The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls) Forum

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andythefir

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by andythefir » Sun Sep 03, 2017 12:45 am

New Mexico's 5th, 6th, 12th, and 13th DAs are all hiring.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Sep 05, 2017 2:23 pm

Hey guys I'm someone who will be doing the 3L OCI 2018 and I understand there is a great amount of difficulty and some would say next to impossible.

That being said people who have been successful (those who got offers and also those of you who got callbacks) would you mind sharing your story a little bit?

Perhaps factors such as which law school (vague ranking such as t10, t20 etc is fine), your GPA (if you don't mind or a range if you prefer), and perhaps why you believe you didn't get it through 2L OCI?

I'm not seeking to shame or make anyone feel bad I just want stories to have an idea of "those who made it why were they originally there and how did they do it"

Thank you guys for your time

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Mullens

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Mullens » Tue Sep 05, 2017 5:37 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Hey guys I'm someone who will be doing the 3L OCI 2018 and I understand there is a great amount of difficulty and some would say next to impossible.

That being said people who have been successful (those who got offers and also those of you who got callbacks) would you mind sharing your story a little bit?

Perhaps factors such as which law school (vague ranking such as t10, t20 etc is fine), your GPA (if you don't mind or a range if you prefer), and perhaps why you believe you didn't get it through 2L OCI?

I'm not seeking to shame or make anyone feel bad I just want stories to have an idea of "those who made it why were they originally there and how did they do it"

Thank you guys for your time
Please refer to the thread title. There are threads about 3L OCI elsewhere on the site.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by gregfootball2001 » Fri Sep 08, 2017 10:06 am

Haven't read back, so hopefully this isn't a repost, but I ran across this posting today for a staff attorney at King and Spalding in LA and thought of y'all.

Positions: 1 | Years of Experience: 1
Type of Experience: King & Spalding seeks an entry-level staff attorney for its growing litigation practice groups in Los Angeles. Qualified candidates will have strong academic credentials; excellent writing, research, analytical, and communication skills; and an eagerness to work hard as part of a team. May and December 2016 law school graduates will be considered, though preference will be given to candidates already barred in California. The staff attorney will provide litigation support, primarily in reviewing and summarizing case materials and drafting discovery responses and motions. To apply, please submit the online application form by clicking the Apply Online link above and attach a resume, law school transcript, writing sample, and cover letter. Applicants should indicate their earliest start date in the cover letter. When completing the online application, select “Los Angeles” as the office, “Business Litigation” as the department, and “Staff Attorney” as the position. No search firm submissions will be accepted.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 08, 2017 2:21 pm

Sanford Heisler is hiring for its Nashville office (1 year of experience required)
https://sanfordheisler.com/associate-at ... nashville/

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 11, 2017 10:07 am

Out of the Vale. Landed a nice midlaw job in NYC. I have hope for you all! Keep grinding.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 11, 2017 10:37 am

Anonymous User wrote:Out of the Vale. Landed a nice midlaw job in NYC. I have hope for you all! Keep grinding.
How/where do you look for midlaw jobs? Congrats!!!

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 11, 2017 1:08 pm

How is the search going for you who are looking at non-bar-required jobs? (whether out of dislike for law now or for some other reason)

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 11, 2017 1:24 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Out of the Vale. Landed a nice midlaw job in NYC. I have hope for you all! Keep grinding.
How/where do you look for midlaw jobs? Congrats!!!
Second this. Can we pm you?

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Hellosunflowers79 » Mon Sep 11, 2017 1:47 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Out of the Vale. Landed a nice midlaw job in NYC. I have hope for you all! Keep grinding.
How/where do you look for midlaw jobs? Congrats!!!
Second this. Can we pm you?
+1

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Manteca

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Manteca » Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:50 pm

I'm the poster above. Feel free.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Danger Zone » Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:54 pm

Manteca wrote:I'm the poster above. Feel free.
Congrats man!
Last edited by Danger Zone on Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by boblawlawblog » Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:27 pm

Officially made it out of the Vale today. Just landed a fed.dist.clerkship. Couldn't be happier. Persistence and defiance of the naysayers is the key. Also, don't be afraid to be bold enough to stand out from a pile of resumes.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Sep 16, 2017 9:03 pm

boblawlawblog wrote:Officially made it out of the Vale today. Just landed a fed.dist.clerkship. Couldn't be happier. Persistence and defiance of the naysayers is the key. Also, don't be afraid to be bold enough to stand out from a pile of resumes.
Congrats! How'd that work out?

