Do 2L Summer Employers... Forum

[Anonymous User]

...contact your 1L summer employers when checking your references? If so, is it a cursory "just making sure he actually worked here and wasn't fired" call or do they ask questions about the substance and quality of your work?

I'm in my 1L summer job right now working for an employer I wouldn't want to work long-term for, in a geographic market that I have no interest in. Doing a decent job, but just wondering if it's worth putting in the extra effort -- or saving some stress and enjoying one of these final fleeting summers.

[thesealocust]

One employer of the dozens I applied to did. It's not at all standard, but it isn't *quite* unheard of either.

[Renzo]

If you're phoning it in at your 1L gig, I don't predict a bright shiny future for you.

[thesealocust]

If you're phoning it in at your 1L gig, I don't predict a bright shiny future for you.

Meh, there's a difference between "can I phone it in" and "would it be wise to suck it up and really, really go the extra mile even though I know I don't want this job."

[warumnicht]

Depends on the employer, and the chances of that are lower if you don't list your 1L summer supervisor as a reference. Of course, that will raise suspicions as to why you didn't list him or her.

Whether or not you can slack off also depends on the nature of your 1L summer employment. I had several friends work as judicial interns, where their contact with the judge was minimal, yet all of them said that the judges gladly offered to be references. All that means is that my friends put on their best game faces around the judges and slacked off around the clerks who were really evaluating their work yet wouldn't serve as references. Do I recommend that approach? Probably not...

[Anonymous User]

Covington & Burling checks references before making callback offers.

[Unitas]

...contact your 1L summer employers when checking your references? If so, is it a cursory "just making sure he actually worked here and wasn't fired" call or do they ask questions about the substance and quality of your work?

I'm in my 1L summer job right now working for an employer I wouldn't want to work long-term for, in a geographic market that I have no interest in. Doing a decent job, but just wondering if it's worth putting in the extra effort -- or saving some stress and enjoying one of these final fleeting summers.

Treat everything like a continual job interview. Suck it up, make friends, and work hard.

[Anonymous User]

Realistically speaking, you could probably get fired and not be harmed at OCI. Covington and Cleary (DC) are the only firms that I know of that check references, and if you're interviewing at those firms, you'll almost certainly get hired somewhere. But you would be wise to do a good job. The legal community is small. Even if you do just fine at OCI, establishing a good reputation with your current employer may help you down the road.

[dood]

Covington & Burling checks references before making callback offers.

so does MoFo