I am just amazed as to how quickly the whole process works.<br>
I will add, my kid had a pretty easy time getting her summer job. She was a Business Rep. for 2 years with a labor union. Went to small claims court with union members, was part of negotiating team and just had solid meaningful work experience.<br>
It all helps- </p>
<p>d # 2 who is not doing law school- was a bartender. Don’t discount that type of experience either. That type of work definitely improves your “people skills”. And often in business, it is those that have those skills that are more successful than those with book knowledge and high LSAT scores.
so look at all work experience as a place to learn and grow–</p>
<p>Re: law school admissions and work experience. I don’t know if it had that much of an affect. D pretty much got into the usual group of schools based on her lsat and gpa. She was waitlisted more than I expected and rejected less than I expected. So I think they liked her background and would have liked to admit her- but ultimately she didn’t get off any waitlists either (but she only actively pursued 1 of the schools she was waitlisted at).<br>
but as Sally said- the work experience may prove itself to be more helpful when applying for law positions and not law school admissions.</p>
<p>Please read over the thread, “What we learned about law school admission.” Generally, work experience is irrelevant for admission. It is undergrad GPA and LSAT with a small bit on other factors. I guess if you were involved in a negotiation team for labor unions or worked for a judge, it could be helpful when you get out of law school and look for jobs. However, generally your work experience is irrelevant for admission.</p>
<p>–also real helpful in getting the summer jobs while in law school. The more you can build on the work experience throughout law school, the better your background will be for obtaining the first job out of law school. And as I am realizing, the law school experience is lightening fast. Within 12 months of when she began law school, my d will be interviewing for the all important 2L SA position. So even the experience one gains during the first summer is critical as it may help her obtain a job for next summer. </p>
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<li>but I’ll agree with you Taxguy, I don’t think it helped that much in admissions. Maybe more waitlists than rejections for d but not much more than that.
what I will say- is that the work experience is definitely a factor in her obtaining very solid summer employment as a 1L law student. And it all builds from there.</li>
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