This will be my first of three summers, and it's kind of hitting me that it would be difficult to leave my full time job each summer for an internship. Basically I would risk not being able to keep my current job, so presumably I could find another day job once I get back from the summer, but then that employer is going to know that I'm leaving each summer.
So there's that issue. I don't actually have an offer in hand for this summer though. I've applied to about 150 in house internships (don't really want to apply to unpaid internships). 4 interviews, 3 dings so far. So, that kind of sucks. Hopefully if I don't get anything this summer, I'll have better luck next summer, with more classes and grades under my belt. In the meantime I still have my day job.
I'm interested to hear from other part time students how they have managed the summer internship process, while maintaining a full time job during the semesters, and possibly having to move out of town for the summer internship. It's quite a lot to deal with.
Summer internships for part time students Forum
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Re: Summer internships for part time students
It really depends on what your full time job is, whether they will let you leave and come back, and what your goals are for your first attorney job. Only you can really weigh the positives and negatives of leaving your job once or multiple times, but there's likely diminishing returns for doing it more than once. If your full time job is legal in nature or somehow getting you experience that will help for your job after school, then I doubt having three vs. one internships on your resume will matter all that much. It'd be more important to use that one internship between year three and four for either a SA position or internship that leads to a job.
I was also in a four year part time program and worked full time. My job provided good, relevant legal experience and was more valuable on my resume than any internship would have been, so I didn't take anything until my SA position. I did OCI after my second year then did my BigLaw internship between my third and fourth year while on a leave of absence from my full time job. I quit my full time job a year later to go to accept the BigLaw offer. Had I not gotten into BigLaw I most likely would have gotten an attorney position at my former full time job.
I also think that before seriously interviewing you should either have approval from your full time job for a leave of absence or be prepared to quit. I got approval from my full time job to take a leave of absence for the SA position about four months before I actually left, but If they didn't approve I would have quit. I also already had conversations that indicated it would likely be approved.
As an aside, I think one of the biggest advantages of going part time is that you can use your full time job to further your eventual legal career either through experience or connections, so make sure you're maximizing that opportunity. If your full time job isn't helping you in either of these areas you should try to find a new one. Why not work in the exact area you eventually want to be in? If your goal is BigLaw this can be tougher but there's plenty of jobs that will give you experience in some area you may want to specialize in.
I was also in a four year part time program and worked full time. My job provided good, relevant legal experience and was more valuable on my resume than any internship would have been, so I didn't take anything until my SA position. I did OCI after my second year then did my BigLaw internship between my third and fourth year while on a leave of absence from my full time job. I quit my full time job a year later to go to accept the BigLaw offer. Had I not gotten into BigLaw I most likely would have gotten an attorney position at my former full time job.
I also think that before seriously interviewing you should either have approval from your full time job for a leave of absence or be prepared to quit. I got approval from my full time job to take a leave of absence for the SA position about four months before I actually left, but If they didn't approve I would have quit. I also already had conversations that indicated it would likely be approved.
As an aside, I think one of the biggest advantages of going part time is that you can use your full time job to further your eventual legal career either through experience or connections, so make sure you're maximizing that opportunity. If your full time job isn't helping you in either of these areas you should try to find a new one. Why not work in the exact area you eventually want to be in? If your goal is BigLaw this can be tougher but there's plenty of jobs that will give you experience in some area you may want to specialize in.
