Career Counselor
Many Golden Gate School of Law students work full-time in addition to attending classes for several hours a week. Many of you have family responsibilities as well. You are often incredibly busy, but this doesn’t mean that you should leave career planning for when you graduate! It is essential that evening students gain legal experience while in school if you intend to practice law after graduation.
You are already carefully managing your time, so you might wonder how you will squeeze in legal work experience before graduating. By planning ahead, it is possible to find creative ways to get experience and boost your resume. One suggestion is to maximize your time between semesters. This winter break is a terrific time to do some career planning, and possibly, some volunteer legal work in an area that interests you.
- Research the legal market and practice areas.
Peruse our resource library and LCSonline and you’ll discover terrific resources, including recordings of career services programs discussing a wide range of practice areas. Since your time is precious, exploring your interests and learning more about where you would like to work is a very important component of your career planning. - Begin the process of looking for ways to fit legal experience into your schedule.
If you work for a corporation, explore whether there is a way to work in your company’s legal department at some point. Can you save vacation time in order to take summer legal job? If not, look into volunteer income tax assistance or consumer debt programs, which often operate during evening hours. Think creatively about how you can fit some legal experience into your busy schedule, and look into your options. - Get legal experience this month by engaging in pro bono work.
GGU has recently established a pro bono program with the Public Interest Clearinghouse (PIC). This program will give you access to various volunteer opportunities, including those taking place on nights and weekends. PIC allows students to volunteer in a host of substantive legal areas and can help you find a project tailored to your specific interests and schedule.
One upcoming opportunity is with Legal Aid of Marin, which will hold eviction intake clinics on Monday, December 28 through Wednesday, December 30 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to develop your client interviewing and fact investigation skills. (For more information or to reserve a spot, please contact Doan at dnguyen@pic.org).
Please visit www.lawstudentprobono.org to register and sign up for PIC’s weekly newsletter. When you find an opportunity that interests you, contact Doan Nguyen, the pro bono coordinator at PIC. - Write a publishable paper.
An excellent way for evening students to enhance their legal resumes is to write a publishable paper on a subject of interest. Approach a professor, committee member of a bar association, or a law school colleague with an idea for a collaborative article. You can also contact the editors of legal journals to ask if there are any topics for which they are seeking articles, and propose to write a relevant article yourself. Not only do publications add to your legal resume, conducting the research for an article or paper often leads to the opportunity to connect with successful attorneys and expand your network. - Attend a least one networking/holiday event or conduct one informational interview.
You’ve probably been told that networking is an effective way to secure a job. During the semester, you might not have much time to attend bar association events or CLE’s, but try to do so during your winter break. Plan to attend a social gathering or program that will allow you to meet people in the legal community. Informational interviews are a terrific networking vehicle as well and are often sources of valuable guidance. Networking and informational interviewing handouts are available on LCSonline. - Meet one-on-one with an LCS career counselor.
Law Career Services is open during most of your winter break, and we are available to meet in person or over the phone.. (We will be closed for our move to 40 Jesse Street between 12/9 – 12/15, and for a few days close to Christmas and New Year’s Day). We encourage you to take advantage of this time to start working with us. You can make an appointment to meet with an LCS career counselor by calling us at (415) 442-6625 or by emailing lawcareer@ggu.edu.
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