Resume Tips /work experience??

karko2525

Hi guys, I am currently filling out applications for law school, but I find myself stuck on the resume portion. For context, I am approximately a year out from college and have not worked since graduation. I was having a very tough time coping with the idea of the LSAT and making large enough improvements on the actual exam so I decided to focus my energy on the exam and deal with work experience later. Before covid hit, I was planning to take the LSAT and then apply to some legal internships or volunteer opportunities after... but obviously now, it is super hard to find a job let alone a legal internship. Do you guys think this large gap in work experience would look bad on my resume? Additionally, should I write an addendum explaining this gap? I heard on a law school podcast that due to the pandemic, there will be tons of people who can't find legal work opportunities so it should be fine to skip the addendum.. but any and all thoughts on that are greatly appreciated. I am mainly worried because I am not a traditional law school candidate by any means. I started out college thinking I would apply to medical school and that dragged on for most of my college experience ( I had a very difficult time letting go of medicine and went back and forth on that idea for 3-3.5 years) so I never considered law until the end of my junior year of college. That being the case, I have 0 work experience in the legal field. I know that work experience is not required for law school, but I am sure it helps with admissions.. All I have on my resume are some odd ball medical volunteer experiences, working in a lab for a summer, pharmacy internship, and working at a doctor's office for a period of time. Needless to say, I did a lot of exploring to figure out what I wanted to pursue as a career, but I am not sure how that looks to law school admissions lol I am mainly entering law school with the hope of going into healthcare law or something in law that is related to science or medicine specifically. Also interested in IP/ patent law. Do you guys think my lack of legal experience would hurt my chances for admissions?

P.S. Is there a specific format for the resume I should follow? I have one, but I need to revise it for law school. I found some templates online, but is that enough?

LOWERCASE EVERYTHING

hey @karko2525,

people find their passion and their suitable job in different ways and times.
some are k-jd (kindergarten through jd) - they knew they wanted to go to law school since they were a child. some switch their majors several times throughout college and end up deciding on law school later on, but learn to love it. some work in a completely unrelated field, but later on, find that their values align with the work that requires a jd.

i mention this, because you are not alone. you may have considered and worked towards a different profession in the past, but i don't think that matters too much. my former boss went to law school when he was 40, and he was doing something totally unrelated to law before then. he just had a different time and realized what he really wanted to do after he turned 40.

as far as i know, prior legal experience will not significantly help one's application, because your gpa and lsat scores are the most important factors that tend to outweigh all others. yes, they can help and it is true that legal experience or some other work experience may look favorably to law schools, but none of these will matter if one doesn't have the numbers.

as for your résumé, i think you can be proud of your accomplishments even if it's non-law related, and don't worry about whether they'll hurt you (they most likely won't). they helped shape who you are now and helped you make your next step which is applying to law school. try to also reflect that on your personal statements and other areas in your application.

as for the résumé template, 7sage admissions course has awesome templates that you can download and use. they also have great tips that might help you: https://7sage.com/admissions/lesson/sample-resume/

i hope you do well. good luck!!

karko2525

@"LOWERCASE EVERYTHING" thank you so much for your insight! I don’t know anyone personally who is applying for law school so it’s been tough figuring out what to do sometimes. I will check those templates out and the 7Sage admissions tab. I heard they’re pretty helpful. Did you pay for the admissions portion for 7 sage as well? If so, do you find it very helpful in terms of application materials, etc.? Anyways, thanks again! Best of luck to you in your endeavors

LOWERCASE EVERYTHING

@karko2525
yeah i did have access to them at one point. i think they are $10 and give you access to the essay banks. https://7sage.com/admissions/enroll/

but even without the $10 course, i think you should be able to have access to the general materials which are very helpful.

good luck!

karko2525

@"LOWERCASE EVERYTHING" thank you! I will definitely check it out. I pretty much have my personal statement down. The resume portion is the main portion I am struggling with so those templates really help. I forgot to ask though.. do you think I should write an addendum for the gap in my resume post-college? I was thinking of writing a short one explaining my focus on the LSAT and then the unexpected pandemic.

LOWERCASE EVERYTHING

@karko2525 from what i heard from the admissions officers, a couple of months of gap is fine. but it does seem like you have more than that (even before covid). so i would do it. i don't think the addendum would hurt.