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Concerned 0L here...I have been unemployed for 7 months now and school is coming up "soon."

I can obviously lessen the damage by using years rather than months but my question is about the short amount of time until school starts. Should I try to get any internship for a few months before moving?

Also, will this unemployment be a huge burden for law school summer and post law school employment?


Thanks

drmguy wrote:Concerned 0L here...I have been unemployed for 7 months now and school is coming up "soon."

I can obviously lessen the damage by using years rather than months but my question is about the short amount of time until school starts. Should I try to get any internship for a few months before moving?

Also, will this unemployment be a huge burden for law school summer and post law school employment?


Thanks

Yes, it will, resume gaps are no good. Also no good is if you got laid off.

It's not good and you will get called out on it. An internship will help.

Being the newest employee after a budget reduction was no good.

One of my LORs was from this employer.

I'm not sure if Veyron or Kohinoor are messing with you or if my viewpoint is just not mainstream, but I don't think a seven-month gap in employment prior to coming to law school is anything to worry about. If nothing else, you can play it off that you left your job early to prep for the LSAT.

Hell, I didn't even list my entire work history on my resume, just the "grown up" jobs I've had. There are gaps in my resume as a result, and it hasn't even come up in interviews.

You should find something, even if its unpaid. I had a 9 month gap on my resume between my last professional job and starting law school. The majority of my OCI interviewers asked me about the gap in my resume. My interviewers seemed satisfied once I explained that I held a service job and an internship during the gap, but I'm not sure the outcome would have been so positive if I said I hadn't done anything during that time period.

TTH wrote:I'm not sure if Veyron or Kohinoor are messing with you or if my viewpoint is just not mainstream, but I don't think a seven-month gap in employment prior to coming to law school is anything to worry about. If nothing else, you can play it off that you left your job early to prep for the LSAT.

Hell, I didn't even list my entire work history on my resume, just the "grown up" jobs I've had. There are gaps in my resume as a result, and it hasn't even come up in interviews.

I'm not messing with him, I had a gap after being the newest hire at a poorly managed firm. They might not hold the layoff against you, but they will ask about the gap itself and you better have a better story than 'I spent the time masturbating aggressively.' In my experience they breeze over gaps from years before caused by only listing 'grown up jobs' but gaps in the last few years are subject to scrutiny.

visit some friends. tell them you decided you wanted to travel before law school.

There are ways to hide small gaps in employment on your resume, like only listing years and not the months. There is a chapter in "Guerrilla Tactics for finding legal jobs" on this. You should never lie, but being less specific about dates can completely mask this gap. The book also talks about how to address it when asked.

Good Luck.

Random question, sorry: I'm currently working a paid legal job. Should I get my employer to write a rec for me for my 1L/2L job search or would listing his contact info on a reference list be adequate?

EricBerry wrote:Random question, sorry: I'm currently working a paid legal job. Should I get my employer to write a rec for me for my 1L/2L job search or would listing his contact info on a reference list be adequate?

#2. And rarely do they even check.

There's a nice big hole from June 10 -> Dec 10 on my resume.

It's only been asked about once, and I just say that I was preparing to do volunteer work for a month in Haiti, and it always gets points.

Should I leave the hole on my resume so they DO ask about it?

So should I try to find an internship for ~3 months or should I do something else?

drmguy wrote:So should I try to find an internship for ~3 months or should I do something else?

What's more important to you--- earning a couple thousand dollars working a random job or having something relevant on your resume to talk about in an interview? I chose the second and after starting as an unpaid intern, I was offered a very competitive hourly wage. Even if I didn't start getting paid, I still think it would have been the right choice.

drmguy wrote:So should I try to find an internship for ~3 months or should I do something else?

Just get something for a little bit, even if it's one day a week volunteering, while you're looking for a job. It'll show enthusiasm and give you something to put on the resume. Realistically, they'll talk more about your 1L job so don't worry too much about the quality of the internship...they just want to know that you weren't sitting in your butt for a year (they don't care about the economy because volunteer positions are easy to get).

Interesting question with regard to unemployment. If I spent a year after graduation prior to law school trading stocks on the forex market and playing poker and I spun it in a way that I traveled/traded at OCI would this be a reasonable gap filler?

Kaves wrote:Interesting question with regard to unemployment. If I spent a year after graduation prior to law school trading stocks on the forex market and playing poker and I spun it in a way that I traveled/traded at OCI would this be a reasonable gap filler?

Play up the forex side but yeah.

It'll only be an issue if you don't find any employment - including working as a waiter or at a bar. They will want to know that you at least did something productive rather than sit on your butt watching Oprah.

I have been in this situation and while I was able to find employment (eventually), I was told by a recruiter that I should probably get a job at the mall (I did) and there were many times where people asked, "what are you doing now?" You definitely want to have a story to tell. Volunteering or delivering pizza can easily help with this gap and shouldn't pose a problem long term.

sullidop wrote:

drmguy wrote:So should I try to find an internship for ~3 months or should I do something else?

