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

[3|ink]

2015 grad here and I think I finally may have snagged something. I applied to a postgraduate intern position with a small office of a large international firm about a month ago. After going through a couple of interviews, I have an appointment for a call with the partner who is heading up the office (I interviewed with him already). I know that offers typically come via phone, and I doubt they would schedule a time to call just to tell me I wasn't getting the job, so I am starting to get excited! Since this office does not participate in the firm's usual recruiting process I have no idea what the compensation would be, but unless it is something absolutely terrible I am definitely going to take it.

Grats

[Anonymous User]

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[zot1]

When you know the decision making process for a position can take long, how do you get back to a recruiter's response to your restatement of interest that they haven't made a decision yet? Thanks?

Just email and say that?

I did that with the job I have now. I'll admit it was risky because you could annoy them it you may seem too desperate. Thankfully it worked out for me. The response I got was something along the lines of thanks for letting me know, still interviewing, we will be in touch.

[Anonymous User]

Accepted an associate attorney position at a firm here in D.C. this week.

I went to law school out of state and took/passed the July '15 bar. After 5-6 months of striking out (not even an interview), I randomly got 3 calls for interviews a few weeks ago. Ended up with 2 offers and accepted one of them the other day.

To those still searching (particularly those having difficulty in tough/saturated markets like D.C.) there's hope.

[Anonymous User]

Accepted an associate attorney position at a firm here in D.C. this week.

I went to law school out of state and took/passed the July '15 bar. After 5-6 months of striking out (not even an interview), I randomly got 3 calls for interviews a few weeks ago. Ended up with 2 offers and accepted one of them the other day.

To those still searching (particularly those having difficulty in tough/saturated markets like D.C.) there's hope.

which practice area and where were you working before this?

[Anonymous User]

Accepted an associate attorney position at a firm here in D.C. this week.

I went to law school out of state and took/passed the July '15 bar. After 5-6 months of striking out (not even an interview), I randomly got 3 calls for interviews a few weeks ago. Ended up with 2 offers and accepted one of them the other day.

To those still searching (particularly those having difficulty in tough/saturated markets like D.C.) there's hope.

which practice area and where were you working before this?

Real Estate/Real Estate Finance Law

I wasn't really working before this. Aside from a few hours a week of remote law clerk/legal research work for a solo practitioner, I spent most of my time looking for and applying to jobs in the area.

[Prime12]

Any idea what would be a good salary to ask for a junior transactional in-house counsel position of a large shipping company? I am woefully underqualified (they are asking 3+ yrs experience; I have zero transactional experience and only have 4+ months in a shitlaw personal injury firm) but speak two foreign languages they need.

I never thought I'd hear back from them but I did so I don't want to blow this up. Part of me wants to just throw them a really low $ so I can leave my miserable shitlaw job. $50k? $65k?

[TheFutureLawyer]

x

[drs36]

Any idea what would be a good salary to ask for a junior transactional in-house counsel position of a large shipping company? I am woefully underqualified (they are asking 3+ yrs experience; I have zero transactional experience and only have 4+ months in a shitlaw personal injury firm) but speak two foreign languages they need.

I never thought I'd hear back from them but I did so I don't want to blow this up. Part of me wants to just throw them a really low $ so I can leave my miserable shitlaw job. $50k? $65k?

Large market or smaller (think Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Indy, Denver, etc.)? You could be selling yourself short.

[Prime12]

Just outside NYC.

[EvelynS]

Does anyone have any knowledge/ information on "career associate"/"staff associate" jobs? Is it possible to move up from those positions? What are the career prospects for these positions?

[EZ as AsDf]

2015 grad. Licensed attorney. I've had 4 interviews since getting licensed, and still nothing.

I feel so hopeless right now. I feel a combination of envy and anger towards my classmates who found full-time jobs. They're posting (on social media) pictures of themselves out and about at "young professionals" events. Others posted about buying their first home, new car, etc.

Every time someone asks me, "hey, where you working these days" or "hey, how much you making these days," I just get even more irritated. The worst experience thus far was a conversation I had with a former acquaintance from high school--who works as an events coordinator at a legal nonprofit--shamed me for not yet having a full-time job and spoke about how other people she knew that graduated from law school went to big law firms. She then went on to list the names of those law firms. And according to her, the past 2 years of working in the "legal field" gave her "ample" experience with attorneys. To that end, again according to her, she could give me tips on how to improve my resume. I politely declined.

