Reapplying in Future Cycle but Can't Find Real Job Forum

[20141023]

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[DaRascal]

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[20141023]

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[DaRascal]

Haha that stinks. Well I guess I'll just have to hustle for the next two months to find something. Don't know about that AmeriCorps thing though.

Thanks for the help, everybody.

[mandyjay11]

For anyone who wasn't K-JD, did you manage to get a decent job ($25k+/year) after graduating and if so how did you do it?

I got a job working in Retail right out of school and then I moved to working as an Administrative Assistant at my dream law school... working at a school gives me flexibility to study for the LSAT and write my applications that I would not have in retail. Also, both jobs were $36K+

[Young Marino]

For anyone who wasn't K-JD, did you manage to get a decent job ($25k+/year) after graduating and if so how did you do it?

Did you do anything during your summers in undergrad?

Drank coors light, played video games, played basketball, hung out with friends, and relaxed.

Thought for sure I'd be going straight to law school after college so internships didn't interest me and neither did looking for a job back in the spring.

I did the same but don't regret a second of it. Man these are the last days of our lives of living as care free as we ever will. Enjoy it. We still got 3 years of LS where you better be interning every summer. Enjoy the last of it man.

[BigZuck]

For anyone who wasn't K-JD, did you manage to get a decent job ($25k+/year) after graduating and if so how did you do it?

No.

[20141023]

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[haus]

If that's what floats your boat, go for it. However, as a general rule, you can either slack off and have fun when you're young and work shitty jobs as an adult, or work your ass off when you're young and get a decent job as an adult. Just don't expect any sympathy when you aren't making $90,000+ coming out of undergrad with a useless degree and no work experience.

Perhaps the mindset can be summarized as "I have done nothing, and I am all out of ideas."

[RoaringMice]

The lack of any actual work experience is what's really hurting you right now re: your job hunt. It's a major issue. As another poster said, you'll need to use your network to try to find any job that will take you. So make sure everyone you know, and everyone they know, knows you're looking. That includes people your parents know, your classmates from HS and college, your former professors, the guy at the gym you see every morning - I mean, everyone.

[NYstate]

What kind of a job are you looking for? If you don't need the money, just find anything you can. I know plenty of people who didn't work in the summer, or only worked life guard or camp counselor jobs.

It might hurt you at OCI compared to people with real work experience, but many people are in your position.

[zozin]

Just move back home to save $$$. Retailers start their holiday hiring in a month or two, so just get a retail job if nothing else pans out.

[rftdd888]

I'm gonna feel like such a failure English major if I go with C....

FTFY.

Try to live as frugally as you can while preparing for the LSAT, even if that means going with C. Practicing law is pretty much the only way you're ever going to make a decent salary off a LA degree.

for reference, public LA degree recipient here. taking 1 year off between graduation and 1L, working part-time in a $25k/year job if it were worked as a full schedule.

[afitouri]

Just didn't think it'd be THAT hard to find a small $30k job around here. Kinda wishing I had majored in sociology here seeing as I got A's in all my soc classes and B's in my english classes and since they're both equally useless degrees I might have gotten my GPA high enough to have changed some outcomes this cycle. Btw, am I going to be screwed if I apply to NU in a future cycle but can't find good full-time work? I know it's short-sided to assume I won't land a decent full-time job somewhere down the line but it's been two months.

I'm gonna feel like such a failure if I go with C....

Take your ego out of it.

[DaRascal]

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[cinephile]

I personally wouldn't mention online gambling on a resume or school application. Surely you can find some part-time tutoring gig to help you a little while living at home, right? That would probably look better. And if you're not earning anything, just use IBR and you'll owe $0.

[TheSpanishMain]

Enlist in the Navy for three years. See the world. Make some money. Get interesting work experience that you can talk about in interviews. Get the GI Bill. Mature far more than you would living in your mom's basement playing online poker. Have genuine life experiences. Get some perspective to decide if you really want to be a lawyer or if you just can't think of a better option. Revisit law school at 25-26 as a veteran with 100% of his tuition paid at any public law school.

