Your First-Year Summer Job

During their first summer, some students are able to land paid law firm jobs, but many others resort to unpaid internships in a variety of venues, including government or public interest work. "Take whatever legal job you can find, whether in a firm or the government or the public interest, or wherever," advises a career center director at a top law school. "One-L legal jobs can be hard to come by so you may even need to take a non-paying legal job and then another non-law job to pay the bills. You can find these jobs through networking, reviewing job postings the career office collects for students or, for public interest work, at www.pslawnet.org [a public service law network] or www.idealist.org [home to hundreds of nonprofit job and internship listings]." "I did one summer at a public interest clearinghouse and one at a firm," says a law firm associate. "I would encourage everyone to spend their first summer at a public interest place to get an idea of what amazing work those underpaid and dedicated lawyers do. The summer I spent working there was an experience I'll always remember."

Cultivating professional relationships with law school professors is one way to get a job for your first summer. Employers often call respected faculty at their former law schools to ask for referrals to students who show promise in class. And many professors hire students to work as their research assistants. At the very least, professors will be able to write informed and enthusiastic letters of recommendation for students who take the time to impress them. At most, professors can help students get interviews for internships or jobs. Some top law firms offer internships specifically for minorities. You should certainly explore this option if it applies to you.

Be flexible

Some first-year students will indeed find legal jobs that fulfill many of their hopes and dreams. But many others will have to sacrifice something on their wish lists. Your goal for the summer should be to get some experience you can put on your resume as proof that you know how to analyze, research and write. If you are offered this kind of opportunity, albeit for lower pay or in a city you're not very excited about, you should take it. When a potential employer looks at your resume the next year, they're not going to know whether you got paid a cent. They will be reading about the experience you acquired.