Listen world, I'm trying the best I can. I want to be gainfully employed. I want to be a practicing attorney.

Good for you for taking the high road. I don't think I would have been polite.

You'll get there OP. 4 interviews since being licensed is great, and shows that you are a worthwhile candidate. Something will click eventually.

I agree. You should feel great knowing that you have been in the top tier of applicants at least 4 times.

[drs36]

Just outside NYC.

I hate the salary question. But knowing just outside NYC with a large company $50-65K seems like you're short changing yourself. They asked for 3+years experience, so you'd think they're prepared to pay 100k+. Hopefully someone else has a better strategy for approaching this question.

[Anonymous User]

I'm working in an entry-level in-house position for an international asset management company in a non-large market (definitely not NYC, Chicago, etc.), and my offer was for $80,000. But, I will say the that we have about 10 lawyers, so also do consider the size of the legal team.

[Anonymous User]

2015 grad here and I think I finally may have snagged something. I applied to a postgraduate intern position with a small office of a large international firm about a month ago. After going through a couple of interviews, I have an appointment for a call with the partner who is heading up the office (I interviewed with him already). I know that offers typically come via phone, and I doubt they would schedule a time to call just to tell me I wasn't getting the job, so I am starting to get excited! Since this office does not participate in the firm's usual recruiting process I have no idea what the compensation would be, but unless it is something absolutely terrible I am definitely going to take it.

Grats

Same anon with an update: it wasn't an offer. Some logistical issues came up that may be insurmountable, so I've been put in a holding pattern. Man, this hurts.

[TheFutureLawyer]

x

[3|ink]

I'm kinda stressed out. I Had two good interviews last week, but I haven't heard back from either yet. Not sure when I should start panicking.

[Anonymous User]

just struck out with a v10 and another market-paying firm in the same week. Both post-cb. As a 2015 grad. This is just getting more and more fun every month that goes by

[TheFutureLawyer]

x

[Anonymous User]

Question re: reaching out to a partner: I interviewed with a firm at the beginning of December and haven't heard anything. I have done the typical update and follow up with the recruiter. During the interview, a partner gave me some professional advice about being a young lawyer and what to do in your first few months. The advice was unique enough that it stood out to me and I remembered it and most of that conversation. Would it be super weird/painfully transparent at this point to email him and thank him for the advice? I have honestly had that conversation on my mind and it has been really beneficial, buuuuut I don't want to come off as a brown nose-r. Or like I am using it as a pretense to push them into making a decision.

[Anonymous User]

Got a call on Tuesday from a firm I applied to in December. The HR person asked if I was still interested in the position. I said yes. She said she'd get back to me if we could schedule a meeting.

Today I got a rejection letter from the firm. It is dated Tuesday.

[BVest]

Got a call on Tuesday from a firm I applied to in December. The HR person asked if I was still interested in the position. I said yes. She said she'd get back to me if we could schedule a meeting.

Today I got a rejection letter from the firm. It is dated Tuesday.

I would call HR person. Possible they prepared letters to reject those not in contention and you got included somehow. Also possible she screwed up in calling you. What I'm saying is there's a screw-up one way or another, and you might as well find out which kind of screw up it was.

[Anonymous User]

Had an interview today with a top Pl firm that felt like it went really well. Hopefully I will be out of the vale soon!

[Anonymous User]

So I was laid off yesterday. They let me go because I was the last hire and they didn't have enough work to keep me at the firm. I'm in a secondary market, and I had been at this boutique litigation firm for almost a year. They were really nice and said I provided great work product and that there wasn't anything I could do since this was about getting enough work from clients. They even gave me a 1-month severance with health insurance.

However, it still really hurts. I've been out of law school for 3 years now. While I've had some decent gigs compared to a good deal of my classmates, having to start over again this suddenly when I thought things were getting figured out is really painful. Luckily I have some savings and can make it for 6 months if necessary, but god damn it.

[Anonymous User]

For V50 NYC firms, how long after cb can an offer take? 3L here