How to Get a Legal Internship : Essential Tips and Resources
Table of Contents
This document explores the legal profession, detailing the roles and specializations of lawyers, from family law to corporate law. It highlights key job types within the field and emphasizes the importance of choosing relevant undergraduate majors. Practical advice is provided on writing effective resumes, preparing for interviews, and networking both online and offline. The document also includes strategies for standing out in interviews and offers resources for seeking professional guidance in pursuing a legal career.
What is Legal Related Job?
Lawyers provide legal consultation and services, represent clients in court, and prepare legal documents such as contracts and wills to ensure compliance with legal regulations and protect clients’ interests. Lawyers can specialize in different fields, such as family law, criminal law, and commercial law, offering services based on client needs. The legal profession is flexible, allowing lawyers to work in law firms or practice independently. Lawyers must maintain professional conduct, adhere to legal and ethical standards, continuously update their legal knowledge, uphold justice and social order, and help clients resolve disputes.
10 Main Types of Legal Jobs
- Associate Attorney Assists in legal cases by researching, drafting documents, and representing clients in court.
- Corporate Lawyer Provides legal advice to businesses and ensures company practices comply with laws.
- Family Lawyer Handles legal issues related to family matters such as divorce, child custody, and adoption.
- Immigration Lawyer Helps clients with visa applications, citizenship, and other immigration issues.
- Intellectual Property Lawyer Protects clients’ inventions, designs, and creative works from unauthorized use.
- Litigation Attorney Represents clients in civil lawsuits, managing all phases of the litigation process.
- Bankruptcy Lawyer Advises clients on bankruptcy proceedings and helps them navigate financial distress.
- Employment Lawyer Deals with workplace issues, including disputes between employers and employees.
- Personal Injury Lawyer Represents clients who have been injured due to accidents or negligence to get compensation.
- Contracts Lawyer Drafts, reviews, and negotiates contracts to ensure legality and protect clients’ interests.
Majors Suitable for Legal Career
As you can see, the best undergraduate major to help you become a lawyer depends on where you want to take your career. Consider which sub-field of law you might choose in the future. If you know you are interested in corporate law, environmental law, family law, or intellectual property law, you can lay the groundwork for that by choosing the appropriate bachelor’s degree. These experiences will help you become a lawyer who can understand the bigger picture of the business world and communicate better with more stakeholders in the company.
Combining law school training with a bachelor’s degree in these fields will help you become a lawyer who understands the various systems in large businesses. Law students can and should create a plan that leverages the strengths of their bachelor’s degree with their chosen law school curriculum.
Attending law school and passing the bar exam are just two steps on your path. After passing the bar exam, you can choose different legal career paths.
How to Write an Effective Resume
What is ATS？
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is computer software that human resource departments use to process the overwhelming number of applications they receive for job openings.
Here are some tips to make sure your resume can be read by an ATS:
- Use simple and clear language to avoid confusing the system.
- Stick to standard resume headers like “Education” and “Work Experience”. Avoid creative headers.
- Use common fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, or Helvetica for readability.
- Keep 1-inch margins on all sides to prevent your resume from looking crowded.
- Avoid unnecessary graphics or decorations, as they can confuse the ATS.
- Don’t use special characters or symbols that the system might not understand.
- Create your resume in a Word document to ensure it looks good and is easy for the ATS to read.
Follow Basic Formatting Requirements
Use a professional resume template to ensure your resume is neat and easy to read, effectively highlighting key information with clear headings, consistent formatting, and an organized structure.
Resume Formatting Rules
- Left-align the content.
- Use 1″ margins.
- Select a professional, easy-to-read font.
- Divide your information into clear sections.
- Set clear headers for each section.
- Use bullet points to explain your work experience.
- Keep your resume an appropriate length (one page for most candidates)
A resume should be concise, using bullet points and formatting to highlight key information, ensuring that recruiters can quickly understand your qualifications and achievements. Use formatting techniques such as bold, italics, or color to emphasize keywords and critical information, making them immediately noticeable during rapid scanning.
Demonstrate Your Fit for the Job
Provide a clear personal summary that outlines your resume, highlighting key points and skills directly related to the position, and emphasizing both technical and soft skills to show your alignment with the job requirements and your career aspirations.
Legal Related Internship Resume Summary Example
A motivated and detail-oriented legal intern with experience in researching and analyzing complex legal documents. Possesses strong organizational and communication skills, and a proven ability to identify and address potential legal issues. Demonstrated success in providing effective legal support to attorneys, resulting in the successful resolution of cases.