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by 3|ink » Mon Sep 18, 2017 1:16 am

boblawlawblog wrote:Officially made it out of the Vale today. Just landed a fed.dist.clerkship. Couldn't be happier. Persistence and defiance of the naysayers is the key. Also, don't be afraid to be bold enough to stand out from a pile of resumes.
Grats man.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by FamilyLawEsq » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:57 pm

Positions available (4) – Staff Attorney; Location – Philadelphia Starting Salary: entry level $64,820 (CPS CL27/25) Higher classification levels may be available for attorneys with recent and relevant post-graduate legal work experience. Salary step increases are available upon successful completion of applicable requirements.

Application Closing Date – Monday, October 9, 2017

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT Candidates must be United States citizens, with limited exceptions. Positions with the United States Courts are excepted service appointments that are “at will” and can be terminated with or without cause by the Court. Employee appointments are provisional and contingent upon the satisfactory completion of a background investigation. Direct deposit of pay is required.

The Federal Judiciary recognizes the importance and value of diversity in its workforce. Applicants from diverse groups and backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is committed to equal opportunity for all applicants.

For information and application see: http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/vacancy-announcements for details.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by kykiske » Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:18 am

boblawlawblog wrote:Officially made it out of the Vale today. Just landed a fed.dist.clerkship. Couldn't be happier. Persistence and defiance of the naysayers is the key. Also, don't be afraid to be bold enough to stand out from a pile of resumes.
This is awesome :) Very happy for you. Something very similar happened to my close friends from law school. He had really strong credentials, but could never land a full time job out of the gate. He then snagged an awesome federal district court clerk position, almost out of luck (as he would describe it).

Dude is now at one of the big firms in my market.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer and deserving guy.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 25, 2017 4:55 pm

How y'all doing?

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 25, 2017 11:45 pm

Hey guys,

I just got out of the vale a week ago and I wanted to post this for those who are reading through this thread and felt the same mixture of depression and hopelessness that I felt when I read through this thread. I know I'm going to offend some people but I think it's important that it gets out.

I was in the worst possible place at the start of my 3L yearS I was no offered from my summer firm and my grades were in the bottom 25th percentile of my class. Poor with no family connections. and I'm K-JD. I ended up with four offers from V50 law firms, two offers from inhouse positions paying over 150k, and an offer from McKinsey which I ended up accepting. And the offers/interviews keep coming in. All of these offers were in my target market or NYC. What I learned in the past month is that this thread is incredibly inaccurate and is based on extremely extremely rare anomalies. There is no reason to think you will be like one of the few people here who graduate from a top law school and end up unemployed. I would go so far as to say that it is literally impossible to graduate from a top law school unemployed as long as you have three things:

1) a compelling way of selling yourself through interviews (#1 priority) and cover letters and resumes

2) the ability to change your practice area interest per firm and per location.

3) the motivation to mass mail literally every firm and apply to every job that comes across your computer screen.

There is no reason to think that the people in this thread will be you. They are anomalies for a reason. Work on your resume/CL/ and most importantly your interview skills and you will be fine before you graduate.

Don't take a DA job or clerkship or contract lawyer job because you think it's your only option. It's not. If you went to a T14 there is no reason you can't get a firm job and make all the money you thought you'd be making when you graduated. This goes for oci and 3L interviewing. I can't promise you it'll be in the market that you want but I can promise you that if you know how to sell yourself, 180k is well within reach.

I know what you're thinking and it's probably that your school has some people who report being unemployed and that this person could be you but those people don't follow the three points I outlined above. They are either terrible at interviewing and refuse to improve or don't have the documents or story that would lead to an interview.

Also when it comes to some other things I've read on this thread. This is how I approached it and it helped me keep a small portion of my sanity:

1) when people ask where you're headed to, just lie. Say that you're still thinking about it but that you have offers at (insert firm you did an interview with) that you're debating. It'll make your conversation less awkward.

2) you definitely should make your career advisors your best friends and get them to sell you to firms.

