Computer skills? Forum

[WaltGrace83]

I am going to take 1-2 years off between UG and law school and am currently in my last semester (above 75% percentile at every school for GPA and will be taking the LSAT in June 2014 - if it matters?). With a little bit of time off working, getting a little bit of real world experience, and generally enjoying the last few years of not being a soul sucked lawyer, would it be wise of me to take hardcore classes in things like excel? I actually enjoy working in excel when I make my own spreadsheets but it involves copious amounts of research to figure out how to do what I want to do). Do law firms care?

Is there any other similar types of things that would be good skills to have that aren't standard but will give me a 1% higher chance at a better job, position, or maybe just a little bit of respect from my partner?

[Ti Malice]

Is there any other similar types of things that would be good skills to have that aren't standard but will give me a 1% higher chance at a better job, position, or maybe just a little bit of respect from my partner?

Don't worry about Excel. Improve your typing speed.

[mr. wednesday]

Most of the partners I have met are barely technically literate, so they aren't going to understand enough for you to impress them. Plus excel isn't impressive.

If you want to study something on your own, statistics is a good choice that is useful to lawyers but often lacking. Still won't impress anyone or get you a job, but it might be helpful if you ever get a job in litigation. Understanding corporate structures and financial markets would be helpful for someone going into corporate.

[Anonymous Associate]

You just need to know how to use MS Office in a VERY basic way. I used a SUM function in Excel and made some REALLY basic ppt slides, and partner thought I was awesome.