Finding a summer job as a 1L is NOT impossible. Take it from someone who HUSTLED for months before finding a summer job! I was on the summer job hunt for about 4 months. When I wasn’t using my time for studying, classes, sleeping, or mental/ physical health, I was on the summer job hunt.
If you are still looking for a job, or you are embarking on your 1L year, I have 12 tips to help you! It is a difficult and grueling process, but if you stay focused on your goals, you will make it happen.
1. Practice your interview skills and elevator pitch
As you embark on your job hunt journey, you may start getting interviews. Start this process out by having a clean and confident elevator pitch and a couple rounds of interview practice. Having this ready to go will help you in the long run as the interviews and networking opportunities come. You will appear confident and prepared.
Take advantage of your friends and family. Come up with a few talking points that you can incorporate into your elevator pitch, and practice it with them often. It should be conversational and come naturally. Practice your interview skills by collecting a list of questions that may come up in legal interviews and coming up with strong responses. Practice selling yourself. Legal jobs can be highly competitive, especially in markets with many law students competing with each other. You want to give yourself the absolute best chance of getting the job!
2. Network and exercise your connections
One of the biggest things that my law school (and almost every single legal professional) has emphasized is the importance of making connections. The legal profession is powered by social and professional connections. If you’re introverted like me, it can feel very uncomfortable and even ingenuine. Unless you already have loads of connections, this will require a bit of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. It will get easier as you practice your elevator pitch and regular practice talking at networking events. Take advantage of your school’s events in the community.
If you have anyone in your circle that may know (or is) an attorney, take advantage of it. Reach out and ask to buy them coffee or have a short phone chat. You may be surprised where these connections are hiding. If they do not ultimately lead to a summer job, this practice is still highly advantageous. It gives you practice making connections and learning about the profession.
3. Make sure your resume truly encompasses all your strengths (and makes you look good!)
Having a good resume will make or break your chances to an interview! Sometimes your resume is the first time a hiring manager sees who you are. If you have a great wealth of experience, but your resume does not showcase your greatness, it will make it so much harder to get the interview. Take some time to look at whether your resume encompasses your strengths in the way they deserve. Have a professor or family member look at your resume from an outside view. You can find loads of resume tips online or at your law school.
4. Cold calling law firms
It is uncomfortable, yes, but the power of the phone call is greater than our society gives it credit for. I personally did not do much of this because other avenues were more convenient for me during my weekend-scheduled job searches, but my law school’s career office raved about how effective this can be. Simply put, make a list of law firms or organizations in your targeted area, call them, and give them a mixture of an elevator pitch and an employment inquiry. Ask to speak to the hiring manager or schedule a meeting with them. Take some time to try this option, and you just may surprise yourself.
5. Cold e-mailing law firms
This was my main choice of outreach. Many law schools will sway you against this option, but if you really put the work into it, you will see results. Unfortunately, many places will ignore you. Fortunately, however, some law firms don’t know what they need as far as hiring goes until it falls in their laps. I have been fortunate to land a few interviews through this route. This is especially helpful to those, like me, who have limited connections in the legal field or do not go to law school in their intended market. I have certainly seen positive results!
So, how do you do it?
- First, make a list of law firms in the area you hope to work, or even expand your list to multiple areas. After my job search, my spreadsheet had almost 100 lines. This did not include other avenues or online job applications.
- Second, make an email template. Include your name, school/professional information, and a clear “ask” or inquiry. I also attached my resume to each email.
- Make a goal or schedule to send out X number of emails a week. My goal was to send emails on the weekends when I had more time outside of my class schedule.
- Wait for the results, but keep hustling. Don’t give up! This is just one way to job search.
6. Utilize your school’s career resources
Make sure to utilize all your resources at the school! You pay for these resources, so take advantage of them. Almost every school has an “On Campus Interview” process. I personally did not find much success through this process, but I know many students who were offered interviews. The school invites many employers from the area, or other areas, to interview students. It is a great way to practice your interviewing skills, as well as practicing your cover-letter-writing skills. They are highly competitive, especially for the 2L and 3L classes, but you never know! The key to finding a 1L summer job is to put your eggs in as many baskets as you can.
7. Get used to the NO
There’s a reason I emailed or applied to over 100 places before landing my summer job. You WILL face many no’s. I would be lying if I said it hasn’t hurt my confidence. It was discouraging to apply to so many jobs that lead to nothing. However, do not let this discourage you too much. It is unsettling to hear no, but just realize that you will get to your yes, the more you put yourself out there.
8. Acknowledge that 1L’s are the least likely to get hired for a paid summer job
The harsh truth. Sadly, 1L’s are seen as unexperienced in the legal field, even with valuable experience prior to law school. This makes it much harder to land paid experience in the summer. If you are motivated to get a job and actually put in the work, you will make it work. Many opportunities for the summer after 1L are unpaid, and the most important thing is to find some way to get experience before your 2L summer. If you can make an unpaid opportunity work, you will find many benefits. I am personally not a fan of unpaid experiences, nor can I afford to do so. If it works for you, though, you can usually get some sort of class credit for this work.
Regardless, if you want to find a paid experience, you truthfully need to hustle. You can make your goals work for you, as long as you work for them!
9. Set actionable goals each week
Actionable, small goals really helped me meet my larger goal of finding a paid position. It was overwhelming at times, but these bite-sized goals made it easier to stay motivated. Some of my goals included setting specific numbers of firms to reach out to each week and scheduled times in my calendar. This helped me stay positive, especially during the discouraging times.
10. Look at different law firm job postings
Ultimately, the way I found my summer job was through a legal assistant job posting on LinkedIn. Like I mentioned above, sometimes law firms, especially smaller ones, do not know what they need for their business until the opportunity shows them. That need may very well be you! Put yourself out there. I interviewed for the assistant position, but I made sure to let them know that I was a law student looking for 3 months of work. After some discussion, the owner of the firm was very open to the option of hiring a law clerk for the summer. This led to an offer I couldn’t resist!
I also spoke with an attorney that I was connected with, and he gave me interesting advice. He told me that if you really want to work for a certain firm, reach out to them and ask if they have a current need for a legal assistant or runner. You will gain experience with the law firm environment, and they will get to know your personal work ethic. I think this advice is really interesting and helpful, but I have also been told that you should NOT aim for these positions. As a law student, you are working towards a certain skillset, particularly legal writing. Experience is key.
Weigh these opposing viewpoints for yourself. Regardless, I think it is very important to expose yourself to some sort of legal experience, paid or unpaid.
11. Don’t forget to focus on your grades
Grades aren’t everything, but they certainly make your chances better when it comes to jobs, especially if you do not have connections or legal experience. Make sure you work hard to get that summer job, but don’t let it detrimentally affect your grades.
12. Relax – that summer job offer might show up when you least expect it!
I hustled for 4 months before I found my 1L summer job. I already had a pending offer for an unpaid position, but I was seeing many interviews lead to “no.” I was becoming highly discouraged because I was getting ready to start focusing on finals. I couldn’t possibly focus on both things! I received my job offer on the Friday afternoon before my first exam on the following Monday. I was so excited that my months of hustling paid off, yet, it came when I least expected it.
Be patient. It will all work out! Trust me. Put in the work, solidify your elevator pitch and interviewing skills, and don’t give up!
