Does it help having work experience before law school? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I've read some posts that mostly say that WE does help quite a bit with getting a job after law school.

But does it help even if it's not one of those prestigious IB or consulting firms?

I mean does it help to have a couple of years of WE at places like Sony or Samsung?
(I'm an international student residing in Asia)

I'm asking this cuz I have a chance to work at one of these Fortune 500 (Global) companies in Asia, but I'm not sure about the pros and cons on postponing lawschool for later to work at one of these companies.

What are your thoughts?

[solidsnake]

yes it helps. F500 experience is great, assuming you get decent responsibility and pay. All good talking points for interviews and will probably help calibrate your common sense, necessary for law school exam answers and something most kids under 25 lack.

[Black-Blue]

If it's relevant to the position you're seeking, WE always help. For example, if you want to do international trade practice that relates to electronics, then your WE would help

If it's not relevant, I think only big name positions carry reasonable weight.

[blackacre]

I heard that kind of work experience hurts. This isn't verified though.

[Anonymous User]

I'm asking this cuz I have a chance to work at one of these Fortune 500 (Global) companies in Asia, but I'm not sure about the pros and cons on postponing lawschool for later to work at one of these companies.

If you have a chance to work in a F500's Asian operations, why the hell are you considering law school.

There is literally NO pro to taking law school over this position.

[MrKappus]

I heard that kind of work experience hurts. This isn't verified though.

Unpaid part-time internships (not business- or law-related) are the only WE law firms care about. If you have one, OCI's a formality. If you don't have one...drop out now.

[Joymin]

Look at Northwestern's website. They seem to prefer people with WE as opposed to those without. Also, they prefer WE in a non-legal setting.

[roranoa]

It's Fortune 500. It should help.

[Anonymous User]

I heard that kind of work experience hurts. This isn't verified though.

Unpaid part-time internships (not business- or law-related) are the only WE law firms care about. If you have one, OCI's a formality. If you don't have one...drop out now.

Why do they want to see unpaid part-time internships on ppl's resumes?

[Anonymous User]

I heard that kind of work experience hurts. This isn't verified though.

It hurts? really?

[blackacre]

I heard that kind of work experience hurts. This isn't verified though.

Unpaid part-time internships (not business- or law-related) are the only WE law firms care about. If you have one, OCI's a formality. If you don't have one...drop out now.

Why do they want to see unpaid part-time internships on ppl's resumes?

Way to out yourself as a n00b/0L!!! Why don't you put some time reading these boards before you ask such a ridiculous question. If you don't know the answer to that queston, I bet you scored lower than a 163 on your LSAT.

[blackacre]

I heard that kind of work experience hurts. This isn't verified though.

It hurts? really?

This is getting to be a little much at this point.

[JOThompson]

Look at Northwestern's website. They seem to prefer people with WE as opposed to those without. Also, they prefer WE in a non-legal setting.

This. Employers prefer work experience, even if it's not law related.

[Joymin]

Look at Northwestern's website. They seem to prefer people with WE as opposed to those without. Also, they prefer WE in a non-legal setting.

This. Employers prefer work experience, even if it's not law related.

See this:

"Also, because work experience is such an important factor in our admissions decisions, no other top law school can match the extensive real world perspectives that our students bring to the classroom. 95 percent of our entering students have had one or more years of full-time work experience; more than 80 percent have had at least two years, and approximately 60 percent worked 3 or more years before entering NorthwesternLaw."

(http://www.law.northwestern.edu/admissions/)

[Kiersten1985]

TAKE TIME OFF!!!!

No matter what you do for a job, letting yourself mature another 1 or 2 years is incredibly worth it. I also think it's insane to invest the time, money and energy in law school if you have no idea what you're life will be like as an attorney (I therefore recommend working in law).

But honestly, schools don't give a shit what you were doing as long as it involved enough LSAT studying to get you a score above their median.

[vamedic03]

Look at Northwestern's website. They seem to prefer people with WE as opposed to those without. Also, they prefer WE in a non-legal setting.

This. Employers prefer work experience, even if it's not law related.

First, yes, of course employers like work experience.

Second, non-legal work experience is generally far better than legal work experience for two reasons:

a) 'Legal' work experience doesn't give you anything to talk about. Everyone knows what their paralegal does. They also know the limited responsibility that you're given.

b) Non-legal work experience means that you have experience in the real world, where you may have been given significant responsibility, and may be relevant to their clients.

[gwuorbust]

Only thing I've read is the title of this thread, but it helps make sense to me how it is possible that lawl students from better schools than mine end up without jobs. there is such a thing as a stupid question.

[iagolives]

TAKE TIME OFF!!!!

No matter what you do for a job, letting yourself mature another 1 or 2 years is incredibly worth it. I also think it's insane to invest the time, money and energy in law school if you have no idea what you're life will be like as an attorney

TITCR. I so wish I would have taken time off for the reasons above.

[ToTransferOrNot]

We experience helps with hiring. Also, having some real working-world experience puts better perspective on things like the law school workload, etc. Every law school should adopt Northwestern's position on this, IMO.

[Anonymous User]

if nu could boost their lsat median by 2 points by not caring about WE, they would stop caring about WE

underdawg

[ntugwater]

TAKE TIME OFF!!!!

No matter what you do for a job, letting yourself mature another 1 or 2 years is incredibly worth it. I also think it's insane to invest the time, money and energy in law school if you have no idea what you're life will be like as an attorney

TITCR. I so wish I would have taken time off for the reasons above.

Same here.

With the exception of experience in a few fields, firms generally don't care about work experience before law school (it's unlikely to land you an interview/job). However, the experience you get from maturing and from being in a corporate environment will likely develop your skills as a job candidate and may help in that manner

[20160810]

I heard that kind of work experience hurts. This isn't verified though.

Unpaid part-time internships (not business- or law-related) are the only WE law firms care about. If you have one, OCI's a formality. If you don't have one...drop out now.

I'm glad I clicked this thread just for this post. Well done.

[edcrane]

I think working between UG and law school is a great idea: it provides you with perspective and has a maturing effect. Based on the OCI thread, however, I don't think biglaw employers care much about work experience unless its incredibly relevant.

[Stringer Bell]

I heard that kind of work experience hurts. This isn't verified though.

This

[Ratchet Jackson]

I heard that kind of work experience hurts. This isn't verified though.

This

No.