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"Significant" Work Experience

DontPay4LawSchoolDontPay4LawSchool Member
in Law School Admissions 571 karma

I come from a poor household and have been completely self-sufficient throughout college. All of my work experience is important to me. But how do law schools feel about this? I have worked at a number of jobs of all types because that was necessary. I think each of these jobs also conveys something about me that is significant. Harvard's sample resumes, for example, typically only list 1-4 jobs. Other schools also ask to include only "significant" work experience.

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  • clear227clear227 Core Member
    edited September 2021 350 karma

    I had experience working retail, as well as more professional jobs, and I wound up condensing the retail experience to just one line (e.g. "GAP sales associate spring 2018 - fall 2018") and expanding on my professional experience in more detail (e.g. "Graphic designer at Graphly, January 2018 - March 2021: lead a team of 6 people in design principles for logo and branding of a pet tech start up. Increased revenue 15% year over year. Won recognition from CEO").

  • Selene SteelmanSelene Steelman Free Trial Member Admissions Consultant
    2037 karma

    Speaking as a former admissions officer, the committee will evaluate a candidate based on the experiences they choose to share in their resume. By including it, you are saying the experience was significant to YOU. Stated differently, the nature of the position is less important than what you got out of the experience. Whatever you choose to list in your resume, make sure the bullets show your responsibilities and accomplishments. Good luck!

  • GoatAdvocate_0L_SLSGoatAdvocate_0L_SLS Member
    269 karma

    Two things:

    1. In a podcast put out by the Deans of YLS and HLS, they discussed this very point. If a person worked various part-time jobs throughout college to support themselves, you should definitely include that. You may not need to detail EVERY job and their respective duties, especially if those duties aren't relevant to law school. They recommended an applicant just make note that they always worked some type of part-time job throughout college, because that would explain other parts of the applicant's application, such as a lack of extracurriculars or grade drops.

    2. If the jobs you worked are an important part of your story, I would definitely write an essay about it. If not a personal statement, then a diversity statement. Or an addendum.

  • DontPay4LawSchoolDontPay4LawSchool Member
    571 karma

    @clear227 @"Selene Steelman" @GoatAdvocate

    Thank you for all of your advice! It is certainly a tricky landscape for first-generation college students to maneuver through but hopefully people like you all will help me get through it!

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