Also, it sounds like you're concerned about building a strong application for law school. Don't worry! It's all about spin and being able to tell your story in a compelling way. I recommend digging deep and thinking about all the things you do that can be crafted into meaningful experiences. For instance, I added ALL of my experiences in undergrad into my law school resume, like acting as a mentor to a younger student or attending unique dance lessons. I also added in that I was in an employee resource group at my workplace. I think the point is to show who you are as a person and that you have interesting interests so from that standpoint, anything goes. It's really just about spinning it to convey that they meaningful experiences that have shaped your character. (Just to clarify, I am currently a law student.)

I was in this situation for a brief period when I graduated from undergrad. Instead of applying for jobs, I started meeting with temp agencies. Temp positions often "convert" which is when they offer you full-time employment at the end of your contract. It's also great because recruiters at the temp agencies will work with you to revise your resume to make it really shine before sending you out to the companies that have hired them to do the recruiting. I also recommend volunteering as much as possible. You will make connections in random ways with other volunteers and that will help with the job search. You never know when a fellow volunteer or their spouse has connections that can help you find a job. Both scenarios have worked for me in the past. Best of luck in the job search!

I hope I didn't scare anyone with my comments about networking. They are really intended to highlight an aspect of the profession that I thought I could avoid entirely as an introverted, somewhat shy person. I was blindsided when I showed up to professional development sessions put on by career services at my school and they told us essentially what I've shared on this board. They literally said, "Please schedule at least 2-3 hours each week for networking and career building activities" on the second week of class when I was still trying to figure out how to stay on top of assigned reading. That said, do not feel pressured to do it over the summer. It's just a great time to practice to help you get comfortable with the inevitable and will take the pressure off finding time for that when you'd rather be studying. (Can't believe I just typed those words...)

@oshun1 said:

@ said:

@oshun1 , I would rather not identify my specific school since I prefer to keep my anonymity on this forum but my school falls around #30 on US News rankings and is considered the top school in my region. I have friends at other law schools in rankings higher/lower than mine who found my general commentary about preparing for LS applicable to their situation.

To answer your question about networking, yes to both scenarios. However, I think to say anything one thing is flat out necessary to getting a job is misleading. I gave that advice to contextualize the culture of law school and the legal profession. Networking is part of the normative culture of this profession and it starts in law school. I'm sure it's not impossible to get your dream job without networking. However, be prepared to find a diversity scholarship (or other 1L summer associate position) at your dream law firm with one or two openings at most and hear that 10+ of your classmates/friends are interviewing for the same spot (and that's from your school alone). You will feel severely disadvantaged when you find out that they all had coffee/lunch with the hiring partner and know all the specifics about the type of work each practice group does through all their connections. The connections don't automatically mean they will get the job but it will probably mean they will write a better cover letter that's more authentic/less generic, have a better interview with answers more tailored to what the law firm is looking for, and ask their interviewers more intelligent questions. It will also be uncomfortable for you when you drag yourself to a networking event and your classmates are able to greet partners/recruiters by first name and have deeper/more interesting conversations with them. All of these things will make it easier to nail the dream job. If you want more specifics feel free to reach out to me in a message. (Sorry for the small typos, literally trying to type as fast as possible.)

Thanks for the response. So you’re saying that all of those students had befriended partners prior to law school?

That's an example of a situation that I've personally encountered. Keep in mind that many law students come from legacy families and their family members are already well connected in the legal profession. It's not always clear that the connections are formed prior to law school but I heard comments from my friends/classmates of that nature within the first two months of school starting. Many are explicit about networking during the summer and others were extremely savvy about finding and making time for networking events once school started.

To clarify, I'm not saying you have to network during the summer to succeed, but it will definitely help you get more comfortable with it + allow you to add to your network before school even starts. Most people, including myself, did not start networking until school started but it's one thing many of us say we wish we started earlier.

@ said:

@ said:

@ said:

@ Thank you! Do you have any links to examples of a sample law-style resume?

bump

https://law.yale.edu/student-life/career-development/students/toolkit-student-job-seekers/resume-advice-samples

I would check your law school website + other law schools. I did that to build mine. I know it can be hard to identify what is a good sample but some elements it should include: (1) academic history should be the first section (2) skills + language + interests at the bottom (but don't write anything there that you're not comfortable getting asked about by an employer) (3) Must be one page in reverse chronological order.