To ensure your resume meets the job requirements, tailor the content to the specific needs of the position, emphasize relevant achievements, use keywords from the job description for ATS optimization, and highlight experience in similar roles.
Employers value quantified achievements because they provide concrete evidence of your impact and abilities, which helps them better assess your potential performance in the legal internship.
Legal Internship Workload Achievements Example
Rolling Meadows Middle School I Rolling Meadows, IL I 8/2018-current
Drafted legal documents for a variety of clients
Researched and analyzed legal issues and prepared memoranda on findings
Attended court hearings and client meetings
Assisted attorneys in preparing for trials and hearings
Skill to Develop for Success in the Legal Internship
There is not a set prelaw major or prerequisites to apply to law school and pursue a career in law. It is important to note that being “pre law” does not denote a student’s major or program of study. Rather, being pre law identifies a student’s educational goal. There is no single path that will prepare a student for a legal career. Students who are successful in law school, and who become accomplished professionals, come from many walks of life and educational backgrounds
However, courses will provide opportunities to hone the following skills that law schools seek in applicants:
- Active Learning
- Administrative
- Analytical Thinking
- Attention to Detail
- Critical reading and ability to synthesize complex material
- Logic and problem solving
- Oral communication skills
How to Build Your Network and Connections
Linked Connection
- Even if you don’t have inside connections, LinkedIn is your secret weapon for tapping into the power of networking with the company’s own team.
- In the LinkedIn “People” section of the target company/industry, filter for positions of interest, preferably selecting alumni. Alumni are more inclined to offer assistance. Send a note to connect (briefly introducing yourself with your name, school, major, interests, and reason for contacting them).
- Up on receiving an invitation to connect: Express gratitude, provide another brief self-introduction, inquire about scheduling a brief coffee chat, and briefly outline areas of interest.
- Pre-chat preparation: Prepare a self-introduction; review the other person’s profile beforehand; prepare ten questions of interest (related to their profession or education).
- On the day of the chat: Enter the chat five minutes early, tidy up appearance, confirm questions to ask, then chat as if with a senior colleague! Exchange greetings, introduce yourself, and ask questions. Respond to their answers with your own thoughts and experiences for deeper engagement!
- At the end of the chat: Ask directly if they are willing to refer you; offer to provide your resume for them to learn more about you. Usually, they will agree at this point. It’s okay if they don’t. Regardless of the outcome, always express gratitude politely.
Offline Networking
Participate in Offline Activities
Actively participate in school and industry offline events like job fairs and forums to understand industry trends and connect with experts.
Volunteer at Industry Events
Volunteering at industry events demonstrates your enthusiasm and responsibility while providing valuable organizational skills and opportunities to network with industry veterans and potential employers.
Attend Lectures and Seminars
Regularly attend lectures and seminars to gain industry insights, learn from experts, and network with speakers.
Network During Other Internships
Utilize your internship to network with colleagues and supervisors, building professional relationships that can enhance your career development.
How to Stand Out in an Accounting Internship Interview
Professional Behavior
First, present yourself as if you are already in the job. Treat the interview like a cosplay event where you play the role of a professional. Mimic the appearance and behavior of a workplace professional. Choosing appropriate formal attire is fundamental. When communicating with the interviewer, accurately expressing your thoughts, demonstrate the composure of someone with years of work experience.
Tips for Behavioral Interviews
With these kinds of questions, interviewers are usually trying to learn three things:
- They want to know how you behaved in a real-world situation.
- They want to understand the measurable value you added to that situation.
- They are trying to learn how you define something like “pressure at work”—a concept different people might interpret differently.
Success in a behavioral interview is all about preparation. There aren’t necessarily wrong answers. These questions are aimed at getting to know the real you. The important thing is to be honest and to practice structuring your responses in a way that communicates what you have to offer.
Here are some important tips to consider when preparing for your next behavioral interview:
- Review major projects you’ve worked on.
- Revisit previous job performance reviews.
- Make a list of your professional accomplishments.
- Use the STAR method to structure your response.
- Practice your interview responses aloud.
- Keep your answers under two minutes.
Showcase Your Extensive Experience
Even if you encounter work content during the interview that you haven’t experienced, don’t panic. Observe the work of others, learn from their experiences, and adapt these experiences as your own. For example, if a classmate mentioned a relevant technique or method in a school project, you can discuss your understanding of this topic during the interview and express your interest in learning and practicing it further.
What questions should you ask at the end of the interview?
At the end of the interview, if the candidate doesn’t have any questions to ask, he or she may appear to lack interest and initiative in the position or the company, and miss the opportunity to further demonstrate their curiosity and deepen the conversation.
