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Co-op Programs after Law Schools

published September 21, 2013

By Author - LawCrossing
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( 10 votes, average: 4.2 out of 5)
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If you attend one of the many universities with a co-op program, you'll have the opportunity to gain career-related experience by working at a full- or part-time job. It is usually possible to earn academic credit for co-op work also. The work experience is considered so valuable that on many campuses students in engineering and other technical fields are required to participate in the co-op program.

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Co-op jobs are most plentiful and most useful for technical majors. Firms looking for accountants, for example, can hire upperclassmen students and expect them to do almost everything that graduate accountants can do. Although they pay the students well by student standards, they pay them less than they would have to pay college graduates. (One advantage to being an accounting major is that it's usually fairly easy to get an accounting co-op job.) Not surprisingly, the co-op program is a good way for such students to get full-time jobs. When they graduate, they can apply to firms that are already-familiar with their work. Participants in co-op programs have higher placement rates, and, at least on some campuses, higher starting salaries.

Even if you're not an accounting or business major, co-op programs often have jobs available in lawyers' offices, in the legal firms of large corporations, and in the offices of regulated businesses and industries. In fact, many businesses prefer to leave their entire college student hiring to co-op programs.

One reason for this is that the co-op programs screen the applicants. You usually have to qualify for co-op programs by having and maintaining good grades, and you always have to pay a fee. Once you are accepted into the program, a co-op counselor will provide a list of available jobs. The counselor will help you draw up your resume and give you some tips on doing well at job interviews. (On some campuses, co-op programs run not-for-credit courses on such topics as dressing for success, writing job applications, and business etiquette.) You apply for the jobs you are interested in.

You will have to compete with other co-op students in an application process that will include interviews but will largely be decided by grades. Competition may or may not be keen, depending on the kind of job, local employment conditions, and the number of majors at your school who are seeking such work. Depending on your field, the co-op job finders may be unable to find you part-time work. To participate in co-op, you will then have to be willing to work full-time, and consequently delay your graduation or attend summer school. In our recent experience at Bradley, the co-op job finders turn up only four or five law firm jobs each year. But sometimes some of them go begging.

Once you have the job, someone in the firm is assigned to supervise your work and to report to your college. Try to make a good impression on this mentor because he or she will be the best person to describe your work experience in a letter of recommendation, and also because co-op jobs are theoretically ongoing, and you'll want to be invited back. It is common for students to keep the same part-time jobs for several years or to work full-time for the same firms for several intervals during their college years. But the firm can decline to rehire any co-op employee at the end of each semester.

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If you are a social sciences or humanities student employed in a law firm or corporate office, you can expect your work to consist largely of general office duties. You'll be expected to answer the phone, file documents, run the Xerox machine, run errands, and in general fetch and carry. Expect to make coffee. You will tire of this routine busywork. But remember, the co-op employer has also promised to teach you something. At a minimum, you should be in a position to see what the professionals in the office actually do, and there should be someone to answer your questions. You should be given at least some opportunity to do responsible work. Law firms may teach you to do some rudimentary legal research or legal drafting, for example, and then assign you meaningful tasks. Your first work will always be closely supervised; if you perform competently, you'll probably be given more independence. The best co-op jobs provide extremely good mentoring opportunities. Some firms provide regular seminars during which their interns meet informally with professionals. Others have formal programs of speakers and office tours.

If you feel that you're doing nothing but office busywork, tactfully complain to your superior. If that doesn't help and you still feel you're not learning anything, complain to the co-op faculty adviser. Occasionally, co-op jobs don't work out. But don't quit in a hurry if the job pays well and the alternative is flipping burgers.

One danger of law firm employment is that you'll be left doing nothing but busywork. I know of some students who spent tedious hours dusting the books in the law library. You can expect to do some of the photocopying and coffee-making chores. But if you've been there a semester and your job still isn't teaching you anything, you should try to get another one.

A second and greater danger is that your job will become so enjoyable that you'll neglect your studies. You may become so immersed in helping a lawyer prepare an appellate brief that you work through your study hours. The lawyers you work for, who want you to put your time in on their research, may be especially seductive: they'll promise to help you get into law school, they'll brag about their influence and tell you how well their previous protégés have done, and they may make it sound like your part-time work is the most important thing you can do to get into law school. You have to resist 1 Up to a point, legal experience is helpful, and the good will of working lawyers can never hurt you. But neither of these things is more important than getting good grades. If your mentor is serious about helping you, he or she won't make it impossible for you to study.

published September 21, 2013

By Author - LawCrossing
( 10 votes, average: 4.2 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.