Anonymous User wrote:Anonymous User wrote:
3L OCI is not how most people get hired as a 3L anyway, so don't worry at all about the fact that firms aren't interviewing 3Ls at your school. The 3L market is all about mass-mailing and networking.
As the above poster stated, you should mass-mail your resume and transcript in an e-mail, but I think your "cover letter" should just be in the actual body of the e-mail (it probably won't matter either way, but I've heard more people do it this way). I would do this as soon as possible after getting an offer from your 2L SA (late july), and no matter what, at least a couple days before OCI starts (early August).
An even better way to go is to reach out to alumni from you school or other people with some connection that will make them amenable to taking your call for 10-15 minutes. E-mail people asking if they will speak with you and then talk to them about their experience in a quick phone call. Build a rapport, tell you story in a positive light, and then ask if they would be willing to pass your stuff along or help you in any way by dropping a line to recruiting that you spoke with them after you send your stuff to the firm (I had people offer to do these things pretty frequently). I think this is a little better than just straight up mass-mailing, because it shows you are a little more serious. You're not just "Joe Blow 3L" but now "Joe Blow 3L that Dan knows," which is a little better.
Fantastic, thanks so much. Do you have any idea how difficult it would be to try to move firms from a secondary to NY (firm is arguably top in secondary market and I would try to do the same sort of work at a peer-ranked firm).
Anon here.
YMMV, but I just did it successfully and the experience wasn't too crazy, I didn't seem to have too much trouble getting CBs from the firms that I knew were hiring 3Ls. Some firms just aren't hiring 3Ls, and you can't do anything about that, but if you do your research and position yourself so as to be as marketable as possible to the firms that are hiring, I believe it is a highly doable task. I was in a secondary market but definitely not a firm that NY firms would know about, so your situation would be even better than mine.
First, make sure you get the best grades possible during 2L. The firms that hire 3Ls are the most selective (V20), so you have to be competitive grades-wise.
Second, sharpen your interview skills. Really work at it via mock interviews and practice. It's important that people get good first impressions from you during 3L interviews since they won't have a summer to evaluate you.
Third, do your research about which practice groups have a need for people at the firms you are targeting. Sometimes the firm will be clear about their 3L needs, but more often you will have to learn this through speaking with people who work there (i.e. through networking calls). When you do apply, you use this information to target your cover-letter and say you are interested in the area the firm needs people for. This is incredibly important. Corporate seems to be more busy in NYC right now, but not at every firm. Knowledge about each firm's needs is power for placing yourself in the best position. To that end, try to get exposure to the type of work these firms need people for during your 2L SA, so that when you interview, you can give real examples and reasons for why you want to do that type of work (i.e. "I worked on assignments in X and Y practice areas this summer and really enjoyed it for Z reason.")
Fourth, develop a good narrative for why you want to move markets and firms. Don't talk down about your 2L SA firm--stick to positives. Say you had a good experience there, but it served to reiterate your interest in practice area X, which the firm you are interviewing with provides a much better opportunity to practice. Also come up with a good reason for your geographic change of circumstances. Deliver these reasons with confidence, and make sure they are genuine--people know when you're outright lying to them.
Hope that all helps, good luck! Just put hiring out of your mind for a couple of months and hit the books. That's number one priority when this is a year away.