There you go.

[twenty]

Enlist

This is TCR. Aside from the 40k+ you'll be making a year, graduating from law school six years from now with no debt >>>>>> graduating from law school three years from now with 100k - 250k debt.

If you factor in the GI Bill as part of your pay (and you go to law school), you're making more than 110k a year by enlisting.

[DaRascal]

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[Lwoods]

For anyone who wasn't K-JD, did you manage to get a decent job ($25k+/year) after graduating and if so how did you do it?

A sorority sister worked as a legal secretary at a big law firm and sent an email out when they were hiring more. I sent her my resume, she passed it one, I got an interview, did alright on a typing test, and was set.

When I moved cities, after picking up an Associate's in fashion merchandising, I applied to every entry-level job in the corporate offices of all of the major retailers in my new city. I had a phone screener interview for some random position and hit it off with the screener. A week or two later, I followed up with her, an she recommended me for half a dozen jobs I hadn't applied for. I interviewed for all of them in one day and told her my top two favorite after. I then had two more rounds of interviews for one of those two and got the job. I doubt my prior experience as a secretary got me that job; my intro bio instead listed my prior store experience (two seasons of holiday work during undergrad).

[Lwoods]

Update!

Still can't find a real job. Sent out a few more job applications this week but I've recently got into the business of gambing and have been making money through a combination of sports betting and online poker.
I'm up about $1300 since I started three weeks ago so hopefully it's sustainable because I have to start making loan payments of about $350 a month starting in December.

100% serious- should I mention this on law school applications next cycle? I only applied to one school this cycle (well before I started doing this) and am in the process of retaking the LSAT in Dec/Feb and definitely for a last time in June.

The thing is that if I can't find real time employment then I fear that it'll hurt me in the future even though it's out of my control but if I explain what I've really been doing maybe I could spin it in a positive light.

Can you go bigger with the poker stuff? I think being a professional poker player could be interesting application fodder. I have a friend who played professionally right after college.

[RoaringMice]

I graduated during the last big recession. When I realized that all my friends were getting crap jobs, I decided that if I had to have a crap job, I was getting a crap job in Ireland. I used BUNAC to get a work visa, and off I went. Might be an option for you. You could use BUNAC to get a work visa for any Commonwealth or former Commonwealth country, and go work there for nine months, using the money you earn to travel a bit. Prep for the LSAT while you're abroad, retake it, and apply during the next application cycle.

Some of my former students have been professional poker players. If you can get good enough, you could go that route. It'd certainly add interest to your applications.

[DrStudMuffin]

No way haha. The Navy's way too strict and I'm more of a free spirit.
This whole job application process is kinda dull though. I've even had to go in and apply in person for typist jobs. The only job offer I've had was Office Depot but I didn't go to the interview that Sunday because I made $600 that Saturday betting on college football and I was thinking to myself: "Ugh, I don't think I could take another retail job and Office Depot pays minimum wage so it'd be like working three weeks to make what I made in a few hours by analyzing point spreads."

I just think there's unrealistic expectations being placed on college graduates to find jobs in this economy. Also, I can't rely on IBR because I've got about $25k in private student loans that I took out five years ago.

You strike me as the type of person who fails to get a job at OCI and then says "WTF where is my 160k BIGLAW job?!" Employers generally don't pay $$$ for someone who is completely lacking in marketable skills and professional experience.

I'm not judging, because you do you, but I don't think it's particularly shocking that you can't find a good job.

Sports betting is a solid way to make money in a pinch, but as James Hetfield so poignantly sang in "All Nightmare Long": luck runs out.

In terms of poker, if it were that easy to become a successful poker player more people would do it. It takes time, money, and a lot of effort/cojones to make real money doing it. If you have the skills, then I agree it would be an interesting way to make some money.

[DaRascal]

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[DaRascal]

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