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Summer before law school

From Prue: what should i be doing the the summer between undergrad graduation and starting law school? i am finishing an engineering degree, and to be honest i'm a little burnt out. what i really want to do is be lazy and work in a mindless job, like starbucks. how important is it to get a summer job (or nonpaying one) the summer before law school?

You absolutely do not need a legal job the summer before law school. Where do these ideas come from anyway? I saw another comment about getting a legal summer job prior to law school. No one expects that of you and I doubt it provides that much of an edge in the end.

1L summer is an entirely different story.

But for the summer before law school, take a pottery class or travel someplace awesome or read some great non-fiction. It'll give you at least as much to talk about in an interview than working as a glorified file clerk somewhere. No one ever asks about that summer. In fact, I was a teacher and no one ever asks about the six summers I had off during that career, though I occasionally work in some interesting stories.

Anyway, in my humble opinion, nothing wrong with working at Starbucks for the summer. Just don't put it on the resume unless you have no other work experience . . . ever. Funny thing about legal resumes: my ten working years prior to law school is about three lines, and will eventually be one. As you go through school and do internships and summer jobs, those experiences become what matters. Until you've worked a few years, then those experiences are what matters... etc., etc., etc.

What I did: I worked less than part-time teaching LSAT classes, I played with my son, and I prepped.

Other WIWHK folks? What did you do?

Full post as published by Wish I Would Have Known on March 08, 2008 (boomark / email).