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&lt;p&gt;While we are still preparing for the release of our 2025 rankings, we thought it would be fun to give you a sneak peek at some of the results of Vault Law&#39;s 2024 Annual Associate Survey. Below, we present twenty little tidbits of practical advice from current associated themed around making the most of your summer program.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Don&#39;t stress. Look for a firm that represents your values and has a good reputation.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Try to figure out the past classes of summer associates; this will give you a good indication of the type of people you will work with and if you will get along with them.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Evaluate the people with whom you are interviewing as future mentors and ask yourself if they are the kind of lawyer/person you would like to become over the course of your career.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Determine if you actually want to hang out with the people you work with. Understand how work is distributed and what your contribution to that work will be.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Choose the firm that will give you (1) mentors and (2) substantive work assignments. Also choose the firm where you will feel most like yourself.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“It&#39;s all about the people and the training! Ask the associates how they were trained on the matters that they are currently working on and if they see the firm/partners being intentional about their professional advancement.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Consider a firm that allows you flexibility in terms of practice group—you might not know what group or type of law you will enjoy until you try it.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Choose a firm that is busy and is short on associates. Ask current associates who are alumni of your law school how busy the firm is.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Look at job security, history of layoffs during rough times, long-term retention.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Try to get accurate information about how assignments are allocated, how many hours attorneys actually work, and how well the firm is managed.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Look into what kind of paralegal program a firm has. If they do not have a corps of paralegals, junior associates are likely doing that work.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Really consider the billable hour requirement versus compensation tradeoff.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Think very critically if you want a free market, rotating, or practice-based system for allocating work. If you are dead set on a practice group, a free market system could be very exhausting. If you really want to try a variety of practices, a rotation could be great for you. If you just want to do tax law, it could be most effective to be a summer associate just in tax.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Choose the firm that looks like a good fit for at least two years and where you could stay or leave with great exit opportunities. Pay attention to how everyone treats each other.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Look to the partners who have stayed and ask for their stories and why they have succeeded here.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Focus on the attitude of partners toward the summers and ask junior associates how the transition is from summer associate to junior associate.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Ask more questions about the types of clients that a firm has. Ask about early opportunities for case management and client contact.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Go to non-firm-sponsored networking events where attorneys are more likely to be candid about their experiences.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Figure out who you can look up to and model your work and work/life balance after. If you can&#39;t see them at the firm you&#39;re summering at you should find a different firm.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Do what&#39;s best for you—not what everyone else is doing.”&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;

Nancy Vesta

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