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hey there anyone else in same boat??

There are plenty of people. You're not alone

Stonewall wrote:There are plenty of people. You're not alone

This. I can name several of my friends, and I got my position (at a PI org, known for hiring late) only recently.

The amount of 2l's and 3l's I know without jobs lined up is pretty staggering

kings84_wr wrote:The amount of 2l's and 3l's I know without jobs lined up is pretty staggering

i don't know many 2Ls without jobs. i know A LOT of 3Ls without jobs, though

A few of my friends got offers late this week... still not too late

good luck

Yep, no job. But maybe the competition has died down during finals?

I'm a 1L- not sure if that is what we're talking about. Just got a job for summer. Last possible second as usual. Good luck

It's depends how you define job.

It's easy to find unpaid employment.

It's hard to find something that pays.

The CDO at my school (tulane, duh) gives us weekly updates on the numbers from each class that are employed. 1L's and 2L's are doing wwwwaaaaayyyy better than the 3L's.

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Anonymous User wrote:

Aberzombie1892 wrote:It's depends how you define job.

It's easy to find unpaid employment.

It's hard to find something that pays.

The CDO at my school (tulane, duh) gives us weekly updates on the numbers from each class that are employed. 1L's and 2L's are doing wwwwaaaaayyyy better than the 3L's.

What portion of 1L and 2L summer jobs are paid do you think? Do the numbers say?

I really don't know as it lists employment by employer, city, and state.

However, 2 things:
1. I generally ignore 1L summer outcomes. It doesn't matter if they are paid because they generally don't lead to full time offers (of course, 0L's may be more interested in that).
2. The 2L's look very good. Better than I expected considering 2012 is supposedly going to be the worst class after 2011 for all law schools.

Aberzombie1892 wrote:It's depends how you define job.

It's easy to find unpaid employment.

It's hard to find something that pays.

The CDO at my school (tulane, duh) gives us weekly updates on the numbers from each class that are employed. 1L's and 2L's are doing wwwwaaaaayyyy better than the 3L's.

Unfortunately, I would not even say the bolded is true, at least where I am. Unpaid internships at PI/govt. orgs in NYC are quite competitive (think over 100 applications for each spot, in many cases), which is why a lot of 1Ls opt to study abroad and let the school arrange internships abroad for them. I would rephrase this as "It's possible to find unpaid employment (in a major US city)." Fortunately, your school or other organizations may have stipends and grants that make it possible for you to take said employment. Check deadlines. I think the working abroad thing is less advisable as a 2L, unless this is something you want to do post graduation and you can make connections in the country. For any 1Ls reading, interning abroad as a 1L didn't hurt people's chances at OCI if they had the grades, and it might not be too late if your school has a similar program.

OperaSoprano wrote:

Aberzombie1892 wrote:It's depends how you define job.

It's easy to find unpaid employment.

It's hard to find something that pays.

The CDO at my school (tulane, duh) gives us weekly updates on the numbers from each class that are employed. 1L's and 2L's are doing wwwwaaaaayyyy better than the 3L's.

Unfortunately, I would not even say the bolded is true, at least where I am. Unpaid internships at PI/govt. orgs in NYC are quite competitive (think over 100 applications for each spot, in many cases), which is why a lot of 1Ls opt to study abroad and let the school arrange internships abroad for them. I would rephrase this as "It's possible to find unpaid employment (in a major US city)." Fortunately, your school or other organizations may have stipends and grants that make it possible for you to take said employment. Check deadlines. I think the working abroad thing is less advisable as a 2L, unless this is something you want to do post graduation and you can make connections in the country. For any 1Ls reading, interning abroad as a 1L didn't hurt people's chances at OCI if they had the grades, and it might not be too late if your school has a similar program.

Well...is there really a difference between:
1. It's easy to find unpaid employment
2. It's possible to find unpaid employment?

I agree that maybe the word "easy" may have been somewhat of a stretch, but if you are looking for employment and are willing to work unpaid, you will find something eventually (assuming you don't give up). However, at this point, it will be extremely hard.

Yeah I would recommend to OP that he/she should really look into city gov/less desirable public interest. I'm pretty certain that those types of employers still have some spaces available somewhere. Does your school have an externship program or a summer clinic you can do? Anything legal is better than nothing legal (and maybe a 2L RA - unless it's paid and you need the money). Also, have you expended all of your family/personal connections?

Aberzombie1892 wrote:

OperaSoprano wrote:

Aberzombie1892 wrote:It's depends how you define job.

It's easy to find unpaid employment.

It's hard to find something that pays.

The CDO at my school (tulane, duh) gives us weekly updates on the numbers from each class that are employed. 1L's and 2L's are doing wwwwaaaaayyyy better than the 3L's.

Unfortunately, I would not even say the bolded is true, at least where I am. Unpaid internships at PI/govt. orgs in NYC are quite competitive (think over 100 applications for each spot, in many cases), which is why a lot of 1Ls opt to study abroad and let the school arrange internships abroad for them. I would rephrase this as "It's possible to find unpaid employment (in a major US city)." Fortunately, your school or other organizations may have stipends and grants that make it possible for you to take said employment. Check deadlines. I think the working abroad thing is less advisable as a 2L, unless this is something you want to do post graduation and you can make connections in the country. For any 1Ls reading, interning abroad as a 1L didn't hurt people's chances at OCI if they had the grades, and it might not be too late if your school has a similar program.

Well...is there really a difference between:
1. It's easy to find unpaid employment
2. It's possible to find unpaid employment?

I agree that maybe the word "easy" may have been somewhat of a stretch, but if you are looking for employment and are willing to work unpaid, you will find something eventually (assuming you don't give up). However, at this point, it will be extremely hard.

Yeah I would recommend to OP that he/she should really look into city gov/less desirable public interest. I'm pretty certain that those types of employers still have some spaces available somewhere. Does your school have an externship program or a summer clinic you can do? Anything legal is better than nothing legal (and maybe a 2L RA - unless it's paid and you need the money). Also, have you expended all of your family/personal connections?

Running back to my studying, but I agree about the personal contacts 100%. It may not be too late if a professor is willing to pick up the phone for you. I think people forget the degree to which their school can help (I mean outside of career services)-- half the people I know got at least a nudge from a professor or a student org contact, if they didn't go through the school outright for a placement abroad. I will note that these were unpaid internships, but a lot of people got stipend funding and so are keeping their borrowing minimal or non-existent.

I was just stressing the possible/easy thing because I know it was extraordinarily frustrating for many of my friends, though as you've said, people do wind up getting jobs. What I wound up with was much better than I thought I had a shot at, even at the late date, so great things can still happen, and you can be surprised.