3) don't apply to random Midwestern da offices unless you actually want to do it.

4) stop reading this thread. It's poisonous and incredibly useless. Instead, mass mail.

Dm me for questions or if you want some help. I'd be more than happy to share

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Tue Sep 26, 2017 6:29 am

Your positive results are very heartening and I appreciate your desire to be encouraging about outcomes but there is absolutely no reason you need to come to this thread and shit on people who are struggling. The point of this thread is support for those who need it. Your need to separate yourself from the people whose position and feelings you admit you shared is not at all supportive. There are lots of reasons why people end up in the Vale, and even where some of those reasons are things people need to/can improve (for ex interviewing skills), that doesn't make actually being in the Vale any easier. You blaming people for not being employed doesn't make this any easier. There is nothing poisonous about having a thread where people who are struggling with not getting the typical top law school outcomes can commiserate with people in the same situation. Telling those people they're failures is way more poisonous.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Sep 26, 2017 7:22 am

My intention wasn't to shit on people and I'm sorry if it came across that way. My intention was to assure the large population of lurkers out there that these stories are atypical and that they aren't hopeless. Reading this thread made me borderline syicidal when I was no-offered. And I don't think anyone in this thread has a problem that can't be fixed. It's just a matter of recognizing that one is not doomed to fail if they are dealt a certain set of circumstances. Having that mentality of being in a "vale" will subconsciously affect how you portray yourself to employers. I know it did for me until someone took a chance in me and I got that confidence back

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Tue Sep 26, 2017 7:43 am

But no one has claimed that the people posting here are "typical." Part of the whole point of the thread was to give people who *aren't* having "typical" outcomes a place to share stories. And I don't think that people see themselves as being in a "Vale" because this thread exists, but that this thread exists because of the hopelessness people struggling with the job search already feel. This thread didn't create that, just gives people a place to share it.

Like it's great to say, "hey, I got out of the Vale, I was no-offered, here's what I did to get out of it [though I'm not sure your outcome is available to people outside the T14, who also post here], I had more opportunities than I thought I would and so others may, too." Even "these are the things that helped me a lot so if you can make sure you work on those it will help" is great. It's just the "and you don't have to be like the people in this thread who've clearly done something wrong" that's really discouraging.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by ladybug1989 » Tue Sep 26, 2017 2:34 pm

.
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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by nickadew » Tue Sep 26, 2017 3:28 pm

Anonymous User wrote:My intention wasn't to shit on people and I'm sorry if it came across that way. My intention was to assure the large population of lurkers out there that these stories are atypical and that they aren't hopeless. Reading this thread made me borderline syicidal when I was no-offered. And I don't think anyone in this thread has a problem that can't be fixed. It's just a matter of recognizing that one is not doomed to fail if they are dealt a certain set of circumstances. Having that mentality of being in a "vale" will subconsciously affect how you portray yourself to employers. I know it did for me until someone took a chance in me and I got that confidence back
Congrats on the good outcome! Can you DM me too?

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Palli4222 » Tue Sep 26, 2017 6:38 pm

Hi all,

I am a recent member of the vale and wanted to introduce myself! Current 3L at T25, T25% class, LR... etc. Recently got no-offered by my mid law summer firm which has a history of no-offering. I knew this was a possibility before my summer, but getting no-offered freaking hurts. Pretty down right now. Getting no-offered combined with my failure at OCI (~25 Screeners, 3CBs, 1o) has me really doubting myself. I start to doubt every little thing i'm doing, but then realize I'll drive myself crazy doing this, but its hard not to have those thoughts pop up. Been working on my interviewing skills doing mock interviews, getting feedback, but still keep getting rejected the past few weeks. Not sure what it is, I've been working on my interviewing and getting some good feedback, I'm pretty convinced I just have a hateable/punchable face- although my gf might say otherwise, but she's paid to say that.
But shit is really depressing seeing everyone else, esp. close friends with great jobs after school. I've just been drinking and feeling bad for myself. I would appreciate any guidance on what to do from here. Any help would be appreciated! I'm willing to do what it takes and put a shit ton of effort in to get a good job, I just need some guidance on how to go about this. Do I mass mail? Apply to postings on simplicity?

Thank you fellow vale members/those who have escaped from the vale.

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