In recent years, many law schools have indicated a preference for applicants with real-world experience over those applying straight from college. There are a few reasons for this shift.
First, law schools have found that students with work experience tend to be better prepared to handle the challenges of law school, particularly the difficult first year. The admissions office at Harvard Law School in Massachusetts, where 79% of the class of 2027 arrived on campus one or more years after college, has cited this reason to explain their shift toward more experienced applicants.
Second, such students tend to exhibit desired personal qualities like professionalism, maturity and the ability to engage constructively with others they don’t agree with. The website for Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law in Illinois, where 85% of incoming students have one or more years of work experience, explains: “Real-world knowledge contributes to our students’ maturity, dedication, and focus.”
Third, students with experience in the job market have a head start on finding a job after law school. Not only does this lighten the load for career services, but it factors more than ever into law school rankings. It’s no surprise that only 12% of incoming students at top-ranked Yale Law School in Connecticut came straight from college.
[Read: 5 Personal Qualities That Law School Applicants Should Have]
Work experience is not a prerequisite for law school. Many applicants who’ve never received a paycheck are admitted to law school each year, particularly those with strong grades and standardized test scores.
Even so, applicants coming from the workforce should see their experience as a positive factor, even if they don’t feel like typical law applicants.
What Work Experience Matters to Law Schools?
Work experience can take a wide range of forms. Certainly, experience in legal offices is common and highly relevant. Other common backgrounds include business, nonprofits, teaching and public service.
However, applicants with an unconventional background can also stand out. My law school class included a professional pastry chef, a beauty pageant winner and a rock musician.
Including Your Work History in Your Application
Your law school resume should clearly present all your work experience. Schools also commonly ask applicants to list each significant job or volunteer position individually on a separate form for easy comparison.
Consider integrating such experience into the personal statement, as well. While your resume presents the objective facts about your job and its responsibilities, your personal statement gives you an opportunity to breathe life into the subjective experience of your work.
[Read: 2 Law School Personal Statements That Succeeded.]
Try to provide specific examples of meaningful experiences in which you displayed qualities that schools value, like diligence, leadership and courage. What were some of the challenges you faced, how did you address them and how did each experience shape your path to law school?
If the law school has interviews, be ready for a work-related question. Common topics include challenges you faced, examples of teamwork and how you handled setbacks or failures.
Advice for Applicants Who Lack Work Experience
If you have not been in the workforce long, be sure your resume highlights the experience you do have. Include all jobs before or during college, summer internships and campus jobs like teaching or assisting with research.
Don’t hesitate to list seasonal or service jobs. Law is a service profession, and many lawyers work under pressure with clients who aren’t at their best, like hungry patrons at a restaurant.
Likewise, some volunteer activities may entail substantial responsibilities.
If you have a long gap in your resume or a dearth of work experience due to some life circumstance like a family obligation or an injury or illness, include a brief addendum to provide that explanatory context to the admissions committee.
For example, one of my clients was unable to work after college because the sudden death of a parent left her managing both her grief and the family finances. Her addendum explained her personal challenges and responsibilities in a way her resume could never convey.
[Related:Before Law School, Learn to Read, Write Like a Law Student]
Advice for Applicants With Significant Work Experience
Applicants with a wealth of work experience should include an extensive resume of up to two pages in length. Older applicants who have been in the workforce for many years should be careful how they communicate their work experience to admissions officers who have little familiarity with their field.
Scour your resume for any jargon or technical details. Translate your responsibilities and achievements into plain English. Terms like “deliverables,” “synergy,” “deal flow,” “downstream,” “operationalize,” “matrix,” and “KPI” may sound vague and meaningless to admissions officers unaccustomed to corporate buzzwords.
However, corporate America is not unique in its use of jargon. Whether your experience is in the military, academia, medicine or the nonprofit sector, watch out for language that will sound opaque to an outsider.
Applicants used to business writing should also be wary of the passive voice, overly complex sentences and getting lost in the nitty-gritty of a deal or project. Keep the focus on you.
Whether or not you bring a lot of real-world experience to the table, it is just one of many significant factors in a law school application. Law schools seek to balance their class, which leaves room for students at different stages of life.
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Work Experience Matters for Law School Applicants originally appeared on usnews.com
