Employment Addendum

sara.thabet99

Hello!

I left my job in March 2023 due to a toxic work environment, and because I realized the specific legal field I was working in was not a good fit for me. It is now November, and I am still unemployed. I'm not sure if writing an addendum to explain this would be in my favour or not. I worry that it may be frowned upon that 1) I left a position without having secured another one, and 2) that my reason for leaving is not convincing enough.

I have done a few other things in the meantime, and have been looking for jobs in the field that I am passionate about, but I'm not sure if having any job, even one that I am not particularly passionate about is better than having no full-time job.

Any help/advice would be very appreciated

Thank you!

rdyoung12

Hey sara.thabet99,

I'm not an expert but in a similar situation to you. I don't think having employment gap will really matter to admissions because law school is an academic endeavor. Maybe it will indicate you won't stick through the three years of law school at worst? I don't think it will matter. I'm sure they admit a lot of students that never had a job.

Perhaps really do the addendum if you want but worried it will draw more attention to your employment gap, but if that's what you really want to do then do it!

Me personally, I just took some undergrad science classes once I quit and will mention that if it comes up.

Curious what you or anyone else thinks further on this topic.

partyrockin

In the podcasts I've listened to (7Sage, A2Z), members of Adcom generally say that if there is something in your application that may arise questions, you should write a brief, unsentimental addendum to explain it. Maybe you can frame it more positively and describe it as a sabbatical (took the time to read, spend time with family, volunteer, etc.). I've also heard that as a rule of thumb, if there's a period of unemployment lasting longer than 3 months, explain it. Otherwise adcom will picture you waking up at 2pm everyday and doing nothing. It's the same reason they don't want you to leave a FT or PT job just to study for the LSAT/work on applications--that suggests to them that you don't know how to multi-task, and as future lawyers you'll have to multi-task virtually all the time.

All that said, I wouldn't stress. Stress over something you can't change is useless--but you can frame it positively and if you get a job after you apply tell those schools you have an update. Your numbers/PS/optional essays are also important, so this resume gap is just one consideration among many. Good luck, you got this!