Leave internship?
Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 11:34 am
Hi guys. I'm contemplating leaving my internship (started a week ago) for another one. I'm currently a summer intern for a federal judge. I know that you're never supposed to renege on a judge. However, my circumstances may be a bit different. I'm a rising 3L at a T-14. My GPA sucks (3.1) and I struck out during OCI last year. As you can imagine, the summer job search was fairly difficult. I got my current position through a combination of rigorous networking, personal contacts, and a pretty solid interview. The judge normally only accepts 2 interns, but made an exception for me.
Earlier this week I got an offer for a summer internship from a large pharmaceutical company. My first instinct is to stay with my judge, but I'm really tempted to accept the offer. First of all, I summered for a judge in a state court last year. I know federal courts are more prestigious, but I feel like I'm doing the exact same work as I did last year. Frankly, I'm bored out of my mind and worried about the "redundancy" with regards to professional skills and development on my resume. This internship is unpaid. The offer I'm sitting on is paid and I desperately need the money. My commute to my current internship is 2 hours (car+train) one way. It's expensive as well as mentally/physically exhausting. On the other hand, the internship I'm considering is a 20 min drive from my house. The 2 other interns are 1Ls, so I definitely feel like that old man at work that got left behind or never "made it."
I also think that an internship with the pharmaceutical company matches with my transcript and resume more than the judicial internship. I have an interest in IP and I've taken just about every IP course I can at my school (patents, trademarks, advertising, copyright,IP in world trade, copyright internet legislation seminar, etc..) The pharmaceutical company would provide me with some much needed experience in the corporate/private sector. My ultimate goal is to practice in-house. The most common route is to go in-house after practicing at a law firm. I know the Big-Law boat sailed and 3L OCI is a joke. However, I think this internship may give me a bit of an edge regardless of how small it may be. If anything, it would provide me with experience in the field of law that I've been studying for the last 2 years. Thoughts?
If it helps here are my "stats"
GPA: 3.1
URM
Secondary Journal
Member of Executive Board for a student org
Co-Founder of a small startup
Earlier this week I got an offer for a summer internship from a large pharmaceutical company. My first instinct is to stay with my judge, but I'm really tempted to accept the offer. First of all, I summered for a judge in a state court last year. I know federal courts are more prestigious, but I feel like I'm doing the exact same work as I did last year. Frankly, I'm bored out of my mind and worried about the "redundancy" with regards to professional skills and development on my resume. This internship is unpaid. The offer I'm sitting on is paid and I desperately need the money. My commute to my current internship is 2 hours (car+train) one way. It's expensive as well as mentally/physically exhausting. On the other hand, the internship I'm considering is a 20 min drive from my house. The 2 other interns are 1Ls, so I definitely feel like that old man at work that got left behind or never "made it."
I also think that an internship with the pharmaceutical company matches with my transcript and resume more than the judicial internship. I have an interest in IP and I've taken just about every IP course I can at my school (patents, trademarks, advertising, copyright,IP in world trade, copyright internet legislation seminar, etc..) The pharmaceutical company would provide me with some much needed experience in the corporate/private sector. My ultimate goal is to practice in-house. The most common route is to go in-house after practicing at a law firm. I know the Big-Law boat sailed and 3L OCI is a joke. However, I think this internship may give me a bit of an edge regardless of how small it may be. If anything, it would provide me with experience in the field of law that I've been studying for the last 2 years. Thoughts?
If it helps here are my "stats"
GPA: 3.1
URM
Secondary Journal
Member of Executive Board for a student org
Co-Founder of a small startup