Any reason not to do this?

[Top Cat]

I am getting ready to begin law school this coming August.  While I would like to prepare for law school this summer, I have been told various times by various people that there isn't a lot you can do (re: reading cases, etc.).  Instead, I am thinking about going ahead and researching the firms that I would like to work for during my 1L summer, and type up cover letters and resumes for them.  The law school I am attending states that 1Ls can't send out letters to potential employers until Nov. 1st. If I went ahead and got this stuff ready, I could go ahead and send it off on that date and have one less thing to worry about.

Is this a good idea, or am I thinking way too far in advance?  Is there any reason to think that my resume would be drastically different in August than it would in November?  Any input would be helpful.

[themanwithnoname]

I am getting ready to begin law school this coming August.  While I would like to prepare for law school this summer, I have been told various times by various people that there isn't a lot you can do (re: reading cases, etc.).  Instead, I am thinking about going ahead and researching the firms that I would like to work for during my 1L summer, and type up cover letters and resumes for them.  The law school I am attending states that 1Ls can't send out letters to potential employers until Nov. 1st. If I went ahead and got this stuff ready, I could go ahead and send it off on that date and have one less thing to worry about.

Is this a good idea, or am I thinking way too far in advance?  Is there any reason to think that my resume would be drastically different in August than it would in November?  Any input would be helpful.

You are going to want help from career services in refining your resume and cover letter and will have a much easier time researching firms when you are there. You should definitely update your resume.

[sheltron5000]

I don't see anything wrong with this, but law school is well known to be a transformative experience, you may not want the same things after your first semester that you do now.

thewomanwithnoname makes a good point about career services, your resume won't have different information, but you will format it differently for a legal job, using different "power words" etc. Same thing with your cover letters. As for getting everything out on Nov. 1st, that is actually an ABA rule (take it as law), and you won't be allowed to consult with career services until that date either. Plus, they'll still be busy dealing with all the 2/3Ls trying to get their post LS jobs.

on the other hand, getting ready isn't a horrible idea either. update your resume, find out who the big players are in your home market, and write a few cover letters, just so you'll have something to work with.

HTH

[Susan B. Anthony]

Actually, it's December 1st for contacting employers, and November 1st for working with career services, and they're NALP rules that most law schools seem to abide by as general rules.

If you have a lot of time on your hands, it probably wouldn't hurt to do some research. I personally wouldn't write cover letters at this point, because you'll probably just end up re-writing them, but you could start making a list (or a mail-merge file! fun!) of places you'd like to apply.

[sheltron5000]

oops! Thanks for the correction, Cady!

[bl825]

Keeping one's resume updated is never a bad thing, IMO. 

[upgrade]

I am getting ready to begin law school this coming August.  While I would like to prepare for law school this summer, I have been told various times by various people that there isn't a lot you can do (re: reading cases, etc.).  Instead, I am thinking about going ahead and researching the firms that I would like to work for during my 1L summer, and type up cover letters and resumes for them.  The law school I am attending states that 1Ls can't send out letters to potential employers until Nov. 1st. If I went ahead and got this stuff ready, I could go ahead and send it off on that date and have one less thing to worry about.

Is this a good idea, or am I thinking way too far in advance?  Is there any reason to think that my resume would be drastically different in August than it would in November?  Any input would be helpful.

I think it's a waste to research firms for 1L summer employment at this stage.  If you were attending any of the other schools, it may have been a good option, but even then 1L summer associate positions are not very plentiful.  From UK, the employers will be selecting you, you won't be selecting them.  Also, there aren't going to be a ton of firms recruiting at UK, so you will probably be able to complete the research during winter break after you receive your grades and realize you have a shot at getting a firm gig.  Of course, all of this presumes that you are looking for a big firm job, which may not be true.

[M_Cool]

this probably would take like 2 hours?  sure, why not.. but you might as well wait

[dashrashi]

I think it's a good idea to get your resume in as good shape as you can make it, so you only have to have one go-round with career services come November on that front. I wouldn't do cover letters yet--I think school really does help people sound more convincing when they talk about what they want to do, so you'd most likely just end up rewriting those.

I would also research places you might want to work, but widen the net past firms to judges and public interest organizations.

[Top Cat]

Thanks for all of the input... I work at a bank job that gets pretty slow at times.  Cover letters are a good thing because they look like I am doing something professional (as opposed to espn.com).