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Yes, I know this is probably a stupid thing to worry about. Our CSO recommends matching envelopes and resume paper, and I just realized I bought "ivory" paper (basically a creamy color) with white envelopes. Do I need to go out and buy either different color envelopes, or is it not a big deal. I have a hard time believing this would matter to someone (and as a 1L getting a job is obviously a long shot as it is) but I would like to feel I did everything I could. Thoughts? Mocking welcome also...

I think I'd prefer the paper not matching the envelope. That way, it emphasizes the paper more.

After I started running out of envelopes (it seems like in the paper + envelope packages, they give you way fewer envelopes...) -- I bought plain old manila envelopes to send in applications. Ended up working for a judge post-1L summer. I don't think it matters, so long as it's professional.

Also, chances are, if the target firm is of any appreciable size (20+ people), the envelope won't reach the hiring partner. In fact, your letter might just be scanned and the scanned version is then stored on some database for the partner to read in a pdf file.

I think a lot of CSO personnel are stuck in old-school legal culture, where everybody hand-wrote thank-you letters and partners werent' so crazily busy as they are today.

That is just something that Career Services says to justify their salaries. No one cares.

You can send me a resume on copy paper; as long as your credentials are solid. We're in the midst of the worst downturn in legal hiring in the history of the County and this is the best that Career Services can come up with? What a fucking shame. They should fire the entire staff and pro-rate a tuition discount to each student in your LS.

reasonable_man wrote:You can send me a resume on copy paper; as long as your credentials are solid. We're in the midst of the worst downturn in legal hiring in the history of the County and this is the best that Career Services can come up with? What a fucking shame. They should fire the entire staff and pro-rate a tuition discount to each student in your LS.

I'll let the above fallacy stand on its own.

Telling people to match paper and envelopes is solid advice. Why not dot your 'i's and cross your 't's in this economy. Better advice imo is to email your stuff for most purposes, but if you are determined to mail, then do this.

Not giving this advice would just be stupid. It is like some people want career services to be magic or something. There are less jobs than there are law students wanting them. What exactly do you want these people to do? They can only guide you through the process and try to put you in contact with employers. That is what they do. I am sorry you did not get a job, but you need to start looking at what you can do to improve matters and stop blaming your school. Crying about it wont help anyone--least of all you.

tome wrote:

reasonable_man wrote:You can send me a resume on copy paper; as long as your credentials are solid. We're in the midst of the worst downturn in legal hiring in the history of the County and this is the best that Career Services can come up with? What a fucking shame. They should fire the entire staff and pro-rate a tuition discount to each student in your LS.

I'll let the above fallacy stand on its own.

Telling people to match paper and envelopes is solid advice. Why not dot your 'i's and cross your 't's in this economy. Better advice imo is to email your stuff for most purposes, but if you are determined to mail, then do this.

Not giving this advice would just be stupid. It is like some people want career services to be magic or something. There are less jobs than there are law students wanting them. What exactly do you want these people to do? They can only guide you through the process and try to put you in contact with employers. That is what they do. I am sorry you did not get a job, but you need to start looking at what you can do to improve matters and stop blaming your school. Crying about it wont help anyone--least of all you.

LOL tome. Reasonable person knows a lot more about legal employment than you do and you're going to LSAT him like that? LOL You will have no problem finding friends in the legal world. Especially coming from NorthwesTTTern.

It doesn't matter what the color contrast is. On the totem pole of importance, thats about as close to the bottom as you can get. If you get the exact same color, then thats great. And if you get a contrasting color, it makes your resume stand out more, which is also good. So no, it doesn't matter, and your CDO shouldn't be wasting your time with such pointless information.

tome wrote:

reasonable_man wrote:You can send me a resume on copy paper; as long as your credentials are solid. We're in the midst of the worst downturn in legal hiring in the history of the County and this is the best that Career Services can come up with? What a fucking shame. They should fire the entire staff and pro-rate a tuition discount to each student in your LS.

I'll let the above fallacy stand on its own.

Telling people to match paper and envelopes is solid advice. Why not dot your 'i's and cross your 't's in this economy. Better advice imo is to email your stuff for most purposes, but if you are determined to mail, then do this.

Not giving this advice would just be stupid. It is like some people want career services to be magic or something. There are less jobs than there are law students wanting them. What exactly do you want these people to do? They can only guide you through the process and try to put you in contact with employers. That is what they do. I am sorry you did not get a job, but you need to start looking at what you can do to improve matters and stop blaming your school. Crying about it wont help anyone--least of all you.

I've been gainfully employed in the legal sector since 2004 and as an attorney since 2008. When I said "You can send me a resume on copy paper; as long as your credentials are solid," I was speaking from experieince as I have, in the past, conducted hiring for current and prior firms. But good story bro.

tome wrote:

reasonable_man wrote:You can send me a resume on copy paper; as long as your credentials are solid. We're in the midst of the worst downturn in legal hiring in the history of the County and this is the best that Career Services can come up with? What a fucking shame. They should fire the entire staff and pro-rate a tuition discount to each student in your LS.

I'll let the above fallacy stand on its own.

Telling people to match paper and envelopes is solid advice. Why not dot your 'i's and cross your 't's in this economy. Better advice imo is to email your stuff for most purposes, but if you are determined to mail, then do this.

Not giving this advice would just be stupid. It is like some people want career services to be magic or something. There are less jobs than there are law students wanting them. What exactly do you want these people to do? They can only guide you through the process and try to put you in contact with employers. That is what they do. I am sorry you did not get a job, but you need to start looking at what you can do to improve matters and stop blaming your school. Crying about it wont help anyone--least of all you.

