One job for years or multiple jobs Forum

[Willowstickss]

Many of my classmates have multiple jobs throughout the three years of law school, changing positions almost every semester. I know some of these are internships, so it makes sense, but many of these positions are paid clerking positions at law firms round town. Is it a bad idea to stay at one firm throughout law school? Should you attempt to change positions every three to five months? I now it adds length to a resume, but what if I like my current job?

[Bluem_11]

Like with anything in life, such as say your major in undergrad, you don't really know what you want until you try it sometimes.

I thought I wanted to do crim law. Tried it as a summer job. Hated it. Then I thought I would clerk. It was fine but didn't love it. Then I tried a government position. Was nice and kept it as an option. And eventually got into IP work which is what I decided to stay in.

Given your limited life experiences, I wouldn't be so sure you know what you want to do after school.

[Rowinguy2009]

This is the type of thing that is going to vary a ton based on your interest, goals, and what is available to you. I don't think there's any one right or wrong answer.

Does your current position have the potential (or likelihood) to lead to a full-time thing? If so, and you like it, stay as long as they will let you.

If there is no potential for full-time employment then be on the lookout for things that have that do have such potential, but hopping around from internship to internship every couple months over a two year period is probably not going to look any better to employers than if you stayed put at one job (it could look worse).

[elendinel]

I would say that the benefits of trying a lot of things is that it can be easier find out what you want/don't want in a career with the more work experience you have and the more examples you have to draw from. Trying a lot of things also give you unique perspectives when you move to your next position.

The downsides are that you don't really give yourself enough time to really stand out in any one field if you're hopping around every few months; you become a jack of all trades and a master of none (not that you can master anything as an intern, but you get what I mean). Also, it can look like you're not really committed to any path/that you don't know what you want, if you keep doing incredibly different things every semester; this can potentially hurt you in fields or firms that strongly value commitment to specific types of work.

Whether or not the benefits outweigh the downsides really just depends on how you feel about the position you have now and the opportunities (or lack thereof) that it will grant you.

[Anonymous User]

I would say that the benefits of trying a lot of things is that it can be easier find out what you want/don't want in a career with the more work experience you have and the more examples you have to draw from. Trying a lot of things also give you unique perspectives when you move to your next position.

The downsides are that you don't really give yourself enough time to really stand out in any one field if you're hopping around every few months; you become a jack of all trades and a master of none (not that you can master anything as an intern, but you get what I mean). Also, it can look like you're not really committed to any path/that you don't know what you want, if you keep doing incredibly different things every semester; this can potentially hurt you in fields or firms that strongly value commitment to specific types of work.

Whether or not the benefits outweigh the downsides really just depends on how you feel about the position you have now and the opportunities (or lack thereof) that it will grant you.

This makes sense, but does it hold true if you're in the same area of practice? On my resume I have 1L summer, a firm during 2L year, splitting 2L summer, and then returning to one of the firm's from summer during 3L school year. All of these are in the same practice area (IP) and all but one (1L summer) are in the same secondary market as my school (Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, etc.). Does this look like I'm jumping around or just getting as much experience as I can?