1L Summer Job Search C/O 2018 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Got an interview request yesterday from one of the firms I applied to on December 1st.

What market/school range and are you diverse

CCN, secondary market, not diverse but female

Same OP as post quoted - interview request from a different firm in same secondary market - applied Dec 1 there as well.

"Very interested" email yesterday from V100 w/satellite in my secondary market requesting grades.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone apply to McKinsey? Just got a ding (came in the form of email from recruiter telling me to apply next year+standard Keep in Touch email). Not sure what to make of the recruiter email, maybe they changed their mind about hiring 1Ls (or my app just sucked).

Engineering undergrad, HLS, JD only

[Anonymous User]

Recently interviewed with both a federal judge and state supreme judge and have offers for both for a 1L position this summer. I seemed to click with both judges and am torn as to which to pick. I am leaning toward the state supreme as it would be easier in regards to living options for the summer. Any advice would be appreciated!

[BigZuck]

Recently interviewed with both a federal judge and state supreme judge and have offers for both for a 1L position this summer. I seemed to click with both judges and am torn as to which to pick. I am leaning toward the state supreme as it would be easier in regards to living options for the summer. Any advice would be appreciated!

Career services answer: Can't say no to a judge and you have to accept the first offer you get from a judge, you shouldn't even have two offers at this point because you were supposed to accept the first and then withdraw all others.

It doesn't really matter which one you pick because it doesn't really matter what you do 1L summer as long as it's legal so go with whatever you prefer.

[Glasseyes]

Recently interviewed with both a federal judge and state supreme judge and have offers for both for a 1L position this summer. I seemed to click with both judges and am torn as to which to pick. I am leaning toward the state supreme as it would be easier in regards to living options for the summer. Any advice would be appreciated!

Career services answer: Can't say no to a judge and you have to accept the first offer you get from a judge, you shouldn't even have two offers at this point because you were supposed to accept the first and then withdraw all others.

It doesn't really matter which one you pick because it doesn't really matter what you do 1L summer as long as it's legal so go with whatever you prefer.

Maybe it's different here at GULC where we have access to piles of BigFed summer gigs, but the whole "1L summer doesn't matter as long as it's legal" thing seems different than my experience. I did FCC and got asked about it on every single interview, sometimes at length.

I don't think one job is any better than another, but as much as you can articulate what you want to do before your 1L summer, I would try to pick something that fits your overall narrative or at least has the potential to give you some good stories to tell in interviews. Which is to say if you know you want transactional work, there's probably no reason to do DOJ or USAO, perceived prestige be damned. You certainly can, and maybe your narrative is that you wanted some diverse experience or whatever. But it definitely helps to have a thoughtful reason why you did what you did over the summer.

[pancakes3]

How is your experience contrary to the prevailing wisdom of "doesn't matter, as long as it's legal" ?

[Anonymous User]

Sent my preferred judge apps out December 8th. Have 2/4 grades back, so I'll update those when I get the rest of my grades. All the judges I'm applying to are district judges. When should I send out the ones I prefer less?

[Glasseyes]

How is your experience contrary to the prevailing wisdom of "doesn't matter, as long as it's legal" ?

I meant that choosing something that actually related to my desired practice area was beneficial, rather than just taking whatever random research assistant gig happened to be available on May 15th.

[Hikikomorist]

Is it polite to send an e-mail declining an invitation to a firm holiday reception, or is it just a hassle for the recruiter to read?

[Glasseyes]

Is it polite to send an e-mail declining an invitation to a firm holiday reception, or is it just a hassle for the recruiter to read?

Nah don't do that. Unless someone wrote you a personal email to invite you, it would be kinda weird to reply to a generic event invite

[Anonymous User]

How is your experience contrary to the prevailing wisdom of "doesn't matter, as long as it's legal" ?

A very close friend told one V20 grilled her about not having a 1L associateship during callbacks. She had a pretty prestigious government gig 1L summer so it came as a shock.

Otherwise nobody really seems to care.

[BigZuck]

How is your experience contrary to the prevailing wisdom of "doesn't matter, as long as it's legal" ?

A very close friend told one V20 grilled her about not having a 1L associateship during callbacks. She had a pretty prestigious government gig 1L summer so it came as a shock.

