Before I started law school, I knew relatively little about it. These days—thanks to the internet, law-related courses and internships—most students are well-versed in how law school works, academically.
I’m often surprised, though, at how incoming students don’t know much about the legal hiring process.
Here are some tips:
It’s Important to Do Well The First Year:
Unlike undergrad, where freshmen often take a year to adjust, in law school, you really need to hit the ground running. Especially if you want to work for a large law firm. Much of summer associate hiring is based on 1L grades. If you start slowly, it’s hard to catch up. Since many offers are eventually made to summer associates for permanent positions, it’s important to snag those summer jobs. If you are not interested in a large law firm or a job in the private sector, you may have a little more time.
Interviews Take Place Early:
On-campus interviews for summer and permanent positions used to take place in the fall. Now they are usually in the summer. Every summer it seems to start earlier. So, the minute you complete your first year of law school, you may be asked to submit resumes to career services for on-campus interviews, where you will interview for jobs for the following summer. If you are a transfer student into another law school after your first year, it’s also crucially important to know when these interviews will happen, so you don’t miss them. They often happen well before classes start. Again, if you are not interested in working for a large law firm, you may have a little more time. However, some government agencies also interview early.
You Can Build Your Resume Through Clinics and Externships:
There are many opportunities in law school to build your experience while earning credits. Clinics are a chance to represent clients and even go to court, under the supervision of a law professor. Externships are what internships are called once you are in law school. Most law schools offer ample clinic and externship opportunities. This is a great way to build your resume for summer and post-graduate jobs.
You Can Research A Law School’s Hiring Record Before You Choose It:
The ABA required disclosure of employment report for each school, which you can find posted on each law school’s website, lists the employment rates for recent graduating classes. It will also list how many were employed by large law firms, small firms and government agencies. It will show what percent of the class did not find a job, ten months post-graduation. This is valuable information. It will also state the top three states graduates were employed in. This is important to know if you are going to law school out of state but hope to return home after graduation to practice. So check out the employment reports now, before you even apply to law school. You will get a sense of what types of jobs recent graduates land.
You Can Research Legal Employment Trends: There is also a lot of great legal employment information available at sites like www.nalp.org, an organization dedicated to tracking legal employment trends and statistics. Find out what areas are likely to be in demand and where there are projected hiring needs.
Hillary Mantis works with pre-law students, law students and lawyers. She is the Assistant Dean of the Pre-law Program at Fordham University and the author of career books. Admissions questions? You can write to Hillary at altcareer@aol.com.