What can I ask?
HR（ Generally for initial interviews)：The main understanding of the company’s basic situation, assessment standards, departmental situation and other issues, reflecting stability and intentionality.
- Could you describe the day-to-day responsibilities of this role?
- What is the company culture and core values like here?
- What are the key success metrics for this position?
Final Interview
Immediate supervisors: mainly to understand the tasks of the position, the division of labor, and the problems of their own travel, reflecting professionalism and initiative
- How does the team typically collaborate on projects?
- Could you share some details about the current main projects the team is working on?
- How can I contribute most effectively in this role within the team?
Senior leaders: mainly understand the company’s development direction, departmental goals, personal improvement and other aspects of the problem, reflecting independent thinking and upward mobility
- What are some key goals or plans for the company in the coming years?
- How do you see this position contributing to the company’s long-term strategy?
- What support does the company offer for career development and growth?
Can’t ask anything
Questions that are too pointed or negative: For example, asking direct questions about why the company has a high turnover rate, internal conflicts, etc., may make the interview atmosphere awkward and affect the interviewer’s evaluation of the applicant’s attitude.
If you have any more interview questions, here’s a ChatGPT plugin I recommend: Interview Pro, It helps you excel in interviews across various job functions and levels.
How to Follow Up with HR on Interview Results
At different stages after the interview, you can follow specific scripts to inquire about the results from HR. Here are some recommended communication scripts to keep in mind:
On-site Inquiry Right After the Interview
“Thank you very much for the opportunity to interview with your company. It allowed me to showcase my abilities and learn more about your organization. I had a very pleasant conversation with the interviewer and look forward to the possibility of working together. Could you please let me know approximately how long it will take to finalize the interview results?”
Same Day as the Interview
Online Inquiry:
“Hello, I am *** who interviewed for the legal internship position this morning. Thank you very much for arranging this interview. During the interview, I felt the professionalism and rigor of your company and learned about the career prospects of the position, which align well with my career plans. I hope to have the opportunity to work with your company. Could you please let me know when the interview results are expected to be finalized? Thank you.”
Three Days After the Interview
Routine Inquiry:
“Hello, I am （name） who interviewed for the ** position on Tuesday. I had a very pleasant conversation with the interviewer, and I now have a clearer understanding of the company and the position. I am looking forward to the opportunity to join the company. Could you please let me know if the interview results have been finalized? Thank you.”
Advanced Inquiry:
“Hello, I was very pleased to attend the interview with your company last week. I would like to inquire if the interview results are available now. And then I have received several offers from other companies, but considering the prospects of the company and the position, your company is still my preferred choice. I look forward to your feedback. Thank you!”
Things to confirm after receiving an offer but before starting the job: Guide: Next Steps After You Got a Job Offer
Legal Internship Interviewing Advice
Legal interviewers use a conversational, non-directed approach to interviewing. Candidates should be able to clearly articulate why they are interested in a particular organization and discuss current issues – read the recent updates, press releases and/or talk to any personal contacts at the organization.
Be prepared to discuss every detail of your resume, including skills such as organizational, communication and writing. During a discussion on a legal issue or when addressing potential weaknesses, remember to remain calm, composed and focus on good reasoning.
How to Seek Professional Advice and Guidance
What are some things to pay special attention to?
- Do not limit your search to “legal internship” positions, as the majority of those opportunities are reserved for law school students.
- Public interest, nonprofits and government agencies tend to have more substantive opportunities for undergraduates than corporate law firms.
- Because it is common for “legal” interns to perform administrative tasks, highlight those experiences on your resume and in your cover letter.
- The best way to secure an internship in a legal firm is to utilize your contacts and further develop a network of legal professionals.
Sample Law Firms & Legal Services Interview Questions
- Provide an example of a complex legal issue that you had to analyze and solve. How did you conduct your research?
- How do you organize your workload in order to manage multiple tasks and tight deadlines?
- Tell me about your experience dealing with confidential and sensitive information.
- How do you ensure accuracy of your work
Online Resources specific to the industry
Public Professional Organizations:
- Individual State and City Bar Associations
School Career Services Center Websites
Each school’s career center website offers a full range of career guidance that you can’t afford to miss!
School Career Services Center Websites
Each school’s career center website offers a full range of career guidance that you can’t afford to miss!
Jobright will also become your partner on the path to finding a legal internship.
Embracing Growth and Seizing Opportunities
Getting a good legal internship needs preparation and perseverance. Though the procedure can be difficult, the experience gained from some internships will offer you with an excellent basis for launching a career in your desired area.