Internship I hate vs. Volunteering

patsandheels
Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:08:55 +0000

I am a rising college junior and would like some advice on summer plans. Originally I planned on working at Northwestern Mutual as an intern to get some white collar job experience, but I really dislike it. I didn’t realize how focused on sales the job would be, and to make matters worse I am supposed to find people to sell to by asking parents and friends for contacts. I don’t feel comfortable selling to my family and friends, and have also found that I am extremely uninterested in the insurance industry, but if I quit I will not have anything to do for the summer. I was unable to find a job last summer despite applying all over the place, and don’t want to do nothing for the next 3 months. I was thinking of trying to find volunteer opportunities, perhaps at the district attorney’s office or with a public defender or at a firm if I could find one. However, I have not been too successful in that area, and have thus been thinking about volunteering at a local animal shelter or at the arboretum. I have no job experience outside of working at a summer camp after 8th grade, working in my mom’s office part time for a summer, and working with my friend on lawns very infrequently last summer. Basically, my question is would I be destroying my resume by spending the summer volunteering somewhere not associated with the legal profession instead of working? How much do law schools emphasize work experience? How much will this hurt me in looking for jobs and internships during and after law school?