I recommend thinking about your resume as a writing sample. A lot of resumes run the risk of sounding robotic and unnatural so it's good to try to convey your transferable skills in a manner that's easy to understand. For me, that meant testing each bullet point to see if a high schooler with a high level of intelligence would be able to understand and repeat back to me what it is that I do and why my employers think I'm awesome ;) Take this jargontastic sentence I made up on the spot that's intended to mean nothing as an example: "Collaborating with transformation teams to integrate specialized reporting and technological analysis input mechanism to enhance user database functionality." I've worked on multiple hiring panels before and you'd be surprised how many resumes actually sound like this after you've had to review several dozen.

Ultimately, employers (of all kinds) will not spend the time to try to decipher this and you run the risk of conveying that you don't know how to write well. Think about what lawyers do; they have to take super complicated information and make it understandable to a lay person. Your resume should show that.

@oshun1 , I would rather not identify my specific school since I prefer to keep my anonymity on this forum but my school falls around #30 on US News rankings and is considered the top school in my region. I have friends at other law schools in rankings higher/lower than mine who found my general commentary about preparing for LS applicable to their situation.

To answer your question about networking, yes to both scenarios. However, I think to say anything one thing is flat out necessary to getting a job is misleading. I gave that advice to contextualize the culture of law school and the legal profession. Networking is part of the normative culture of this profession and it starts in law school. I'm sure it's not impossible to get your dream job without networking. However, be prepared to find a diversity scholarship (or other 1L summer associate position) at your dream law firm with one or two openings at most and hear that 10+ of your classmates/friends are interviewing for the same spot (and that's from your school alone). You will feel severely disadvantaged when you find out that they all had coffee/lunch with the hiring partner and know all the specifics about the type of work each practice group does through all their connections. The connections don't automatically mean they will get the job but it will probably mean they will write a better cover letter that's more authentic/less generic, have a better interview with answers more tailored to what the law firm is looking for, and ask their interviewers more intelligent questions. It will also be uncomfortable for you when you drag yourself to a networking event and your classmates are able to greet partners/recruiters by first name and have deeper/more interesting conversations with them. All of these things will make it easier to nail the dream job. If you want more specifics feel free to reach out to me in a message. (Sorry for the small typos, literally trying to type as fast as possible.)

I also posted the comment below on a different thread. It's a few things I wish I did before school started. Hope it helps and good luck with everything. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. This is by no means an exhaustive list but it's some of the things I've struggled to make time for in the last several months.

I am in my second term of law school and there are quite a few things I wish I did before law school. Some of this is probably really obvious for some reason, no one told me to do these things before starting law school. It's possible my friends thought it was too obvious to mention :P In any case, here are some other things worth considering:

Prepare for a workload that is physically impossible to stay on top of. By that, I mean prepare yourself physically AND mentally for what that will feel like. I took a few months off before starting law school and let sleep schedule shift to ungodly hours. Don't start the year "jet lagged" like I did.

Start networking like crazy. Try to establish contacts with as many lawyers as possible and schedule coffee/lunch/job shadowing. I don't know why this caught me by surprise but I didn't realize how much of a schmooze fest law school is. I partially expected this to be a post-law school endeavor. I was wrong! Prepare for networking events to start within the first couple weeks of school starting (even during the summer). SERIOUSLY INTENSE job searching will begin by December. You will not want to make time for additional meetings while also trying to stay on top of your course work. It's also helpful to start getting used to how awkward networking is. Btw, it's not unusual to read out to a local bar association section or call a law office and ask if someone is willing to chat with you. My classmates and I do this regularly to my chagrin.

Buy a suit...or two, or three. I find it hard to make time for the dry cleaners when there's so many other things I'd rather be doing. I needed a suit by week 3 of law school for a networking event + professional head shot photo op. Don't forget that tailoring also takes time and many stores don't stock as many sizes, offering instead to order everything for you.

Revise the crap out of your resume and change it to conform to the law student template. Yep, there's a separate format that the legal industry expects. It's mostly the same as a one-page business resume. However, my career advisers wanted revisions for each experience/skill to emphasize skills and accomplishments that will be more transferable to a law firm setting.

Draft a cover letter template that emphasizes transferable skills. At least brainstorm skills or characteristics that are unique to you that all your other law school classmates won't have. This will make it easier for you to draft applicable materials when the time comes. E.g., self-sufficient, detail oriented, etc. If you end up applying for a diversity scholarship or diversity fellowship (definitely look up what that is if you don't know already), you may also need to write a personal statement or diversity statement which will have much stricter parameters than the ones used for law school. All of my friends had to draft new ones over break.

Do some interesting things over the summer so you have interesting things to talk about when you go to networking events. Particularly if you're K-JD and have little work experience, it may be a challenge to connect with professionals and compete against classmates who have a lot more work experiences than you.

