Kimm Walton is the author of "Guerilla Tactics for Getting the Legal Job of Your Dreams," and a PAD alumna.
Following are her thoughts on certificate programs.
If you want to distinguish yourself by proving your enthusiasm for a particular practice area, a certificate program absolutely gives you that; proving your commitment to an employer’s practice area is a huge plus. You can do that other ways as well, of course, but a certificate program accomplishes that for you.
Having said that, if you take a certificate in a given practice area and then you decide you want to do something else – it happens all the time! – remember that you’ll have to “pimp your resume†with activities in other areas, as well, so that employers don’t a) question your judgment, or b) figure you just can’t make up your mind and so you’re “flitting from flower to flower.â€Â
In that situation, you’d want to say that you chose the certificate program for X reason, here’s what you like about Y (the employer’s practice area), and here’s what you learned in the certificate program that will be transferable to what this employer does. It’s not insurmountable, and if you want to get a certificate in something, the prospect that you might change your mind about it later on shouldn’t deter you.
Following are her thoughts on certificate programs.
If you want to distinguish yourself by proving your enthusiasm for a particular practice area, a certificate program absolutely gives you that; proving your commitment to an employer’s practice area is a huge plus. You can do that other ways as well, of course, but a certificate program accomplishes that for you.
Having said that, if you take a certificate in a given practice area and then you decide you want to do something else – it happens all the time! – remember that you’ll have to “pimp your resume†with activities in other areas, as well, so that employers don’t a) question your judgment, or b) figure you just can’t make up your mind and so you’re “flitting from flower to flower.â€Â
In that situation, you’d want to say that you chose the certificate program for X reason, here’s what you like about Y (the employer’s practice area), and here’s what you learned in the certificate program that will be transferable to what this employer does. It’s not insurmountable, and if you want to get a certificate in something, the prospect that you might change your mind about it later on shouldn’t deter you.