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

[cowgirl_bebop]

2015 grads who are still unemployed, how are you addressing the employment gap? I feel like each day I go without a job, it gets even more and more difficult to have a reasonable explanation.

Honestly, I can't. My only explanation is that I have been looking but unfortunately have not snagged something yet. I usually try to play up my involvement with some ABA committees if they want to know what I've been doing with my time, but even that is weak.

[FamilyLawEsq]

For anyone interested in a 2 year immigration staff attorney position in Central Pennsylvania. Must be fluent in Spanish.

http://pirclaw.org/site/1799pirc/2016_P ... _March.pdf

[Anonymous User]

To those who are interested in a fed gov job, particularly in the DC area:

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/432951100

The posting says 40 vacancies, but to my knowledge they are hiring several times that in the coming months for entry-level positions. It is not the most glamorous work - you are mainly reviewing claims folders and drafting decision after decision - but the hours are great and there is telework/flexi-place work after a year. Pay starts at 64k, goes to roughly 78k after a year, 92k after 2 years, 96k after 3 years, 110k after 4 years.

I am a 2014 grad who struggled to get a job with median grades from a T2, so thought I'd at least post this here in case anyone's interested. Happy to PM if anyone has questions.

[Anonymous User]

To those who are interested in a fed gov job, particularly in the DC area:

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/432951100

The posting says 40 vacancies, but to my knowledge they are hiring several times that in the coming months for entry-level positions. It is not the most glamorous work - you are mainly reviewing claims folders and drafting decision after decision - but the hours are great and there is telework/flexi-place work after a year. Pay starts at 64k, goes to roughly 78k after a year, 92k after 2 years, 96k after 3 years, 110k after 4 years.

I am a 2014 grad who struggled to get a job with median grades from a T2, so thought I'd at least post this here in case anyone's interested. Happy to PM if anyone has questions.

Just noticed that they are requiring 1 year of experience. My bad. However, I don't think there's much harm in applying because they are hiring a LOT of people.

[cowgirl_bebop]

I managed to snag an interview with a small firm in my target market doing exactly the kind of work I want to do. I live very far away, but I've decided to take a HUGE risk and fly in at my own expense in a soft move. I have family in the area I plan to stay with, but I'm going with no money and obviously no guarantees.

[Anonymous User]

I just did that too. The organization told me to email if I was ever in the area, and I arranged a visit specifically to go on that interview. Cost was a little over $500. Here's hoping I get the job.

[cowgirl_bebop]

I just did that too. The organization told me to email if I was ever in the area, and I arranged a visit specifically to go on that interview. Cost was a little over $500. Here's hoping I get the job.

Good luck anon! $500 is no joke, especially when you don't know how things will pan out. Let's hope that our investments end up being worth it.

[ilovesf]

Wow, you guys are brave! Good luck!

[Anonymous User]

Good luck to you too cowgirl_bebop! Airfare isn't cheap, but I don't want to lose out on an opportunity because of geography. It has been a long and depressing 10 months but I have faith that we will all land something soon

[zot1]

Hang in there, you guys. If you knock on enough doors, one has to open at some point, right?

[Pokemon]

I just did that too. The organization told me to email if I was ever in the area, and I arranged a visit specifically to go on that interview. Cost was a little over $500. Here's hoping I get the job.

I traveled all the time on my own dime when searching for a job. It sucks paying for it especially when you have so little money as a student/graduate with no job, but the upside is too much.

[Anonymous User]

Still in the vale, 2015 grad. Had an interview and offer in Manhattan for a litigation position, but had to turn it down. They offered $60k for 2400 billable hours. My commuting cost from outside the city would've been over 10% of my pay and 3 hours every day. I keep calling alumni and mass-mailing. Attorneys keep telling me that they're surprised I'm not getting a lot of interviews (Top 10%, military), but it doesn't really help to hear that at this point. I'm nearly at my breaking point.

[TheFutureLawyer]

x

[ballouttacontrol]

Still in the vale, 2015 grad. Had an interview and offer in Manhattan for a litigation position, but had to turn it down. They offered $60k for 2400 billable hours. My commuting cost from outside the city would've been over 10% of my pay and 3 hours every day. I keep calling alumni and mass-mailing. Attorneys keep telling me that they're surprised I'm not getting a lot of interviews (Top 10%, military), but it doesn't really help to hear that at this point. I'm nearly at my breaking point.

Those are really tough terms to swallow, and I don't know your situation obviously, but I'd probably have taken it.

Move if you can, commute if you have to (maybe ask if they can lower their billable requirement of you); take the shitty terms.

If your school/grades combo was very good, and you think you should be getting better offers in the very near / immediate future (I'm guessing you were recently admitted into the bar, which should help you get more interviews), then maybe skipping that offer was a good call. But it's a big gamble. You don't want a huge gap on your resume, and the longer it goes on the harder it will become to overcome it.

