Passing on job/networking opportunity? Forum

[mimi82]

I'm hoping someone can help me understand this.

The first happened recently. I'm an evening student at a DC law school and have worked within the federal gov't for years. And as such I've made some great contacts. So when visiting a previous coworker I found out that he was in the process of hiring about 5 paid interns for the office. The work is directly related to legal work and pays pretty good. I told a classmate who doesn't have a job but is an evening student who pretended to be interested and then waited a week to say she just decided she didn't want to work. I don't understand this. With this economy and with how many lawyers are out of work I would be all over this opportunity. The job is for students so the person would have flexibility of work hours. Plus they have the option to convert to a federal position if they want.

Okay the second situation happened a little over 2 years ago. While working in the office I spoke about above I met a lot of interns. I was 1 of 3 administrative assistants. There was one particular intern that told me about an office that he really wanted to work in within that agency but he never gets picked. I used to work in that office and was the assistant to the director. So I offered to get him an information interview. I knew that if he atleast got that then they would remember his name, along with someone referring him that they knew, it would help him to possibly get in. He pretended to be interested and then basically fluffed it off.
So I'm looking on linkedin and search for this intern because I knew he was supposed to graduate sometime soon. Well he's working at Target as a Team Leader.

For this guy I felt like because I was a secretary he didn't take me seriously. What ppl don't understand is that secretary's are the gatekeepers to the important ppl. You make good with the head guy's secretary then your more likely to get a meeting with him. And secretary's know eachother, its a network. If they don't like you they tell the boss about you and then most likely they won't bother letting you in. And at this office me and the director had really developed a great relationship. I knew exactly what he wanted w/o him having to say...it was done.

I know some really important folks within the DC government. Over the last 7years I made sure to create this network of folks. I don't tell people this, and I guess I don't look like someone who would have these contacts. I recently took a coworker with me the other day to do my annual 'visits.' (every x months I'll either do a in person visit or email to just say 'hi' so people don't forget about me when I need them...or they need me....networking) She was shocked....Folks really need to understand that you can't judge a book by its cover.

[azntwice]

Thanks for the post. Reminds us all to keep our noses out of the air. I think also a lot of law students may have just given up on legal jobs and that's why they didn't take the chance to follow up with you.

[mimi82]

Thanks for the post. Reminds us all to keep our noses out of the air. I think also a lot of law students may have just given up on legal jobs and that's why they didn't take the chance to follow up with you.

Yeah I understand that....but why go to law school if they aren't interested in working in the legal profession? The guy who is now working at Target with his pretty law degree really did have that nose in the air attitude. He wasn't obvious about it but his body language and tone really told us that. So much so that the office I met him in refuses to ever hire him as an attorney. Not because he didn't do good work but because they didn't like the arrogant attitude. Being humble gets you a very long way!!!

[lolwat]

No idea what's going on with either of them, really, but just taking a guess. For the evening student, the fact that she's an evening student suggests that she has other things going on with her life. It's also possible that while the job is related to legal work, it's just not what she's looking for. For the second guy, he could've just gotten disenchanted with informational interviews and networking. It's also possible that he just didn't know how to properly follow up with you on it.

[okinawa]

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[Anonymous User]

For the second guy, he could've just gotten disenchanted with informational interviews and networking. It's also possible that he just didn't know how to properly follow up with you on it.

I think it's this. There's only so much rejection one can handle before the depression gets to you. I'm about this close to giving up on my job search and looking for a non-legal, likely terrible, position. Being thick skinned and persistent is a virtue but not everyone is that strong.

[kwais]

ITT OP shocks the world with the news that some people are lazy

[mimi82]

It seems like you are upset that people didn't take you seriously enough when you were the all-powerful secretary; now that you have all of your "annual visits," you are shocked that people don't want to come along and be impressed with your many contacts. Maybe you are a really nice person, or maybe, judging from the not-so-subtle bragging in this thread, you are terribly impressed with yourself and all of your many contacts and your classmates would just rather not deal with that. I don't know. Either way, just worry about your career and your contacts, not policing what your classmates do.

LOL....wow your an idiot!!!

And yeah i am impressed that i've been fortunate to experience some great opportunities. I'm good at networking and i'm grateful to the ppl who taught me how to network and why its so important. And as such, I refuse to not share this with others, as ppl have done for me.

[mimi82]

For the second guy, he could've just gotten disenchanted with informational interviews and networking. It's also possible that he just didn't know how to properly follow up with you on it.

I think it's this. There's only so much rejection one can handle before the depression gets to you. I'm about this close to giving up on my job search and looking for a non-legal, likely terrible, position. Being thick skinned and persistent is a virtue but not everyone is that strong.

Yeah its terrible out there. Have you tried government jobs in dc? One tactic is to take whatever dumb job that will get you a security clearance. Even a non-paid internship but only if you can get a security clearance. Thats what i did years ago..i was broke and miserable for a bit but it was 100% worth it. 1st it increases your earning potential. 2nd it will open up great opportunities. Basically its sooo hard to get a security clearance, its expensive. So even if some1 doesn't have all of the qualifications its cheaper to hire some1 who has a clearance & just train them rather hiring the guy with all the qualifications but w/o the clearance. By doing that you can work for a federal contractor & make good money. I left my gov't job in 2009 making 50k...now I'm at 70k....but i'm looking for another job & i'm being offered around 80k.
Its just another strategy to look into.

[cheeseburger]

It seems like you are upset that people didn't take you seriously enough when you were the all-powerful secretary; now that you have all of your "annual visits," you are shocked that people don't want to come along and be impressed with your many contacts. Maybe you are a really nice person, or maybe, judging from the not-so-subtle bragging in this thread, you are terribly impressed with yourself and all of your many contacts and your classmates would just rather not deal with that. I don't know. Either way, just worry about your career and your contacts, not policing what your classmates do.

LOL....wow your an idiot!!!

And yeah i am impressed that i've been fortunate to experience some great opportunities. I'm good at networking and i'm grateful to the ppl who taught me how to network and why its so important. And as such, I refuse to not share this with others, as ppl have done for me.

an idiot is someone who scores a 149 on the lsat HTH