The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition Forum

[Judge Philip Banks]

This is a basic question, but did you staple the writing sample cover sheet to the writing sample? Or was it loose, and just on top of it?
Thanks for the input, and congrats on the interviews!

Stapled together

Got it. Appreciate the input.

[piccolittle]

Email rejection from my dream firm. womp womp.

[Haymarket]

Had my first phone interview today. One of them was an alum from my school, which definitely made it a little more congenial.

Really want this jerb....

[Flips88]

Jumping in here. Trying to get all my apps/mail out this week. Woo Christmas break!

[ktg808]

Jumping in here as well....ahhhhh I feel so behind.

[Flips88]

Jumping in here as well....ahhhhh I feel so behind.

Same here. Just checked the USAO in Chicago. They require 3 rec letters and the app is due by 12/31. Well guess I'm fucked on that one

[sundance95]

I think a cover sheet for the writing sample is a good idea.

Thanks. I think I will include one just to play it safe.

Is it acceptable to print the writing sample on regular paper, and then have the resume, cover letter, and writing sample cover sheet on nice paper?

I did this except the writing sample cover letter was also on regular paper.

[Judge Philip Banks]

I think a cover sheet for the writing sample is a good idea.

Thanks. I think I will include one just to play it safe.

Is it acceptable to print the writing sample on regular paper, and then have the resume, cover letter, and writing sample cover sheet on nice paper?

I did this except the writing sample cover letter was also on regular paper.

I think that is what I am doing too. Did you staple your writing sample cover sheet to your writing sample? Can't wait to get this stuff printed and to the post office already...

[shoeshine]

One offer in the bag! They are giving me till Jan 7th to commit (per my request).

That firm is not my first choice so I may have to wait it out a little bit though.

Good luck to all of you.

[traehekat]

shoeshine - congats but you might want to take more pains not to out yourself imo!

[sundance95]

I think a cover sheet for the writing sample is a good idea.

Thanks. I think I will include one just to play it safe.

Is it acceptable to print the writing sample on regular paper, and then have the resume, cover letter, and writing sample cover sheet on nice paper?

I did this except the writing sample cover letter was also on regular paper.

I think that is what I am doing too. Did you staple your writing sample cover sheet to your writing sample? Can't wait to get this stuff printed and to the post office already...

Yeah, exactly. I made it all one PDF and ran it at my school's printing lab, the printers there automatically staple and they are laserjets. I also used an E-sig on the writing sample letter but ink-signed the main cover letter.

One last point-make sure you get the postage exactly right-you don't want to get things returned for lack of postage at this stage.

[NYC Law]

I have an interview set up with the State AG Prosecution division where I'm from, really excited about this one, they handle a lot of RICO, Gangs, White Collar, etc

[Judge Philip Banks]

I have an interview set up with the State AG Prosecution division where I'm from, really excited about this one, they handle a lot of RICO, Gangs, White Collar, etc

That sounds like it would be a very interesting job, working on exciting cases. Congrats dude! Kill that interview.

[adonai]

Rejected from firm today (Expected), but got interview tomorrow so no worries

[japes]

First interview tomorrow. Pumped.

[ph14]

Need to start applying to places, lol. Going to try and get a bunch of apps sent out this week.

[Guchster]

A V30 firm from my local market responded and asked that if I'm in town, they'd like me to come in and meet their associates/partners. Is this a sloppy way of asking me if I'd be interested in an interview? Apparently this meeting will last for 3 hours. WTF? longest meet and greet ever.

I can't imagine what else this could be? A pre-interview? or a nice way to reject me by saying "aw, you're so cute, we'll allow you to come play for a a few hours... but GTFO until 2L summer".

[traehekat]

A V30 firm from my local market responded and asked that if I'm in town, they'd like me to come in and meet their associates/partners. Is this a sloppy way of asking me if I'd be interested in an interview? Apparently this meeting will last for 3 hours. WTF? longest meet and greet ever.

I can't imagine what else this could be? A pre-interview? or a nice way to reject me by saying "aw, you're so cute, we'll allow you to come play for a a few hours... but GTFO until 2L summer".

CB, basically. they aren't going to waste their time just to meet you when they aren't considering you for an SA.

