Since 2015, Lawline has partnered with NYC’s Ladders for Leaders, which has made our summers so much brighter because of the high caliber of its interns. The Ladders for Leaders program offers high school and college students the opportunity to participate in summer internships with leading organizations in New York City. Nicholas, our Marketing Intern and Tamanna, our Programs Intern, learned first hand the world of Continuing Legal Education from all of the Marketing and Programs team members. Read below about the summer experiences of Nicholas and Tamanna in their own words!
Nicholas D’amato
At the beginning of the interview process, I imagined that Lawline would be a strict professional work setting given that the company does its business in the legal industry. I was happily surprised to learn that Lawline is a company that values its people as individuals, loves to have fun, and cares for one another. I saw this amazing culture and work environment first hand this summer. I knew that Lawline was serious about its culture from the day I started.
My first day was unlike any I've had at other jobs before. I was warmly welcomed and shown to my desk where they had a personalized packet ready for me there with a schedule for the day that included on-boarding presentations, training sessions, a tour of the office, and lunch with the marketing team. The whole company seemed ready and excited to bring the Programs Intern, Tamanna, and myself up to speed. I was not expecting to feel like such a priority. The experience made me feel like a valued member of the company, even though I was only an intern. Lawline challenged me to grow professionally every day. My biggest GROW moment of the summer was being trusted to formulate and execute a Google Ads strategy for the company. I was essentially allowed to take ownership of the campaign as my own project. I got a unique hands-on experience that I’m lucky to have under my belt so early in my career. Making decisions that impacted the performance of the campaign gave me the chance to build skills in decision making, digital marketing, and professional communication in a real-world setting. It wasn’t all work though, because the also like to enjoy themselves. My favorite PLAY moment was during the company picnic when a handful of my coworkers and I got caught up in a very intense game of UNO. We were joking and having more fun than I expected to have in a work setting.
Tamanna Saidi
Before coming into the Lawline office, I was slightly nervous and honestly didn’t know what to expect. I was slightly skeptical of the “Grow, Act, Care, Create, and Play” mantra that had been briefly mentioned to me: taking it with a grain of salt because I, alongside many of my friends looking for jobs, have been fed the “caring” and “chill” office environment countless times before and it definitely didn’t live up to the standard they stated.
My first day was very welcoming. I was greeted with a bagel and cream cheese (what I asked for when I was emailed regarding the kind of breakfast I would like) and was introduced to the main people I would be working with. Everyone made me feel so comfortable and I automatically felt at ease and was ready to work at Lawline for the rest of my summer. It wasn’t what I thought it would be: within just my first day I saw the five words Lawline lives by, in action. I didn’t feel less valuable just because I’m the youngest- something else that had worried me but I’d quickly come to find as a baseless worry. “Grow” was the one aspect I really wanted to feel as though I truly lived up to by the end of the summer and I feel proud to say I did grow. I remember taking it quite personally when I saw how many edits were being made to the articles I wrote. And it wasn’t until one of my last days in the office when I spoke to Lawline’s Lead Program Attorney, Angelica, and mentioned it briefly that I realized it was okay- perfectly normal in fact. Angelica told me that just because many edits are made, doesn’t take away from the fact that I am a strong writer- that anyone who writes articles at Lawline has several edits made to their drafts. This is definitely something I have grown in while here for the summer- something I never had to deal with while writing for the school newspaper or for English classes. Feeling as though I was an imperfect writer was the perfect thing to happen to me this summer- it showed me that no matter what, there is always room for improvement. I just want to give an extra special thank you to the Programs Team members who I worked with: Katherine Carelli, Angelica Cesario, and Sarah Mills. Thank you for taking the time out to not only review and edit my articles but for always being so open to questions and not making me feel as though I am incapable. I am grateful I was able to work alongside you all this summer.