Best jobs before law school? Paralegal? Hill?

[Anonymous]

Son really wants to go to law school. We think he should work for a year or two for experience and to save some money for expenses, and because employers like graduates with some experience. What are some interesting, reasonably well paying jobs for government majors ultimately bound for law school? How much do these jobs pay? Son has had work experience since high school, but so far only unskilled work, no internships. Rising junior. He wants to go straight to law school. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

What kind of law does he want to practice?

Two years of admin work really isn't enough to sway an employer of a first year associate, and he is unlikely to be able to save a substantial amount of money in two years.

[Anonymous]

Paralegals applying to law school are a dime a dozen. Your son should try to figure out what kind of law he'd be interested in practicing later, and then get a job related to that field (e.g., if he's interested in environmental law, something with the environmental protection division of a local government, or working for an environmental protection non-profit).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paralegals applying to law school are a dime a dozen. Your son should try to figure out what kind of law he'd be interested in practicing later, and then get a job related to that field (e.g., if he's interested in environmental law, something with the environmental protection division of a local government, or working for an environmental protection non-profit).

This is what I was trying to say. Thanks, PP.

[Anonymous]

Mechanical engineer. Regulatory work in pharma or medical device.

[Anonymous]

Work experience will help your son develop his work ethic which is important in law school. The experience itself will have no impact on legal hiring if his goal is to work at a firm. Firms look at two things: first year grades (class rank) and law school pedigree. Law review is important to some extent.

[Anonymous]

I work in law school career services and highly recommend he works for 2 years.

Peace Corps, Americorps, TFA, military service are great experience for any future career path. The maturity and problem solving skills those students have is outstanding, and employers of all stripes seem attracted to these candidates. They also seem to handle the stresses of law school well.

Paralegal at big firm is good, but really only helps in recruiting if combined with top grades. For the student, they will gain good insight into whether they even want this type of career, but on the downside if they want these jobs and don't get them they feel crushed.

Wall Street/ financial services experience gives you a leg up in those fields.

If you are committed to public interest, go serve that population or work for that cause to demonstrate your commitment. You won't get hired to work on refugee issues easily if you aren't fluent in Spanish.

If you really want to work in the international arena, go work abroad and gain fluency in some in demand language. It isn't a guarantee but it helps.

If you have no clue what you want to do, get any job where you get excellent research and writing experience and where you will come into contact with lawyers in some way. That will help with skill development and also give you some insight into what lawyers do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paralegals applying to law school are a dime a dozen. Your son should try to figure out what kind of law he'd be interested in practicing later, and then get a job related to that field (e.g., if he's interested in environmental law, something with the environmental protection division of a local government, or working for an environmental protection non-profit).

Totally disagree. The benefit of being a paralegal is that is allows one to see what being a lawyer really involves. Most kids who say they want to go to law school,have no clue, even if a parent is a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in law school career services and highly recommend he works for 2 years.

Peace Corps, Americorps, TFA, military service are great experience for any future career path. The maturity and problem solving skills those students have is outstanding, and employers of all stripes seem attracted to these candidates. They also seem to handle the stresses of law school well.

Paralegal at big firm is good, but really only helps in recruiting if combined with top grades. For the student, they will gain good insight into whether they even want this type of career, but on the downside if they want these jobs and don't get them they feel crushed.

Wall Street/ financial services experience gives you a leg up in those fields.

If you are committed to public interest, go serve that population or work for that cause to demonstrate your commitment. You won't get hired to work on refugee issues easily if you aren't fluent in Spanish.

If you really want to work in the international arena, go work abroad and gain fluency in some in demand language. It isn't a guarantee but it helps.

If you have no clue what you want to do, get any job where you get excellent research and writing experience and where you will come into contact with lawyers in some way. That will help with skill development and also give you some insight into what lawyers do.

Sorry, left out a sentence re speaking Spanish/refugees. Meant to say but be realistic about the limits of your pre law school experience. For example, an entry level admin job at an immigration non profit won't get you far if you lack the skill (like a language) for the attorney job. Similarly being a patent filing clerk is no help in being a patent lawyer if you don't have a,technical degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Son really wants to go to law school. We think he should work for a year or two for experience and to save some money for expenses, and because employers like graduates with some experience. What are some interesting, reasonably well paying jobs for government majors ultimately bound for law school? How much do these jobs pay? Son has had work experience since high school, but so far only unskilled work, no internships. Rising junior. He wants to go straight to law school. Thanks!

Why does he really want to go to law school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in law school career services and highly recommend he works for 2 years.

Peace Corps, Americorps, TFA, military service are great experience for any future career path. The maturity and problem solving skills those students have is outstanding, and employers of all stripes seem attracted to these candidates. They also seem to handle the stresses of law school well.

Paralegal at big firm is good, but really only helps in recruiting if combined with top grades. For the student, they will gain good insight into whether they even want this type of career, but on the downside if they want these jobs and don't get them they feel crushed.

Wall Street/ financial services experience gives you a leg up in those fields.

If you are committed to public interest, go serve that population or work for that cause to demonstrate your commitment. You won't get hired to work on refugee issues easily if you aren't fluent in Spanish.

If you really want to work in the international arena, go work abroad and gain fluency in some in demand language. It isn't a guarantee but it helps.

If you have no clue what you want to do, get any job where you get excellent research and writing experience and where you will come into contact with lawyers in some way. That will help with skill development and also give you some insight into what lawyers do.

I agree with this. I worked on the Hill for three years in a position that required a lot of research, analyzing and writing. My LSAT score went up tremendously from when I first took it my senior year in college and again after doing this type of work. I also think law school was easier for me having worked on these skills. I'm now an in-house attorney at a large corporation. We have two attorneys on our team who were paralegals before going to law school and one who was a journalist. I think they're all stronger attorneys than those who went straight to law school after graduating.

[Anonymous]

Become a military officer. Stand out in the applicant pool. Maybe Uncle Sam will even pay for him to go to law school.

[Anonymous]

What industry does he want to be a lawyer for? Go work in that industry for a few years before going to law school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Son really wants to go to law school. We think he should work for a year or two for experience and to save some money for expenses, and because employers like graduates with some experience. What are some interesting, reasonably well paying jobs for government majors ultimately bound for law school? How much do these jobs pay? Son has had work experience since high school, but so far only unskilled work, no internships. Rising junior. He wants to go straight to law school. Thanks!

Assuming your son is aiming biglaw, in this order, here are employer's preference:
1.) law school
2.) GPA/ranking
3.) law review
4.) moot
5.) mock
6.) first year summer experience
7.) pre-law school employment
8.) undergrad school/other experience

However, if DS was employed somewhere super prestigious, think Goldman Sach or MMB, pre-law school employment favorability would have a bump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paralegals applying to law school are a dime a dozen. Your son should try to figure out what kind of law he'd be interested in practicing later, and then get a job related to that field (e.g., if he's interested in environmental law, something with the environmental protection division of a local government, or working for an environmental protection non-profit).

This is great advice. It will help him stand out in on campus interviews for roles like that. My husband was an LD on the hill before law school, and now practices law related to the issue he worked in Congress. This experience helped him stand out in interviews much more than anything he was actually doing in law school did.