Listing jobs on law school application

[marshallmg]

Hi PowerScore!

First just want to say thank you for all the resources that you've provided me on this forum-I took the October LSAT and I'm feeling good about my score and I'm finally beginning the application process. I have a question about the Employment section of the application. It explicitly says "list all employment including internships" and I'm wondering how far to take "all employment". I've had a lot of jobs, I've worked at 3 different restaurants alone. Is it necessary to literally list them all, or should I just keep it to my longer-term, more "professional" gigs that I'm putting on my resume? Sorry if this is redundant or a silly question.

As always, I appreciate your help

[Jeremy Press]

Hi marshall,

That language is technically quite comprehensive, and it certainly won't hurt to err on the side of being overinclusive. That said, assuming you've had some full-time employment experience since your undergrad days, you'll be okay keeping the application list to significant employment experiences in undergrad (internships, plus any employment that you were engaged in half-time (i.e. 20 hrs a week) or more for a significant number of weeks, around 8-10+), plus any full-time work since undergrad. Minor positions that you only undertook for a few hours a week during school, or for a few weeks during school breaks, aren't necessary to include. Just remember that the employment list in the application is (and is intended to be) more comprehensive than you might include on your one-page resume. So don't exclude something just because it doesn't appear on your resume. And if a school has specific instructions for how to treat that section of the application, make sure you follow them to a "t."

Let me know if this raises any additional questions for you, and I'll do my best to clarify!

[lsatstudent2]

Hi, can you click "this section does not apply to me" for the employment section even if you have work experience?
I don't understand if it's necessary since I already attached a resume. The options include full-time, part-time, internship, and unpaid internship. Do I have to disclose that an internship was unpaid?

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hi, can you click "this section does not apply to me" for the employment section even if you have work experience?
I don't understand if it's necessary since I already attached a resume. The options include full-time, part-time, internship, and unpaid internship. Do I have to disclose that an internship was unpaid?

Hi lsatstudent2,

Thanks for the post. If the school specifically asks you to fill out your work experience via a form, then definitely follow those instructions! Similarily, if a school has a specific section for unpaid internships, disclose that as well. You do not have to disclose if an internship was unpaid if the school doesn't ask, but it still doesn't hurt to err on the side of caution.

Schools may have different reasons for having an employment form separate from a resume submission: quicker/easier viewing, standardized formatting, and/or a more comprehensive view than what might be on a one-page resume. Regardless of the reason, it's important to accurately complete what the schools ask.

Thanks!

[lsatstudent2]

Okay, thank you. It's just one job I am confused about. The organization labeled my position as a volunteer but I was working in a business department, so I wasn't really "helping out a community." So, would that be under the internship section, or the extracurricular, community, or activity section?

[Luke Haqq]

Hi lsatstudent2!

Without knowing more specifics about the application instructions, the experience you're mentioning sounds like it'd belong in the internship section.

Extracurriculars are school activities outside of your normal coursework (e.g., model UN, chess club). The position you mention doesn't sound like it's an extracurricular activity. Community sounds like it's referring community involvement. A lot of community involvement would indeed be volunteer (like working at a soup kitchen), but there are also community involvement opportunities where one might be paid (such as getting paid to work for a community organization). The position also doesn't sound like it belongs in community, since you note you weren't "really 'helping out a community.'" It's unclear what "activity" means, but it sounds like it is geared more toward non-professional experiences--the position also doesn't seem to fit under that category.

By process of elimination, it seems like the internship section would be the most appropriate place for it. More specifically, looking at your previous post, it would seem to fall under "unpaid internships."