How would you handle this?

[Anonymous]

I'm a lawyer interested in a job in a public interest field that I worked with a lot before law school. During law school, I sort of set that aside and focused on, well, being in law school and developing skills as a lawyer. While in law school I interviewed for a few things in the public interest topic but nothing really ever panned out. I think I was just sort of emotionally overwhelmed with the public interest topic from working on the ground with people and I needed to intellectually focus on other things for awhile. What's a smart way to explain this in an interview without seeming sort of flaky?

[Anonymous]

By lying. You were focused on establishing your career and now that it's more established you're at a place where you can incorporate your passion for transsexual homeless vets who like underwater basketweaving and would love to be part of their mission to help them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By lying. You were focused on establishing your career and now that it's more established you're at a place where you can incorporate your passion for transsexual homeless vets who like underwater basketweaving and would love to be part of their mission to help them.

OP here. LOL!! Thank you for making me smile (which rarely happens while job hunting)! The above advice was generally going to be my approach I guess. I admire people who doggedly pursue their public interest niche while in law school but honestly I just could not have done that and kept my sanity.

[Anonymous]

OP, have you done anything to keep up with that topic? How far out of law school are you? As someone who hires in the public interest field, you are competing against the people who DID dedicate themselves to that issue (at low pay, long hours, etc) since law school. So you need to show that you really bring something unique to the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you done anything to keep up with that topic? How far out of law school are you? As someone who hires in the public interest field, you are competing against the people who DID dedicate themselves to that issue (at low pay, long hours, etc) since law school. So you need to show that you really bring something unique to the table.

OP here. This is a post-law-school fellowship so nobody applying for it has been working for more than a year or possibly two. So luckily I am not competing with people who have devoted their lives to this cause for 20 years already or something like that. I will try not to be overly specific but it is a disability rights field and a very close family member has said disability. I was counselor at a summer camp for kids with this disability, I studied the biological side of it and wrote papers in college, I worked in a field with people who have the disability before law school, and then I honestly just set it aside because I was very emotionally drained at that point. I have to be honest I did work in the EEOC one semester but other than that I did nothing related to this specific niche in law school. I did a lot of labor and employment law, which I felt was something that I enjoyed and I felt would give me a lot of options in both public interest and government and even carry over into this if I wanted it to. I honestly do believe that I thoroughly understand a lot of the issues involved in this field and that I could be a pretty powerful advocate, but I can also see how someone else who was more active in law school or after would seem like a better candidate. But I can't change the past at this point, I can only try to articulate my interest and how I can be an asset to this organization in the best way that I can. Which is why I am asking for advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a lawyer interested in a job in a public interest field that I worked with a lot before law school. During law school, I sort of set that aside and focused on, well, being in law school and developing skills as a lawyer. While in law school I interviewed for a few things in the public interest topic but nothing really ever panned out. I think I was just sort of emotionally overwhelmed with the public interest topic from working on the ground with people and I needed to intellectually focus on other things for awhile. What's a smart way to explain this in an interview without seeming sort of flaky?

Don't say what you just wrote, because that is going to come across as flaky. You are at a disadvantage, in that many people will have kept up with that area of law through classes, internships, and jobs. You might emphasize the depth of your background and the scientific, etc. side of things that you would bring to the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
By lying. You were focused on establishing your career and now that it's more established you're at a place where you can incorporate your passion for transsexual homeless vets who like underwater basketweaving and would love to be part of their mission to help them.


OP here. LOL!! Thank you for making me smile (which rarely happens while job hunting)! The above advice was generally going to be my approach I guess. I admire people who doggedly pursue their public interest niche while in law school but honestly I just could not have done that and kept my sanity.

Between your LOL and the bolded, please spare us your condescension and stick to your law career. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
By lying. You were focused on establishing your career and now that it's more established you're at a place where you can incorporate your passion for transsexual homeless vets who like underwater basketweaving and would love to be part of their mission to help them.


OP here. LOL!! Thank you for making me smile (which rarely happens while job hunting)! The above advice was generally going to be my approach I guess. I admire people who doggedly pursue their public interest niche while in law school but honestly I just could not have done that and kept my sanity.

Between your LOL and the bolded, please spare us your condescension and stick to your law career. Thanks.

Uhh... what?? I don't think condescension means whatever you think it means?