I say all that not to make you feel terrible for making the decision you made (which, like I said, maybe you were right on that one), but just to give you my two cents going forward.

If the long hours and commute were your main thing, I'd think pretty hard about what you're willing to take to work closer to home with some more reasonable hours. Like, if you were straight up offered like $40k for a job by where you live, just take it, and look for something better on your free time.

But if there's really not many job openings by where you live, and you're just hoping on a prayer that one will pop up, and are turning down offers from other cities in the mean time, you should probably reconsider your strategy.

I wanted to write something similar bro. I was a previously unemployed 3L in here. Basically, just make sure your expectations are appropriate.

Obviously, you are able to evaluate them much better than anonymous weirdos. But just make sure your sights are set realistically. There are a lot of unemployed T1 JDs that would practically kill for 60k for 2.4k hrs. Maybe not with your resume, but be careful bra that's all

[TheFutureLawyer]

x

[Anonymous User]

That feeling when the partner tells you he is calling your references today and you realize that the ball is no longer in your control...

[cowgirl_bebop]

That feeling when the partner tells you he is calling your references today and you realize that the ball is no longer in your control...

As long as you've got good references you should be just fine!

[Anonymous User]

That feeling when the partner tells you he is calling your references today and you realize that the ball is no longer in your control...

As long as you've got good references you should be just fine!

Thanks!

Yeah, I hope so. I really, really, really, hope so. Especially with this being the first interview I have had in a few months, then got the callback, and now I am just waiting to hear about the references... I think they are solid and I think they just need to not mess up. Like, they don't need to take leaps and bounds, just stay, please, within the confines of what you know.

Sorry, I am rambling because I am incoherent mess of anxiousness and anxiety.

[gaddockteeg]

That feeling when the partner tells you he is calling your references today and you realize that the ball is no longer in your control...

As long as you've got good references you should be just fine!

Thanks!

Yeah, I hope so. I really, really, really, hope so. Especially with this being the first interview I have had in a few months, then got the callback, and now I am just waiting to hear about the references... I think they are solid and I think they just need to not mess up. Like, they don't need to take leaps and bounds, just stay, please, within the confines of what you know.

Sorry, I am rambling because I am incoherent mess of anxiousness and anxiety.

Confirm with your references that they should be expecting the call.

Don't want to get your hopes up but calling references almost always means (in my limited experience) they're going to offer you; so long as the references don't say anything bad, I think you're good!

[sublime]

..

[Anonymous User]

That feeling when the partner tells you he is calling your references today and you realize that the ball is no longer in your control...

As long as you've got good references you should be just fine!

Thanks!

Yeah, I hope so. I really, really, really, hope so. Especially with this being the first interview I have had in a few months, then got the callback, and now I am just waiting to hear about the references... I think they are solid and I think they just need to not mess up. Like, they don't need to take leaps and bounds, just stay, please, within the confines of what you know.

Sorry, I am rambling because I am incoherent mess of anxiousness and anxiety.

Confirm with your references that they should be expecting the call.

Don't want to get your hopes up but calling references almost always means (in my limited experience) they're going to offer you; so long as the references don't say anything bad, I think you're good!

Thanks! I made sure to let all of my references know that they should be expecting a call. I already know that one person has received a phone call, so it looks like the ball is in motion, now all I can do is wait, hope, and pray.

[Anonymous User]

So what sites does everybody use to search for jobs?

[Anonymous User]

OP with references above... Going on a day and a half now. No contact from the firm. I know one reference has been contacted, waiting to hear from the other two. What should I do? I kind of want to email the partner and ask if he has spoken with the references or if he needs additional contact information. I mean, what I really want, is that if he is going to reject me does it over an email like a normal person and not through fucking snailmail when he knows I am waiting to hear back.

EDIT: just spoke with one of the contacts and he told me that he is expecting a call this afternoon. There is still hope.

[ilovesf]

OP with references above... Going on a day and a half now. No contact from the firm. I know one reference has been contacted, waiting to hear from the other two. What should I do? I kind of want to email the partner and ask if he has spoken with the references or if he needs additional contact information. I mean, what I really want, is that if he is going to reject me does it over an email like a normal person and not through fucking snailmail when he knows I am waiting to hear back.

EDIT: just spoke with one of the contacts and he told me that he is expecting a call this afternoon. There is still hope.

Sometimes it can take a long time to hear back from references, especially if they are busy professionals. I would not sweat it. For my last job it took like 3 days for them to schedule a convo with my reference because of her teaching/travel schedule

[cowgirl_bebop]

So what sites does everybody use to search for jobs?

Indeed, Craigslist, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, BYU job bank, ziprecruiter, lawjobs.com, any Symplicity board I have access to...