1L Summer Forum

[hihowareyou]

These might be dumb questions but thought I'd ask anyways

Why do employers begin accepting resumes December 1st when 1st semester grades don't come out till mid January?
On what basis do employers make decisions on summer hiring for 1L's. Is it all about 1st semester grades or do other things factor in as well?
There is basically nothing on my resume, do employers look at these before grades come out? Is it possible to be taken out of consideration for a job/internship b/c of lack of any real experience?

[Ozymandias]

Why do employers begin accepting resumes December 1st when 1st semester grades don't come out till mid January?

A good number of employers will hire 1Ls without ever seeing their grades. Also, many will get started with interviews/callbacks and make decisions later when grades are in. It also takes a lot of employers a long time to make decisions.

On what basis do employers make decisions on summer hiring for 1L's. Is it all about 1st semester grades or do other things factor in as well?

Absolutely depends on the employer. For PI places, it might be dedication to the practice area. For firm positions, it could be ties, diversity, or grades. It might be your interviewing skills or ability to get outside funding. There's really no way to answer this question for every employer - 1Ls do tons of different things during the summer.

There is basically nothing on my resume, do employers look at these before grades come out? Is it possible to be taken out of consideration for a job/internship b/c of lack of any real experience?

Yes, they do. Yes, I've seen a lot of internships that want relevant experience. You're not going to be shut out of being employed at all because of a resume with nothing on it, but it certainly will hurt, and in combination with bad interviewing skills or bad grades could be especially troublesome.