What do people normally do when applying for 1L summer positions that require either a list of references or letters of recommendation?
It seems like you'd want references who can speak to your legal abilities, but if you haven't worked in the legal industry before, that would just be your professors, right? But what if you're relatively undistinguished as a law student (or just haven't had time to distinguish yourself) in a big class? How do you cold approach 1L profs about serving as references?
Getting References for 1L Summer Forum
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Re: Getting References for 1L Summer
You don't "cold approach." You ask questions and volunteer answers in class (within reason). You prepare for cold calls. You visit office hours a few times and try to establish a connection. Regardless of your grades, getting a good reference/letter requires you to somehow connect with the professor. And lol @ "haven't had the time to distinguish yourself" - it takes ten minutes to visit a prof's office hours and ask about something in his/her past. If you think that this is too much of a time investment, I recommend rethinking your approach.TheBlueDevil wrote:What do people normally do when applying for 1L summer positions that require either a list of references or letters of recommendation?
It seems like you'd want references who can speak to your legal abilities, but if you haven't worked in the legal industry before, that would just be your professors, right? But what if you're relatively undistinguished as a law student (or just haven't had time to distinguish yourself) in a big class? How do you cold approach 1L profs about serving as references?
The point is, getting a professor to recommend you requires something more than simply attending the class. I mean, what is a prof supposed to say if called and asked about you? "Yeah, Blue Devil was in my criminal law section. He wrote a decent, median final exam I vaguely remember. He seemed nice in class and did OK on cold calls."
Other than that, references for 1L summer could be former employers, former professors, or even family friends. Anybody who can speak highly of you will suffice. I used my high school tennis coach as a reference once (to speak to work ethic), and the employer said his recommendation was influential in their decision to hire me. Employers understand that you won't have much (if any) legal experience.