It's bad advice b/c it freaks out law students when it does not matter at all. Often you will be sending resumes and writing samples in manila envelopes, does that mean I need manila paper as well?

spanktheduck wrote:

tome wrote:

reasonable_man wrote:You can send me a resume on copy paper; as long as your credentials are solid. We're in the midst of the worst downturn in legal hiring in the history of the County and this is the best that Career Services can come up with? What a fucking shame. They should fire the entire staff and pro-rate a tuition discount to each student in your LS.

I'll let the above fallacy stand on its own.

Telling people to match paper and envelopes is solid advice. Why not dot your 'i's and cross your 't's in this economy. Better advice imo is to email your stuff for most purposes, but if you are determined to mail, then do this.

Not giving this advice would just be stupid. It is like some people want career services to be magic or something. There are less jobs than there are law students wanting them. What exactly do you want these people to do? They can only guide you through the process and try to put you in contact with employers. That is what they do. I am sorry you did not get a job, but you need to start looking at what you can do to improve matters and stop blaming your school. Crying about it wont help anyone--least of all you.

It's bad advice b/c it freaks out law students when it does not matter at all. Often you will be sending resumes and writing samples in manila envelopes, does that mean I need manila paper as well?

What a straw man argument. They make big plain white envelopes too.

tome wrote:

reasonable_man wrote:You can send me a resume on copy paper; as long as your credentials are solid. We're in the midst of the worst downturn in legal hiring in the history of the County and this is the best that Career Services can come up with? What a fucking shame. They should fire the entire staff and pro-rate a tuition discount to each student in your LS.

I'll let the above fallacy stand on its own.

Telling people to match paper and envelopes is solid advice. Why not dot your 'i's and cross your 't's in this economy. Better advice imo is to email your stuff for most purposes, but if you are determined to mail, then do this.

Not giving this advice would just be stupid. It is like some people want career services to be magic or something. There are less jobs than there are law students wanting them. What exactly do you want these people to do? They can only guide you through the process and try to put you in contact with employers. That is what they do. I am sorry you did not get a job, but you need to start looking at what you can do to improve matters and stop blaming your school. Crying about it wont help anyone--least of all you.

lol

Way to have no idea what's going on!

I sent resumes to judges last year on ivory paper. I included a cover letter on ivory paper. I also included my transcript on regular white copy paper. I sent these in regular white envelopes. The white envelopes were regular envelopes, not 9x12 envelopes. I mailed them to federal judges in early March (yes, March) of last year.

I had 5 calls within the first week to set up interviews, and another 3-5 over the next 2 weeks. To many, many judges, it simply does not matter.

FlightoftheEarls wrote:I sent resumes to judges last year on ivory paper. I included a cover letter on ivory paper. I also included my transcript on regular white copy paper. I sent these in regular white envelopes. The white envelopes were regular envelopes, not 9x12 envelopes. I mailed them to federal judges in early March (yes, March) of last year.

I had 5 calls within the first week to set up interviews, and another 3-5 over the next 2 weeks. To many, many judges, it simply does not matter.

Damn, that many callbacks that late? Guess that means I'm ok to apply to some extras in late December. Was worried that anything sent out after the 1st or 2nd of December is pointless. Though I get the feeling you are probably just exceptionally qualified.

dakatz wrote:

FlightoftheEarls wrote:I sent resumes to judges last year on ivory paper. I included a cover letter on ivory paper. I also included my transcript on regular white copy paper. I sent these in regular white envelopes. The white envelopes were regular envelopes, not 9x12 envelopes. I mailed them to federal judges in early March (yes, March) of last year.

I had 5 calls within the first week to set up interviews, and another 3-5 over the next 2 weeks. To many, many judges, it simply does not matter.

Damn, that many callbacks that late? Guess that means I'm ok to apply to some extras in late December. Was worried that anything sent out after the 1st or 2nd of December is pointless. Though I get the feeling you are probably just exceptionally qualified.

I'm certainly not exceptionally qualified - judges hire on their own time table and are quite different from firms in that regard. If judges are just beginning to hire that late, you might stand a better shot if you've expressed recent interest. I wouldn't be surprised if the super late judges disregard a lot of December apps and assume that those applicants have already found summer positions.

FlightoftheEarls wrote:

dakatz wrote:

FlightoftheEarls wrote:I sent resumes to judges last year on ivory paper. I included a cover letter on ivory paper. I also included my transcript on regular white copy paper. I sent these in regular white envelopes. The white envelopes were regular envelopes, not 9x12 envelopes. I mailed them to federal judges in early March (yes, March) of last year.

I had 5 calls within the first week to set up interviews, and another 3-5 over the next 2 weeks. To many, many judges, it simply does not matter.

Damn, that many callbacks that late? Guess that means I'm ok to apply to some extras in late December. Was worried that anything sent out after the 1st or 2nd of December is pointless. Though I get the feeling you are probably just exceptionally qualified.

I'm certainly not exceptionally qualified - judges hire on their own time table and are quite different from firms in that regard. If judges are just beginning to hire that late, you might stand a better shot if you've expressed recent interest. I wouldn't be surprised if the super late judges disregard a lot of December apps and assume that those applicants have already found summer positions.

Good to know. I guess a mass follow up letter will be in order to those whom I don't hear back from.

Oh, so you can afford fancy schmancy hanky panky paper? In this economy?! On second thought, you don't need a paying job. Please engrave your credentials on a frozen turd and mail it in.


Kidding aside, it will not make an ounce of difference. Cream paper with white envelope is good enough. Good luck!

But... But.... Tome said it matters...