Below Median Job Search Thread Forum

[Anonymous User]

A place for below median students to discuss strategy, mass-mail, and commiserate. Feel free to post any callbacks or offers you get. Hopefully it will encourage others that all is not lost.

Gunners and showoffs need not post; we know you get callbacks, we promise.

If you are URM/ IP/ Have amazing work experience, say so

[Anonymous User]

i'll start. bm @ ccn: 2 screeners and 2 rejections; 59 mass mails so far... no cb and no job

[Anonymous User]

Below median at CCN. About 90 mass mails. 8 rejections. 0 screeners. 1 callback in my tertiary home market.

[Anonymous User]

Below median at Georgetown: 160 massmails-- 2 screeners in secondary markets where I have ties--

Second screener tomorrow and I have yet to hear back from the first one.

[Anonymous User]

At Median/Slightly below at ND - over 150 Mass Mails, 10 rejections, 2 straight to CB (1 reject from CB), 1 screener at V20 (no update yet).

Sitting on 18 screeners upcoming at OCI.

[Anonymous User]

below median at CCN last year. 300 mass mails + oci. 2 offers, V100

keep chugging guys

[Anonymous User]

At Median/Slightly below at ND - over 150 Mass Mails, 10 rejections, 2 straight to CB (1 reject from CB), 1 screener at V20 (no update yet).

Sitting on 18 screeners upcoming at OCI.

woah, that's great for your position. How did you pull that off?

[Anonymous User]

At Median/Slightly below at ND - over 150 Mass Mails, 10 rejections, 2 straight to CB (1 reject from CB), 1 screener at V20 (no update yet).

Sitting on 18 screeners upcoming at OCI.

woah, that's great for your position. How did you pull that off?

No idea. Another screener tmrw with a v50 which I would really like to land. Hope to make it through to CB with this one.

[Anonymous User]

Significantly below median at CCN (Between bottom quarter and bottom third) - 35-40 Mass Mails, 2 v100 offers (went straight to CB, both NYC), 1 CB next week

Good luck everyone

[Anonymous User]

At Median/Slightly below at ND - over 150 Mass Mails, 10 rejections, 2 straight to CB (1 reject from CB), 1 screener at V20 (no update yet).

Sitting on 18 screeners upcoming at OCI.

woah, that's great for your position. How did you pull that off?

No idea. Another screener tmrw with a v50 which I would really like to land. Hope to make it through to CB with this one.

Below median student here. Are you guys tailoring your cover letters in your mass mailings? I only sent out a handful of applications but having to tailor them is taking me some time. How much are you guys tailoring them if you are?

Im thinking about putting a statement about the firms commitment to diversity as my "tailoring" statement since almost all firms have some type of position on diversity since I am a first generation american, non-URM hispanic. I was hoping if anyone could give me some advice on whether this is a good idea.

" I am particularly interested in (Insert Firm Name) because of your commitment to diversity. as a first generation hispanic american working in your firm would be" ..... awesome for various reasons.

[Anonymous User]

Below median at MVP. Sent out 25 mass mails to Chicago firms, my target market. No response yet. I assume they're busy with actual OCI at this point. I was told to not mass mail firms that will be at OCI until OCI is over, in hopes that I'll make a good impression at some kind of impromptu meeting in the hospitality suite. About to fire off a dozen apps to home-market firms. Will have plenty of time to fire off more apps during OCI because I don't have many interviews.

[Anonymous User]

At Median/Slightly below at ND - over 150 Mass Mails, 10 rejections, 2 straight to CB (1 reject from CB), 1 screener at V20 (no update yet).

Sitting on 18 screeners upcoming at OCI.

woah, that's great for your position. How did you pull that off?

No idea. Another screener tmrw with a v50 which I would really like to land. Hope to make it through to CB with this one.

Below median student here. Are you guys tailoring your cover letters in your mass mailings? I only sent out a handful of applications but having to tailor them is taking me some time. How much are you guys tailoring them if you are?

Im thinking about putting a statement about the firms commitment to diversity as my "tailoring" statement since almost all firms have some type of position on diversity since I am a first generation american, non-URM hispanic. I was hoping if anyone could give me some advice on whether this is a good idea.

" I am particularly interested in (Insert Firm Name) because of your commitment to diversity. as a first generation hispanic american working in your firm would be" ..... awesome for various reasons.

I always tailor it to location (state my ties) and the particular practice in the firm (for instance if M&A is the largest group of my interest i state that, or if the HP is w/in a group i'm interested in then i state that).

Each CL is custom for me. Takes a long time, not sure if it's worth it, frankly unlikely they're ever read, but still do it b/c i do.

[Anonymous User]

At Median/Slightly below at ND - over 150 Mass Mails, 10 rejections, 2 straight to CB (1 reject from CB), 1 screener at V20 (no update yet).

Sitting on 18 screeners upcoming at OCI.

woah, that's great for your position. How did you pull that off?

No idea. Another screener tmrw with a v50 which I would really like to land. Hope to make it through to CB with this one.

Below median student here. Are you guys tailoring your cover letters in your mass mailings? I only sent out a handful of applications but having to tailor them is taking me some time. How much are you guys tailoring them if you are?

Im thinking about putting a statement about the firms commitment to diversity as my "tailoring" statement since almost all firms have some type of position on diversity since I am a first generation american, non-URM hispanic. I was hoping if anyone could give me some advice on whether this is a good idea.

" I am particularly interested in (Insert Firm Name) because of your commitment to diversity. as a first generation hispanic american working in your firm would be" ..... awesome for various reasons.

I'm tailoring the cover letters to an extent. Really, the customization is a based on two or three variables- practice area, geography, and whether I've networked with the firm.