Just get something for a little bit, even if it's one day a week volunteering, while you're looking for a job. It'll show enthusiasm and give you something to put on the resume. Realistically, they'll talk more about your 1L job so don't worry too much about the quality of the internship...they just want to know that you weren't sitting in your butt for a year (they don't care about the economy because volunteer positions are easy to get).

+1,000

Is this for real? I am not being sarcastic. I thought it really doesn't matter if there's like a year or less of a gap on ur resume. I quit my job in December 2010 and have not been working since. I just thought I would dedicate this time to relaxing and traveling/learning a new language before law school starts. If I just told employers that i traveled and learned a language during the 7 or so months before law school, would it be a bad thing? Should I be trying to find a volunteer position instead?

It's very real...If you're young, you have a greater chance of "spinning" it to your favor and I wouldn't be too concerned. However, they will wonder why you quit your job. They will immediately think - did he quit or get fired? Or, will he quit one year into this demanding job to relax on a beach in Thailand?

Saying you traveled and learned a new language can be plausible, but certainly gaps in the resume are not welcomed in corporate America. Any gap over three months is a cause for concern and despite the fact that many corporations will lay you off in a heart beat, companies still look at gaps with a leary eye.

I've been in this situation and wouldn't lose any sleep over it, but just know this is how America reacts and be prepared to address this situation with confidence.

risktaker wrote:Is this for real? I am not being sarcastic. I thought it really doesn't matter if there's like a year or less of a gap on ur resume. I quit my job in December 2010 and have not been working since. I just thought I would dedicate this time to relaxing and traveling/learning a new language before law school starts. If I just told employers that i traveled and learned a language during the 7 or so months before law school, would it be a bad thing? Should I be trying to find a volunteer position instead?

I've asked more than one employer/person in a position of power (State Dept official, corporate lawyer, law firm admin) about this scenario, and, while it might not be representative of all companies or corporate America, they were universally supportive of people doing something like that. Is it a gap? Yes. But traveling and learning a language is worlds apart (no pun intended) than sitting at home wondering what to do with your life.

The reason why they were excited and and actually encouraging of it is that they understand that while you're young (I'm just assuming your prob in your 20s, if you're not I apologize) it's the best time to do it and "get it out of your system." They've met so many people in their offices that wish they had been able to travel/backpack/volunteer abroad and learn a new language when they had their chance. (a bit of background info - I'm a currently a Peace Corps volunteer, and this played a pretty significant role in my decision to join.) Once you start law school/get a job, you'll have more things tying you down (marriage, house payment, car, kids, debt, etc), so grabbing life the balls, I think, is a good thing.

Another reason why it matters (in a good way) is that even if it's not an "official" position like interning/volunteering, people will know that it'll make you a more well-rounded person, and that you'll probably be more interesting to be around compared to the people that just shot through school/job to job (nothing wrong with that either though.) And in the long run, you'll be happy with yourself for having a cool experience and having another language (a very rewarding, not to mention marketable skill to have.)

Another quick side note: my older brother got laid off from one of his jobs in the early 2000s, and in the next year he decided to work as a snowboard instructor. It had nothing to do with his profession, but he took a year to do something different and follow his passion. When he started interviewing for jobs, that "off" year only worked in his favor. (Again, not to be representative of all people/jobs, but still something to think about.)

Honestly, if it comes up in an interview (which after law school isn't very likely), they'll probably be excited/interested to hear about your travels.

And, I think most future employers would be somewhat sympathetic to jobseekers ITE. But I could be wrong, of course. In the end I think it's all what the reasons of why you did something over what you actually did, both personally and professionally.

Veyron wrote:

drmguy wrote:Concerned 0L here...I have been unemployed for 7 months now and school is coming up "soon."

I can obviously lessen the damage by using years rather than months but my question is about the short amount of time until school starts. Should I try to get any internship for a few months before moving?

Also, will this unemployment be a huge burden for law school summer and post law school employment?


Thanks

Yes, it will, resume gaps are no good. Also no good is if you got laid off.

I had a 6 month vacation on my resume, nobody cared.

Anecdotal: I have a pretty big gap (1+ yr) on my resume. I had 3 interviews for 1L summer associate and nobody asked about it. I am not sure if in the end it would have affected my chances because I accepted a PI position the day after the last interview (2 days after the first) and told the firms I wan't interested anymore.

Edit: this of course wasn't the big OCI but a small Spring Interview Program (SIP), on campus for 1Ls and 2Ls.

Hattori Hanzo wrote:Anecdotal: I have a pretty big gap (1+ yr) on my resume. I had 3 interviews for 1L summer associate and nobody asked about it. I am not sure if in the end it would have affected my chances because I accepted a PI position the day after the last interview (2 days after the first) and told the firms I wan't interested anymore.

Edit: this of course wasn't the big OCI but a small Spring Interview Program (SIP), on campus for 1Ls and 2Ls.

This gap was post-graduation?