Reply to Unpaid part time internship in a law firm

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]if she thinks she is interested in law school, any experience in a law firm is valuable. Even just to see the culture and lifestyle of the lawyers and ultimately partners particularly if she plans to take loans to finance law school. The cost is steep and for those paying themselves, best to go in eyes wide open. There are many lawyers out there chained to the job due to loans.[/quote]

The value for her is not in the "work" she does or what she learns from those tasks.

This is all about having moments to talk with the lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they feel about it. What's it REALLY like to be a lawyer? What distinguishes the happiest and most successful lawyers from the rest? What do they wish they knew when they were her age? What might they have done differently or better?

Some of this will come out in small moments of working together. But more likely, she'll have to be a bit more proactive.

I'd encourage her to think of this expeience as a springboard for light "informational interviewing." Have her make a list of the attorneys and encourage her to invite them to coffee one at a time over the course of the summer to "pick their brains about the legal profession." Hearing professionals' first-hand reflections can be super valuable.

Also, she should ask each of them "who else would you recommend I talk with" to learn more about the profession. If each person there connects her with a friend or two from a different firm or legal market, she can branch out to explore and learn much more.

If she doesn't already have a LinkedIn profile, encourage her to create one. Super basic is fine. Not to be used to proactively contact people she doesn't know. Best to use it to "connect" on there AFTER she speaks with people, especially any new connections her summer colleagues create for her. It's like a self-automating "rolodex" - a way to find people later, including if they switch jobs down the road.

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