It can be hard to get legal experience on your resume. And is it really even necessary? Do you absolutely need legal experience before applying to law school?
It is no doubt good for you to learn more about law before making the huge decision to go to law school. You can take legally related academic courses, but what about supplementing them with experience?
These days, with legal hiring potentially happening much earlier in your law school years, it might also really be beneficial for you to be able to demonstrate legal experience. Law firm hiring has changed, and law students seem to be applying for positions earlier and earlier.
So how do you obtain legally related experience?
Here are a few ideas:
Law-related academic clubs: Wherever you go to school, there are bound to be prelaw and related clubs. From the Prelaw Society to the Mock Trial Team to potentially an Undergraduate Law Review, the opportunities to become involved, build your resume and your legal knowledge abound. No prelaw clubs on your campus? Then start one.
Internships: It may not be as difficult to find a law-related internship as you might think. Handshake, or whatever the job search platform at your school is, has many legally related positions posted throughout the year. Although it tends to be easier for juniors and seniors, I’ve met many first year and sophomore prelaw students who already have had internships. Often, an internship will be available for academic credit, if it is not a paid internship. Since law is such a broad profession, you can investigate law firms, corporations, government agencies and nonprofits.
Volunteer experience: Beyond internships, there might be plenty of volunteer opportunities out there for you. You could help a local community organization. You could volunteer to work on an upcoming political campaign. There are all sorts of community-related activities which are at least partially legally related.
Micro internships: You can look on platforms such as Forage for micro internships. These are short-term opportunities, sometimes with very well-known law firms and corporations. You can also look at LinkedIn Learning for short term courses that might build your skills and have certifications that you can add to your resume.
In addition, any club, job, internship or other experience that helps you build your writing, research or analytical skills, will both help you in law school and help to build your skill set.
Hillary Mantis consults with pre-law students, law students and lawyers. She is the author of several books related to careers in law and law school admissions. You can reach Hillary at Hillary.mantis@yahoo.com.
