Self-study
I have worked a lot of jobs throughout HS to now, some of which are actually (somewhat) impressive, while others (usually from early HS) are like summer camp counselor, etc. My question is whether I should include every legitimate job I've worked or just those more interesting ones on my resume. I'd prefer the latter, but unsure as to what the standard is. Let me know what you all think, please. Thanks.
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6 comments
Hey @fmorea - Thanks for the question! I'm Jake and I'm one of the admissions consultants here at 7Sage! Just for a quick bona fides to let you know I'm not an internet rando - prior to 7Sage, I worked for 14 years in higher ed admissions including a stint as the Director of Admissions at Notre Dame Law. I'm happy to help you out with this question!
The default setting for law school admissions officers is that they'll want to hear about jobs after you began college. Only include jobs in high school if they were either crazy impressive (which is exceedingly rare for 17 year olds, but perhaps you earned steady income through high school from being a pop star) or if they continued through college (ex: maybe you started waiting tables at a restaurant when you turned 17 and have continued during college).
And should you include every job or only the impressive ones? I'd advocate for everything. First, you don't know what may catch my eye. Second, you may not consider "hustle jobs" to be impressive but it helps me fill in the blanks about your profile (ie, "Oh, it looks like they were waiting tables for like 20 hours a week all through college - dang.").
I hope that helps!
@JacobBaska Thank you so much for this response, it makes a lot of sense. I much prefer starting from college as opposed to high school.
PS: As a hopeful future ND Law student, Go Irish!
@JacobBaska What would you consider to be an impressive job in high school? Would an internship program for high schoolers be worth putting versus a customer service job?
@avery111 Can I be honest with you? It’s so rare to see an impressive enough high school job/accomplishment that merits staying on your resume by the time that you’re applying to law school that it’s really a “you know it when you see it” situation. For example - national or international level athletics and/or performing arts.
But the paradox here is that the jobs that would have enough prestige so as to include on a law school resume are - by definition - the kinds of jobs that require you to be in college or beyond.
The far more common example is the job that you began as a high schooler and continued through college. That’s totally alright to have on your resume for law school!
@JacobBaska I apologize for hijacking this thread to ask this. I was a US Senate Page in high school and I keep going back and forth on including it. I've had a lot of work experience since that time, so it isn't really about "filling up my resume," I'm just curious about what your thoughts are on including vs leaving this experience off the resume? Thank you!
@lca01 Thanks for the follow up!
Yup, this would fall into the category of including on your resume as long as it was a substantive experience. What I mean is that I've fun into people who want to put experiences that lasted for one day or one week on their resume. But if you were a page for at least a summer (if not a semester or a year), then - sure! - you can include it on your resume for law school.