Finding a 1L Summer Internship: Advice

Trying to find a summer position for your 1L summer can be stressful. Here are some tips for trying to land an internship!

When I was applying to 1L summer positions, I started around thanksgiving and early December of my fall semester. At that time, only a few intern programs were starting to open up and it was hard to apply when you hadn’t received your first semester grades back yet. I applied to whatever I could find through winter break, and then a lot more applications started appearing in January and February. I spent a good amount of time during the spring semester finding and applying to internships! Then in the spring, COVID began and a lot of places were cancelling or suspending their summer programs. I was understandably very stressed out and was still trying to find something. I applied to soooo many places and finally, in late April of my 1L year, I was able to land an internship with a local City Attorney’s office. I was so stressed out for those few months looking for something, and then got a lot better at finding positions and applying to internships during my 2L and 3L years, so I though I would put together this list of tips!

When looking for summer intern/clerk applications, you need to look EVERYWHERE. LinkedIn, googling, your law school’s career website… scour these pages searching for job applications. You never know what positions you might miss just because you hadn’t found them. One great place to look is USAJobs and your state government’s jobs website (for California, the site is CalCareers) as well as any cities and counties you would be interested in working in. When I was applying to internships for 1L summer, I worked closely with the career advisors at my law school and they were able to point me to so many portals and posting sites specific for legal careers, if your law school has a career advisor, definitely work with them! I would also recommend looking into individual law firms that their careers page of their website. A lot of law firms do not take first year law students, but some bigger firms do take 1Ls as a part of their diversity program, or dedicated first year intern program.

Hit up any network connections you have collected. Keeping in touch with attorneys you have met networking is crucial. A simple email following up with someone post-networking event, and a periodic email updating them on how law school is going is a great way to keep the connection alive. I typically keep business cards of everyone I meet networking, and then attach a sticky note where I write down dates I reached out to them and a brief summary. Down the road, when you’re looking for a summer position, your connections may have a position available to recommend you for, or know of someone who is hiring.

Often times I got a lot of interviews from just emailing people I had met or were alumni of my school and requesting an informational interview. I have plenty to say on informational interviews and how networking is 100x more effective and helpful than any traditional application ever will be, which you can find on my tiktok under “job apps” and also in a separate post here on my blog.

Here’s a template for emailing a network contact. Of course, modify it to fit your needs: Hello (name), I hope you are doing well. You may remember we met at (insert where you met them) and that I’m a 1L at (law school).(or if you’ve been in more constant contact, ask about something they mentioned last time you saw them) I am emailing to see if you may know of any open internship opportunities for this summer that I might be able to apply to. I am mainly interested in (areas of law, if any). I’ve attached my resume for your convenience. Thank you in advance! Sincerely, (your name)

Here’s a template for cold emailing people or messaging people on Linkedin or an office you are interested in: Hello (hiring coordinator or person’s name), My name is (your name) and I’m a 1L at (law school) interested in (area(s) of law that they do). I am emailing to inquire about whether your office has any open intern or clerk positions for the summer of (year). (if you have a network connection that works for them, include that you’ve spoken with/know (network connection name) and they have spoken highly of their time at (name of office) (a blurb on why you are interested in that particular office or area(s) of law) I have attached my resume for your convenience. Please let me know if I can provide any additional materials on my end. Thank you in advance, (your name).

Ask professors and law school staff. Reach out to professors at your law school and any staff (such as career advisors) to assist you in your search for an internship. Often times, professors receive a ton of emails from their network about open positions and applications. They might be able to help you find something or at least point you in the right direction.

Apply early. Most law schools have rules for when their first-year students can begin applying to summer positions (usually November 1st). Be proactive and begin to research what places you might want to apply to, and when the applications open. Begin assembling the application materials you will need ahead of time. Once applications begin to open, start applying. To send in some applications, though, you may have to wait for grades to be posted, which means waiting until fall semester grades are out. Applying early and not waiting until just before the deadlines is important so that you can maximize your options and avoid scrambling toward the end of spring semester.

Apply to more than you think you need. Self-explanatory, but really do apply to more positions than you think you need to. It’s better to have too many calls for interviews than to not have any.

Proofread, over and over. When sending out plenty of applications in a short amount of time, it can be easy for a few errors to slip through the cracks. So many law students express frustration from finding that they sent a writing sample with a glaring typo (guilty!), or a cover letter addressed to the wrong organization. Proofread multiple times, make sure you’re addressing everything correctly, and have a friend or family member go over it too.

Apply to positions outside of your main area of interest. Applying to more positions than you think you need to means venturing outside of your main area of interest. Chances are your first summer won’t be 100% in line with exactly what you want to do after you graduate law school. Apply to positions in multiple areas of law, even ones you have no experience in. Even a summer job in some completely different area of law will provide you with useful skills and a line on your resume. No matter what area of law you end up interning in, you will likely be assigned a lot of legal research, and those skills are always transferrable.

Try not to get discouraged by the rejections. I have to discuss this one because as someone who experiences a huge amount of imposter syndrome in law school and has average grades, I thought I wasn’t ever going to find a 1L summer internship. It took me forever, and in fact, I was probably one of the last students in my class to actually land one. Every rejection throughout the application/interview process felt like the world was ending for me… like I wasn’t ever going to get a ‘yes’ from any office I applied to. If you find yourself getting rejection after rejection, try not to let it discourage you. I know there isn’t much advice I can give here except ‘have hope’, but something will come eventually. Keep applying and trying your best until that day comes. Patience is key!