Not working for medical reasons

[matteo]

I've been told that OCI employers aren't supposed to ding you for not working your 1L summer if you have valid medical reasons why you can't. Formalities aside, in practice, does it actually hurt you?

I'm in a position where I need serious spinal surgery within the next few years, the earlier the better. It takes an entire summer to recover completely. Since the job market's so awful right now, 2L employment is crucial and I'd rather not postpone studying for the bar after my 3L year, it seems like this summer would be the optimal time to get it done. Would this be putting me at a big disadvantage as far as OCI goes?

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

[goaliechica]

I think you just need to be prepared to talk about it during OCI interviews. Not in detail, hopefully, but just have something to say when asked what you did with your summer. Most interviewers are human beings, and as long as they don't think you were just sitting around being slothful, it shouldn't be a big negative. If you're really worried about being disadvantaged when compared to classmates who can make a few minutes of small talk about their summer jobs, you could try to really throw yourself into some kind of extracurricular this semester so you'll seem sufficiently engaged and have something law-related to chat about.

[Miss P]

I agree with goaliechica.

I would also explore the possibility of taking on some kind of research assignment over the summer if you think you'll be able to do some work from home.  I think this would both give you something to talk about in interviews, and, perhaps more important, make you look industrious.

Good luck with the surgery.

[nealric]

I found an RA job over the summer last year that let me work anywhere there was an internet connection. I theoretically could have done it from a hospital bed. Might look into something like that.

[M_Cool]

Probably too late for your decision, but if I was in this position I would try to find something where they don't mind you doing stuff from home.  I really wouldn't want to talk about medical problems during OCI.  That is just negative and whether they say so or not I think it could only hurt your chances.

[k0em9u]

I wouldn't be concerned over raising this medical issue, since it is clearly a one-time thing. At least it sounds that way. If it was more of a recurring theme I would also be careful about it.