Otherwise nobody really seems to care.

Which V20? I've never heard about anything like that.

There's no such thing as a prestigious 1L gig btw

[Anonymous User]

How is your experience contrary to the prevailing wisdom of "doesn't matter, as long as it's legal" ?

A very close friend told one V20 grilled her about not having a 1L associateship during callbacks. She had a pretty prestigious government gig 1L summer so it came as a shock.

Otherwise nobody really seems to care.

Which V20? I've never heard about anything like that.

There's no such thing as a prestigious 1L gig btw

prestigious/selective whatever.

not going to out the firm because its not my story to tell. it's so out of the ordinary it shouldn't affect anybody's summer plans. it was more of an isolated counterexample.

[Anonymous User]

Screening interview with diversity program at v40 firm in a secondary (home) market. Applied Dec. 2, CCN. Pretty excited about it!

[dabigchina]

Screening interview with diversity program at v40 firm in a secondary (home) market. Applied Dec. 2, CCN. Pretty excited about it!

Congrats!

[Anonymous User]

Anyone apply to McKinsey? Just got a ding (came in the form of email from recruiter telling me to apply next year+standard Keep in Touch email). Not sure what to make of the recruiter email, maybe they changed their mind about hiring 1Ls (or my app just sucked).

Engineering undergrad, HLS, JD only

Yes, I know of a few 1Ls at HLS (JD only) who got an interview request. Those I know had a business background or some work experience but otherwise nothing crazy.

[buckiguy_sucks]

what kinds of things do I talk about at firm holiday receptions

[IsThisForReal]

what kinds of things do I talk about at firm holiday receptions

An attorney last night told us about this really cool place to go listen to jazz music. Might hit it up over the break.

[BmoreOrLess]

what kinds of things do I talk about at firm holiday receptions

Literally anything to do with law/law firms/the attorneys/yourself. L This is the time to 1) get your stupid questions out of the way, 2) figure out what kinda questions get good/extended responses so you can use them again at OCI, and 3) work on your stories that you'll tell at OCI.

[Anonymous User]

I'm the anon poster above with the screening interview. I had it and got a call back while still on the phone! Very excited. They were explicit about having ties to the market since it's a smaller market. So if you're applying, make sure you have an answer for ties. My screen only lasted ten minutes.

[kade]

Can I ask the people itt if you are applying for an (unpaid) internship at large or mid-sized law firms for the summer, is it a bad idea to wait for your fall grades? Should you be applying now?

[BigZuck]

Can I ask the people itt if you are applying for an (unpaid) internship at large or mid-sized law firms for the summer, is it a bad idea to wait for your fall grades? Should you be applying now?

You can't apply for unpaid internships at law firms, they have to pay you

[xael]

How is your experience contrary to the prevailing wisdom of "doesn't matter, as long as it's legal" ?

I think this (the "doesn't matter as long as legal" advice) is sometimes taken too extreme. The general advice is that as long as it is legal, it doesn't hurt. I do think 1L jobs can help, though, but not in the typical TLS fart-sniffing V10 obsession way. Firms aren't going to care that you worked at some job that was super prestigious or hard to get. The way a summer job can help you is in shaping your narrative for OCI and giving you something to talk about positively. My experience was that taking a more topical job really helped me at OCI. And even if it didn't, it made OCI easier since I knew every single employer was going to ask about my summer job first (and they did), and I was able to talk about it super positively.

ETA: I said this earlier, but I think one place that your 1L job can really help is location. Especially if you are best coast born/bred/law schooled, it is nice to be able to prove to firms that you can and are willing to live in NYC.

[jbagelboy]

How is your experience contrary to the prevailing wisdom of "doesn't matter, as long as it's legal" ?

A very close friend told one V20 grilled her about not having a 1L associateship during callbacks. She had a pretty prestigious government gig 1L summer so it came as a shock.

Otherwise nobody really seems to care.

Which V20? I've never heard about anything like that.

There's no such thing as a prestigious 1L gig btw

Except dat Wachtell 1L SA

[Anonymous User]

I didn't do legal (finance) my first year summer and law firms were super receptive.