Clerkship Interview Information Gathering Forum

(Seek and share information about clerkship applications, clerkship hiring timelines, and post-clerkship employment opportunities)
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Foodz

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Clerkship Interview Information Gathering

Post by Foodz » Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:11 pm

Hi,

I just got my first district court clerkship interview. No alumni from my school have clerked for this judge before, so I was wondering if it was weird to reach out to those who list law clerk for the judge on LinkedIn in order to ask about the interview process? There are not many of these as well, but figured it would be worth a shot? I have scheduled a time but have no clue what the format will be like. If anyone has any other tips on gathering information prior to my interview I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

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Re: Clerkship Interview Information Gathering

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Nov 20, 2018 3:24 pm

First of all, congratulations, that's very exciting. I cold emailed past clerks for every judge that I interviewed with (5 total), the vast majority of whom were not alums of my law school. I would say that about 80% of people responded and offered to speak over the phone. I found this to be extremely helpful, both in terms of making sure the position would be a good fit and in terms of preparing for the interview. Most people are friendly, willing to help, and excited to talk about their clerkship. It should go without saying that these emails need to be short, courteous, and framed appropriately--I'm a student at X law school, was invited to interview with Judge X, was wondering if you would be willing to speak with me about your experience, etc. Keep in mind that (1) you don't want to spam every lawyer who ever clerked for the judge (send out a few at a time, focusing on more recent clerks, and wait to send out more until it's clear you're not getting a response), (2) the people with whom you speak may contact the judge with a positive or negative impression, and (3) never contact current clerks. I always tried to follow up with people who spoke with me in terms of letting them know whether or not I got the position and thanking them again for their time.

EDIT: I would also try emailing, not messaging through Linkedin. It should be easy to find a work email for most people once you have their name. To that end, Googling "clerkship with Judge X" or something like that can be a good way to find people who list a past clerkship with Judge X on their law firm profile/biography.

Anonymous User
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Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Clerkship Interview Information Gathering

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Nov 20, 2018 3:49 pm

Anonymous User wrote:First of all, congratulations, that's very exciting. I cold emailed past clerks for every judge that I interviewed with (5 total), the vast majority of whom were not alums of my law school. I would say that about 80% of people responded and offered to speak over the phone. I found this to be extremely helpful, both in terms of making sure the position would be a good fit and in terms of preparing for the interview. Most people are friendly, willing to help, and excited to talk about their clerkship. It should go without saying that these emails need to be short, courteous, and framed appropriately--I'm a student at X law school, was invited to interview with Judge X, was wondering if you would be willing to speak with me about your experience, etc. Keep in mind that (1) you don't want to spam every lawyer who ever clerked for the judge (send out a few at a time, focusing on more recent clerks, and wait to send out more until it's clear you're not getting a response), (2) the people with whom you speak may contact the judge with a positive or negative impression, and (3) never contact current clerks. I always tried to follow up with people who spoke with me in terms of letting them know whether or not I got the position and thanking them again for their time.

EDIT: I would also try emailing, not messaging through Linkedin. It should be easy to find a work email for most people once you have their name. To that end, Googling "clerkship with Judge X" or something like that can be a good way to find people who list a past clerkship with Judge X on their law firm profile/biography.
+1, this is all great advice. No one cared if we graduated from different schools. I want to echo the part about fit, it was incredibly helpful to get a feel for the type of people the judge had hired in the past and I had much better interviews with judges whose clerks I meshed better with.

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