[Bildungsroman]

First interview tomorrow. Pumped.

Same. Good luck to everyone with interviews this week!

[Guchster]

A V30 firm from my local market responded and asked that if I'm in town, they'd like me to come in and meet their associates/partners. Is this a sloppy way of asking me if I'd be interested in an interview? Apparently this meeting will last for 3 hours. WTF? longest meet and greet ever.

I can't imagine what else this could be? A pre-interview? or a nice way to reject me by saying "aw, you're so cute, we'll allow you to come play for a a few hours... but GTFO until 2L summer".

CB, basically. they aren't going to waste their time just to meet you when they aren't considering you for an SA.

True, I guess I was just thrown off by their "well, if you're going to be in town ANYWAY"-esqueness of the email. If I wasn't going to be in town, wouldn't that mean that they wouldn't even consider me for the position? I guess the firm can be that hardcore with the 1L firm madness. Plus, I think it was more of a polite way of saying that they weren't interested in paying for my flight/accommodations, lol.

[jd20132013]

Question about cover letters:

If one isn't asked for, should one be sent anyway? It's a subdivision of an agency, and other divisions(who have their information on the same page) explicitly do ask for cover letters.
Wondering if anyone else has confronted this.

[shoeshine]

A V30 firm from my local market responded and asked that if I'm in town, they'd like me to come in and meet their associates/partners. Is this a sloppy way of asking me if I'd be interested in an interview? Apparently this meeting will last for 3 hours. WTF? longest meet and greet ever.

I can't imagine what else this could be? A pre-interview? or a nice way to reject me by saying "aw, you're so cute, we'll allow you to come play for a a few hours... but GTFO until 2L summer".

CB, basically. they aren't going to waste their time just to meet you when they aren't considering you for an SA.

True, I guess I was just thrown off by their "well, if you're going to be in town ANYWAY"-esqueness of the email. If I wasn't going to be in town, wouldn't that mean that they wouldn't even consider me for the position? I guess the firm can be that hardcore with the 1L firm madness. Plus, I think it was more of a polite way of saying that they weren't interested in paying for my flight/accommodations, lol.

This actually sounds more like an informational interview to me. I got several invites for these. Once I called to clarify it turned out they were actually just interested in talking to me about applying for next summer. This is very common for offices or firms that don't hire 1Ls.

[AreJay711]

Question about cover letters:

If one isn't asked for, should one be sent anyway? It's a subdivision of an agency, and other divisions(who have their information on the same page) explicitly do ask for cover letters.
Wondering if anyone else has confronted this.

I think you need to. It is kind of weird to just send a resume, writing sample, and nothing else. The point of the cover letter is to let them know why you are sending the info and not really as a separate thing. A lot of information in you cover letter can be gathered from your resume and stuff but it is probably best to have it in one place.

Oh, and I actually think a cover letter can be important. I think one of the interviews I have set up with a judge is because of a something I researched in undergrad and is something that the judge is involved in. I didn't know that at the time but it would make a lot of sense.

[Anonymous User]

I received a letter from a firm, with an office that doesn't hire 1Ls, about calling over the summer to set up a time to come into the office in August. It's a big firm with a small office in a secondary market that was opened within the past few years. Does that sound like an interview? I'm confused as to why they would ask me to set it up for August if it were only an informational interview. That may be all it is, though.

[YourCaptain]

The rule of thumb is 1 cover letter per 4 pages of attachments. So if your writing sample exceeds three pages you'll need at least one additional cover letter.

Really? That seems kind of unnecessary. What's the reasoning behind that?

You don't want the recruiter to just have this large lump of papers, they'll get confused and some of yours might get mixed in with stuff from other applicants, the cover letters serve as dividers and lower the risk of your things being intermingled.

2L speaking:

The recruiters aren't going to be "mixing" up anything. They're going to print out your resume, maybe your cover letter (to figure out ties if you resume doesn't scream it) but your resume is largely all that matters.

The above advice is ridiculous; you should not be burdening recruiters/office assistants with unnecessary paperwork.

If anyone has questions you can pm them to me, but otherwise I can tell you this is terrible advice.