federal clerk needs job advice Forum

[Anonymous User]

Graduated magna from a T30 in 2009. About to finish a one year term clerking for a federal judge in flyover country. Have reached out to every large and mid sized firm in the region of the country I want to work in. No luck. Advice?

[AsylumPB]

Start looking at the firms that you don't want to work at.

[SaintClarence27]

Graduated magna from a T30 in 2009. About to finish a one year term clerking for a federal judge in flyover country. Have reached out to every large and mid sized firm in the region of the country I want to work in. No luck. Advice?

Move up the clerkship ladder?

[Anonymous User]

AsylumPB: That would mean looking in other regions of the country. Not prepared to do that. I've papered every large and mid-sized firm within 300 miles of where I want to end up.

SaintClarence27: What? If you meant "keep on clerking," OSCAR hiring for 2010 ended eight months ago.

[Anonymous User]

Start getting desperate. I say this with no disrespect, but you need to stop thinking you're entitled to anything b/c of your credentials...ITE magna at T30 w/1 year clerkship in flyover country is not good enough (there are T14 magnas finishing their clerkships without BigLaw lined up). As the above poster said, start looking at big and mid-sized firms you don't want to work at, in geographic areas you don't want to work in. Also hit up any government (including small town DA and PD offices) or other non-profit orgs. As a last resort, start looking at small firms, perhaps even volunteer gigs. Then it's the end of the road for you - all that remains is doc review for $10/hr or killself - and if I exhausted all my other options, killself is the one I'd pick.

[dood]

...

[dempsey]

why all the anonymous users?

[nylaw23]

Are there any decent jobs in fly over country? Have you talked to your judge about your current job search? Maybe he has connections that he can help you with. I am going to be applying to clerkships and worry that clerking in the middle of nowhere might not be that attractive to employers. But maybe everyone is suffering equally ITE

[Dick Whitman]

Go hide in the government for a couple of years (in DC if need be).

[bk1]

why all the anonymous users?

Cause they're revealing secret job-related info.

[Anonymous User]

Start getting desperate. I say this with no disrespect, but you need to stop thinking you're entitled to anything b/c of your credentials...ITE magna at T30 w/1 year clerkship in flyover country is not good enough (there are T14 magnas finishing their clerkships without BigLaw lined up). As the above poster said, start looking at big and mid-sized firms you don't want to work at, in geographic areas you don't want to work in. Also hit up any government (including small town DA and PD offices) or other non-profit orgs. As a last resort, start looking at small firms, perhaps even volunteer gigs. Then it's the end of the road for you - all that remains is doc review for $10/hr or killself - and if I exhausted all my other options, killself is the one I'd pick.

I am far from feeling entitled. If anything, I have felt very humbled in the past year or two as I saw law school friends deferred and other clerks struggle to find positions. And when I refer to mid-size firms, I mean anything with more than a half dozen attorneys. I haven't started reaching out to <5 attorney shops but maybe that is what I need to start doing. As for other geographic areas, I appreciate the advice and maybe there is some diamond in the rough in another region, but as part of the humbling I have undergone these past couple years, I have realized being close to those important to me means more than chasing vaporous opportunities in the name of professional ambition.

Maybe I am just venting. I went to a decent - but certainly not great - school on a partial scholarship, got the grades, did the law review thing, clerked for a federal judge... and now? Even ITE, I didn't anticipate a question-mark at the end of that sentence.

[PoliticalJunkie]

Credentials are meaningless without a smart game plan to attain the job you want. Jobs don't come flying to you just because you did well academically and you are clerking. A smart, well-managed game plan is what gets you the job.

[thesealocust]

edit

[romothesavior]

1) Talk to your judge. He is a federal judge for Christ's sake. He's got to know people, and I'm sure he doesn't want a former clerk to be dining at the local soup kitchen.
2) Expand your job search (I can't feel sorry for you if you're being narrow in your job search). Look in other areas and maybe consider small firms or government jobs.
3) ???
4) Profit

***BUT WAIT!!!! ALTERNATIVE ENDING!!!***

2) Remain stubborn
3) ???
4) Troll JDU

[Anonymous User]

PoliticalJunkie, romothesavior: Are you guys speaking from experience or just spouting untested confidence? If its the latter, I don't need to hear it. And I'm not trolling. Far from it, I posted for some creative suggestions, not a chorus of "meet people and expand your search." If you guys can't understand needing to live in a geographic area of the country, I feel sorry for you because you apparently don't have any strong personal ties.

Thanks to those who offered serious advice. I'm out.

[romothesavior]

PoliticalJunkie, romothesavior: Are you guys speaking from experience or just spouting untested confidence? If its the latter, I don't need to hear it. And I'm not trolling. Far from it, I posted for some creative suggestions, not a chorus of "meet people and expand your search." If you guys can't understand needing to live in a geographic area of the country, I feel sorry for you because you apparently don't have any strong personal ties.

Thanks to those who offered serious advice. I'm out.

I was offering advice, and its not untested confidence (or any sort of confidence). I'm just saying that if you haven't had luck with private firms, maybe government work or even a firm in another region would be something to look into. Sorry if people are being hostile, it just doesn't sound like you've exhausted all options.

And have you discussed your job search with your judge? You should do that and see what he says.

[USAIRS]

PoliticalJunkie, romothesavior: Are you guys speaking from experience or just spouting untested confidence? If its the latter, I don't need to hear it. And I'm not trolling. Far from it, I posted for some creative suggestions, not a chorus of "meet people and expand your search." If you guys can't understand needing to live in a geographic area of the country, I feel sorry for you because you apparently don't have any strong personal ties.

Thanks to those who offered serious advice. I'm out.

OP, if you want, you can PM me. I'm not a 0L/law student, and I have at least seen others do the clerkship-jobsearch. For what its worth, and for everyone's information here, that period you all look back on-when everyone with a good resume got a good job with ease-was the anomaly. It was like that in maybe 2006 and 2007 at complete overinflation of the economy. Even then, a clerkship plus a top degree got you one market-paying job offer if you just randomly sent out resumes. If you go back as little as 5 years, there were certainly people with all their ducks in a row who struggled to get a good job, clerking in non-flyover included.

[ggocat]

PoliticalJunkie, romothesavior: Are you guys speaking from experience or just spouting untested confidence? If its the latter, I don't need to hear it. And I'm not trolling. Far from it, I posted for some creative suggestions, not a chorus of "meet people and expand your search." If you guys can't understand needing to live in a geographic area of the country, I feel sorry for you because you apparently don't have any strong personal ties.

Thanks to those who offered serious advice. I'm out.

OP, if you want, you can PM me. I'm not a 0L/law student, and I have at least seen others do the clerkship-jobsearch. For what its worth, and for everyone's information here, that period you all look back on-when everyone with a good resume got a good job with ease-was the anomaly. It was like that in maybe 2006 and 2007 at complete overinflation of the economy. Even then, a clerkship plus a top degree got you one market-paying job offer if you just randomly sent out resumes. If you go back as little as 5 years, there were certainly people with all their ducks in a row who struggled to get a good job, clerking in non-flyover included.

Depressing post is depressing.

[ggocat]

SaintClarence27: What? If you meant "keep on clerking," OSCAR hiring for 2010 ended eight months ago.

To be fair, you realize you're posting on TLS, right?

[Sauer Grapes]

OP, what specific flyover area are you concentrating on? I ask because I am curious for my own reasons. Feel free to PM me.