International student with multiple job offers pre-law school, which one should I accept? Forum

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username4

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International student with multiple job offers pre-law school, which one should I accept?

Post by username4 » Mon Mar 22, 2021 5:59 pm

I know work experience matters quite a lot while attending law school; schools like Northwestern specifically state that they like applicants with work experience and I've also heard that finance/consulting work experience catches attention at OCIs. So I'm having a difficult time choosing an offer atm.

Some background info about me: I am certain I want to practice business law upon graduation from an American law school + I'm currently living in an Asian country (not as big as China) if that changes anything.

My options:

1. Analyst at boutique private equity firm (probably only known in my country) that does international M&A deals, but usually domestic
2. Paralegal (finance) at domestic law firm that is internationally known
3. Paralegal (finance) at foreign law firm with international prestige
4. Paralegal (unrelated practice) at foreign law firm
5. Analyst at MBB (but I've already pretty much turned this down due to work life balance+LSAT prep)


I was thinking either 1 or 3, but really want some advice from someone with experience. Any help would be very much appreciated, thank you.

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cavalier1138

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Re: International student with multiple job offers pre-law school, which one should I accept?

Post by cavalier1138 » Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:23 am

Do whichever one sounds most fun/pays best.

Work experience is helpful, but the type of work experience has no real impact on your applications unless you're in a very unicorn-y job.

username4

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Re: International student with multiple job offers pre-law school, which one should I accept?

Post by username4 » Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:57 am

cavalier1138 wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:23 am
Do whichever one sounds most fun/pays best.

Work experience is helpful, but the type of work experience has no real impact on your applications unless you're in a very unicorn-y job.
I did hear that work experience matters little when applying, but don't they matter quite a lot afterwards (during OCI/recruitment etc.)? Especially if I want to pursue business law?

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cavalier1138

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Re: International student with multiple job offers pre-law school, which one should I accept?

Post by cavalier1138 » Tue Mar 23, 2021 12:10 pm

username4 wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:57 am
cavalier1138 wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:23 am
Do whichever one sounds most fun/pays best.

Work experience is helpful, but the type of work experience has no real impact on your applications unless you're in a very unicorn-y job.
I did hear that work experience matters little when applying, but don't they matter quite a lot afterwards (during OCI/recruitment etc.)? Especially if I want to pursue business law?
Outside of some very niche practices, no. The fact that you have work experience is going to be much more important than whether it was "relevant" work experience.

CanadianWolf

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Re: International student with multiple job offers pre-law school, which one should I accept?

Post by CanadianWolf » Tue Mar 23, 2021 12:25 pm

Analyst at MBB carries the most weight if you decide to earn an MBA instead of a JD degree.

All are fine with respect to filling in a few lines on one's law school applications.

crazywafflez

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Re: International student with multiple job offers pre-law school, which one should I accept?

Post by crazywafflez » Tue Mar 23, 2021 12:50 pm

Work Xp itself is what is truly valuable- however, an awesome thing will be using it as a talking point in your interviews.
"Oh, I see you worked for BCG in the UAE- I used to work for Mayor McCheese there too! What did you think?"
and you use that to talk- one of my friends from law school was from a fairly low socio-economic background and worked a bunch of jobs throughout his time at school- one of them was some packaging company in the rustbelt- thefirm that hired him literally talked about that in the interview and how one of the partners at that firm had worked there etc.
It is like any other job interview- find a way to connect with some of your stuff and the interviewer- and it is just sorta luck of the draw- maybe you put on your resume you love 18th century english lit and it just happens your interviewer is a huge fan as well- you're in luck! However, you may get unlucky and get the one partner who loves Syracuse basketball or Bama football and doesn't care for lit.
For me, my prior job xp was a boon, as were some of my other experiences during the interview process, but it didn't land me my interviews by any means (my law school/GPA). I'm sure prior xp is a factor to an extent, but it won't push you above someone who is better qualified (albeit, not that grades or school really qualify one to be a better attorney or anything).
If you're working biglaw or trying to do corporate law or maybe something in-house, it may help a bit to do consulting work though- I assume someone would prefer to hire that person with BCG xp than someone who never did anything but PI stuff prior and during law school.

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