Value of High-Level Board Position on Secondary Journal? Forum

[kykiske]

Would you guys recommend running for either (1) Editor-in-Chief, or (2) Lead Executive Editor? I'm wondering if there are any positive effects in taking on those responsibilities in terms of employment opportunities. I guess those positions theoretically show leadership skills.

I initially did not have any desire to run for those positions. But the current staffers were trying to sell it to us by saying how it "changed the way they wrote." And how "it separates them from other applicants when applying for jobs."

Is there any truth to that? I am not a personal fan of the current board because they all have a tendency to exaggerate things, and to be super melodramatic about every thing.

[kalvano]

Go for whatever position has the least amount of work.

[JusticeHarlan]

Common wisdom is that e-board positions on journals might help for clerkships (and maybe academia, though that's still mostly about publishing) but no one else really cares.

[kykiske]

So all the talk about an e-board position drastically improving writing mechanics and increasing employment chances is complete bull?

[kalvano]

Yes. Go for whatever position has the least amount of work.

[Bikeflip]

No one likes editing hastily written professor musings, but someone has to do it. So

Go for whatever position has the least amount of work.

[crouton62]

Think the above are probably right, but I do think it says something positive about you when you sought after and attained an intensive, responsibility-laden position when you could have just mailed it in for 3L. But because Exec. Board jobs outside of EIC vary between diff schools and journals, unless a potential interview is an alum of your school's journal, he or she probs won't know what your position entails, so it'll be on you to explain that your job is actually legit.

But think about your goals, too. If you want to be a prosector or PD or work in a small firm, your time will probs be better spent at relevant externships or clinics. Those outfits aren't likely to place much stock in the fact that you were a leader of the Journal of International Animal Rights or whatever.

[Nebby]

Go for whatever position has the least amount of work.

But think about your goals, too. If you want to be a prosector or PD or work in a small firm, your time will probs be better spent at relevant externships or clinics. Those outfits aren't likely to place much stock in the fact that you were a leader of the Journal of International Animal Rights or whatever.