For example, if it's for an office that's known for regulatory practice (i.e. a ton of the DC offices) I'll mention that, if it's an office that does a lot of litigation, I'll throw that in and talk about my interest in X practice area. Geography... "I have XYZ connections to Market A, and I want to start my career there." And finally "I met Partner A over the summer at a blah blah blah and he had a lot of good things to say about your firm."

Do I think it is particularly helpful? Maybe. There are hundreds of apps coming in through their system so I assume they're looking for a reason to ding people. If it looks like a complete form letter, it might go straight in the trash unless there is some other outstanding quality to the application like great WE etc...

[Anonymous User]

Anon who asked about tailoring:

I have a cover letter for each geographic area but I left a few sentences off to say why I want the firm specifically. But I feel that the sentences I write are not specific enough to indicate that I actually did research.


With OCI so close, and with me not going over interview prep, I going with a generic statement and bringing up researched material in the interview

[Anonymous User]

Also,

Does anyone have any tips on how to tailor cover letters to show why that firm specifically, and what to look for on the firms webpage in order to show that you looked them up. Often times all I can find is the fact that some of their attorneys were picked as Super Lawyers.


Any ideas would be great

[Druid]

Below median at MVP. Sent out 25 mass mails to Chicago firms, my target market. No response yet. I assume they're busy with actual OCI at this point. I was told to not mass mail firms that will be at OCI until OCI is over, in hopes that I'll make a good impression at some kind of impromptu meeting in the hospitality suite. About to fire off a dozen apps to home-market firms. Will have plenty of time to fire off more apps during OCI because I don't have many interviews.

Chicago is hard to break even for Chicago and Northwestern students. Mass mail NY now.

[Anonymous User]

Just above bottom third at a T20

I've hustled my ass off talking to every attorney in town who works in a niche practice area I'm interested in. I have ten years of non-legal WE in this area. There are 7 firms in town that pay market or close to it. It's a secondary, or maybe tertiary market, so no one pays $160k here, but COL is silly low, so SOL is higher than elsewhere for the salaries offered here. I've lived here my whole life, and will be returning to this area come hell or high water, which I stress during the "Why [this market]?" part of the interview, or when meeting attorneys during informational interviews.

Results so far:

1 callback interview completed so far - HR guy says they won't be making any offers until just after OCI. I felt great about it walking out of there, but I'll find out if that means anything in a few weeks.

3 OCI screeners scheduled, 2 of which pay at the top of the local market. The other one is at 80k, and would be an acceptable outcome, since I'll come out of school with very little debt.

1 firm paying market is an open question right now, because I'm shooting for a job in a branch office that they've never hired anyone out of law school for. There's a partner in their main office going to bat for me trying to make it happen though.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about things right now, but that could certainly change if I strike out.

[Anonymous User]

Bottom of class top 10. Over a year out since graduation (May 13). No job. Recent interview but no word from firm.

[Anonymous User]

Solidly Below Median at T14

I havent had the chance to mass mail firms yet since I have been at juggling multiple projects at work this summer. Did I miss the Mass Mail train? Or did I not miss out too much if I start sending out apps now?


I have 19 screeners at OCI this year, but with my gpa Im not optimistic that I will get anything. I am interviewing with firms that are the least selective, but Im not certain that they would even consider me.



Random Question: Im a non-urm hispanic, and I wonder if maybe firms would dig deep for me to improve their diversity numbers, but I have heard that is not usually the case. Any body know of a bump for diverse students?

[timmyd]

The bump for diversity students usually is seen when they have the numbers already or are borderline from what I have read on here. URM with decent/good numbers would theoretically outperform the white guy with the same numbers assuming decent interviewing. I dont know how much help it will be if you are like bottom 25%, I mean they still have to have some assurance of your competence.

[Druid]

Solidly Below Median at T14

I havent had the chance to mass mail firms yet since I have been at juggling multiple projects at work this summer. Did I miss the Mass Mail train? Or did I not miss out too much if I start sending out apps now?


I have 19 screeners at OCI this year, but with my gpa Im not optimistic that I will get anything. I am interviewing with firms that are the least selective, but Im not certain that they would even consider me.



Random Question: Im a non-urm hispanic, and I wonder if maybe firms would dig deep for me to improve their diversity numbers, but I have heard that is not usually the case. Any body know of a bump for diverse students?

You're late. Get on it now.

[Mal Reynolds]

Solidly Below Median at T14

I havent had the chance to mass mail firms yet since I have been at juggling multiple projects at work this summer. Did I miss the Mass Mail train? Or did I not miss out too much if I start sending out apps now?

Bro are you serious.

[Anonymous User]

Solidly Below Median at T14

I havent had the chance to mass mail firms yet since I have been at juggling multiple projects at work this summer. Did I miss the Mass Mail train? Or did I not miss out too much if I start sending out apps now?

Bro are you serious.

I guess im screwed then

[JCougar]

Below median at MVP. Sent out 25 mass mails to Chicago firms, my target market. No response yet. I assume they're busy with actual OCI at this point. I was told to not mass mail firms that will be at OCI until OCI is over, in hopes that I'll make a good impression at some kind of impromptu meeting in the hospitality suite. About to fire off a dozen apps to home-market firms. Will have plenty of time to fire off more apps during OCI because I don't have many interviews.

Chicago is hard to break even for Chicago and Northwestern students. Mass mail NY now.

This. Do not rely solely on Chicago.

[Anonymous User]

So, what if your school doesn't give out a true median and/or class rank?

I'm know I'm below median at 3.26, and the average grade given out being a 3.3 B+, but IDK how much grade inflation there is at my school or even my entering class of 2016. If I'm at the 47th percentile, I'm not as bad off as if I'm in the bottom third of a grade-inflated bunch.