Read a couple things. I recommend some leisure reading but also Legal Writing in Plain English (which I didn't read until law school) by Bryan Garner, which was helpful for understanding the types of nuances to legal writing and to get an idea of the types of assignments expected in 1L curriculum. One L by Scott Turow is also great and unfortunately a rather accurate illustration of what it feels like to be in law school. I also just like reading Elements of Style by Strunk & White every one in awhile to get a refresher. If you haven't read it, you're missing out. I know a lot of people recommend Getting to Maybe, which I read, but I actually didn't find that helpful. It sort of contextualizes the law school exam but most of the advice didn't make as much sense until I had contracts, torts, civ pro, etc. They weave the law into some examples and it's explained well but I don't think it actually helped in terms of practical application. I read it again during winter break and it was more impactful on the second read. However, I personally don't think it will really make or break your success on a law school exam. It's better to ask your professors for old copies of their exams, practice drafting short answers, and having them review them. They will give you much more constructive feedback. Most casebooks come with hypos that you can use to draft answers. All my professors recommend doing this and I think it's more insightful than the book.

I am in my second term of law school and there are quite a few things I wish I did before law school. Some of this is probably really obvious for some reason, no one told me to do these things before starting law school. It's possible my friends thought it was too obvious to mention :P In any case, here are some other things worth considering:

Prepare for a workload that is physically impossible to stay on top of. By that, I mean prepare yourself physically AND mentally for what that will feel like. I took a few months off before starting law school and let sleep schedule shift to ungodly hours. Don't start the year "jet lagged" like I did.

Start networking like crazy. Try to establish contacts with as many lawyers as possible and schedule coffee/lunch/job shadowing. I don't know why this caught me by surprise but I didn't realize how much of a schmooze fest law school is. I partially expected this to be a post-law school endeavor. I was wrong! Prepare for networking events to start within the first couple weeks of school starting (even during the summer). SERIOUSLY INTENSE job searching will begin by December. You will not want to make time for additional meetings while also trying to stay on top of your course work. It's also helpful to start getting used to how awkward networking is. Btw, it's not unusual to read out to a local bar association section or call a law office and ask if someone is willing to chat with you. My classmates and I do this regularly to my chagrin.

Buy a suit...or two, or three. I find it hard to make time for the dry cleaners when there's so many other things I'd rather be doing. I needed a suit by week 3 of law school for a networking event + professional head shot photo op. Don't forget that tailoring also takes time and many stores don't stock as many sizes, offering instead to order everything for you.

Revise the crap out of your resume and change it to conform to the law student template. Yep, there's a separate format that the legal industry expects. It's mostly the same as a one-page business resume. However, my career advisers wanted revisions for each experience/skill to emphasize skills and accomplishments that will be more transferable to a law firm setting.

Draft a cover letter template that emphasizes transferable skills. At least brainstorm skills or characteristics that are unique to you that all your other law school classmates won't have. This will make it easier for you to draft applicable materials when the time comes. E.g., self-sufficient, detail oriented, etc. If you end up applying for a diversity scholarship or diversity fellowship (definitely look up what that is if you don't know already), you may also need to write a personal statement or diversity statement which will have much stricter parameters than the ones used for law school. All of my friends had to draft new ones over break.

Do some interesting things over the summer so you have interesting things to talk about when you go to networking events. Particularly if you're K-JD and have little work experience, it may be a challenge to connect with professionals and compete against classmates who have a lot more work experiences than you.

Read a couple things. I recommend some leisure reading but also Legal Writing in Plain English (which I didn't read until law school) by Bryan Garner, which was helpful for understanding the types of nuances to legal writing and to get an idea of the types of assignments expected in 1L curriculum. One L by Scott Turow is also great and unfortunately a rather accurate illustration of what it feels like to be in law school. I also just like reading Elements of Style by Strunk & White every one in awhile to get a refresher. If you haven't read it, you're missing out. I know a lot of people recommend Getting to Maybe, which I read, but I actually didn't find that helpful. It sort of contextualizes the law school exam but most of the advice didn't make as much sense until I had contracts, torts, civ pro, etc. They weave the law into some examples and it's explained well but I don't think it actually helped in terms of practical application. I read it again during winter break and it was more impactful on the second read. However, I personally don't think it will really make or break your success on a law school exam. It's better to ask your professors for old copies of their exams, practice drafting short answers, and having them review them. They will give you much more constructive feedback. Most casebooks come with hypos that you can use to draft answers. All my professors recommend doing this and I think it's more insightful than the book.

Hope this helps! Good luck :)

I emailed LSAC asking explicitly about the Perfect Score Watch and they said it was OK for test day.