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I am supposed to start law school in 2011 and have been a contestant on a fairly well known reality tv show. Think (Amazing Race as opposed to Rock of Love -- BTW - it was neither of those shows). I came across on the airing as uber competitive (not evil) and wild.

Any idea how this will impact my time at law school / and or employment prospects after?

Did you win or did you drop out quickly?

Without giving up too much, did not win. Got decently far, but was not a winner.

Anonymous User wrote:I am supposed to start law school in 2011 and have been a contestant on a fairly well known reality tv show. Think (Amazing Race as opposed to Rock of Love -- BTW - it was neither of those shows). I came across on the airing as uber competitive (not evil) and wild.

Any idea how this will impact my time at law school / and or employment prospects after?

Probably very little. Most people won't recognize you at all, a few may recognize you and not be able to place you. Chances are the fact will come out eventually, but by then people would have made up their minds about you and so it would just become a weird fact about you. Chances that it will change your employment prospects are minuscule.

Anonymous User wrote:I am supposed to start law school in 2011 and have been a contestant on a fairly well known reality tv show. Think (Amazing Race as opposed to Rock of Love -- BTW - it was neither of those shows). I came across on the airing as uber competitive (not evil) and wild.

Any idea how this will impact my time at law school / and or employment prospects after?

I don't see a reason why it would impact either.

Law School - I am guessing at some point everyone will find out you were on the show and you will be known as the guy/gal who was on the X show.

Employment - None, no one will remember you by that point and I wouldn't list it on a resume unless you feel like you need a quirky thing to be considered for that firm/position.

Good to hear. That's what I was hoping for.

It was a 'challenge' show so there was "confessionals" etc. I wasn't a major focus of the show and last names weren't given. All good to know though.

bdubs wrote:Law School - I am guessing at some point everyone will find out you were on the show and you will be known as the guy/gal who was on the X show.

Employment - None, no one will remember you by that point and I wouldn't list it on a resume unless you feel like you need a quirky thing to be considered for that firm/position.

This. Whoever won your show probably won't even be remembered 3 years from now.

It depends, if you were on an episode of intervention it probably will not help very much.

I'm gonna say you're Brad from the Real World/Road Rules challenge.

Haha, I kind of want to know which show.

Survivor? Big Brother? The Apprentice? America's Next Top Model?

The way I look at it if you didn't come off as an alcoholic or drug addict or a huge whore or man hoe I don't think you'll have a problem unless the person who does the hiring watches reality t.v.....I don't think many educated people do, so you may be safe.

rad law wrote:

LOL

Are you the grizzled vet from last season's The Bachelorette? Because if so, you're fucking hilarious.

There's a kid at Northwestern who was on the Apprentice. I would say it was fine or even desirable to some employers during OCI and a total turn off for others. Either way, if I were him I might have deactivated my website, the cheestastic fest that it is.
--LinkRemoved--

Feature it on your resume. Interviewers love to talk about anything interesting and out of the box as compared to the typical range of law student applicants (i.e., poli sci/lib arts/econ/philosophy major who worked as a paralegal/ib analyst/did nothing before law school). Then frame the experience (acting skills, etc) as something potentially "lawyerly." I'd say that kind of work exp can potentially give you a huge boost rather than hurting/no effect provided you can frame it into a proper narrative (why biglaw, etc)

I'm gonna say you're Brad from the Real World/Road Rules challenge.

why do you assume it's a man? boo

I would put it on your resume (just a line, not a long description). It's something interesting to talk about during interviews, in addition to the normal questions of GPA/work experience/etc. You may find one or two people who don't like the idea of reality TV, but I think it's unlikely that they'd hold it against you--especially if it's a halfway respectable reality show and you otherwise have good qualifications. (And besides, it's common for people to find something in a resume that they don't like whether it's an internship at the ACLU or something else). I think it's especially unlikely that someone would put enough time into digging up past episodes to see how you acted a few years ago.

To wit, I know a few people who acted (soap operas, movies, etc), were touring musicians, etc who did very well during OCI. Abovethelaw.com mentioned a while back that a Top 4 contestant on America's Next Top Model went to hogan lovells as a summer associate. An attorney at MWE was part of a challenge on Top Chef.

You may find that interviewers want to talk about it TOO much... so be prepared to spend a minute or two shooting the shit about the show, showing your personality, etc before gracefully steering the conversation back to legal topics. You may also want to think of a good anecdote re: the show as it relates to your motivation for going to law school, what it taught you about yourself, etc.

No one will remember... but it will come up in the background check that firms run.

Are you Vinny from Jersey Shore?

Guy from my school was on Apprentice. No one figured it out for a while, and then no one really cared. It helped that he is a good guy.