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I keep hearing discussions of mass mailing. I assume this just means blindly carpet bombing as many firms as possible with the typical application packet (CL, resume, writing sample, references, grades). Correct?

If so, any helpful excel/tech links anyone has on hand? I remember seeing one not too long ago but can't find it.

Thanks.

Someone have a guide to mail merge, I feel like its been done on this forum many time but I can't find it on search. Thanks

When people say mass-mailing, they usually aren't implying a particular volume, they just mean applying for jobs via letters or emails as opposed to via OCI. Since jobs are hard to get there's a lot to be said for sending out many applications, but it can also be important to have at least somewhat targeted cover letters.

Also, there's some variability in what is actually sent. A cover letter and resume are the only truly required items to be sent, and a lot of 1Ls avoid the writing sample because there hasn't been much time to produce one and only a few firms really care.

And the general consensus I've gotten from trolling is that mass mailing should be done sometime between July 1st and Aug 1st? Would you say that's accurate?

thesealocust wrote:When people say mass-mailing, they usually aren't implying a particular volume, they just mean applying for jobs via letters or emails as opposed to via OCI. Since jobs are hard to get there's a lot to be said for sending out many applications, but it can also be important to have at least somewhat targeted cover letters.

Also, there's some variability in what is actually sent. A cover letter and resume are the only truly required items to be sent, and a lot of 1Ls avoid the writing sample because there hasn't been much time to produce one and only a few firms really care.

How targeted? I made it through about 30-40 pages of the 1L job thread and it seems like the consensus was it isn't worth it if you're just going to throw in a few random lines about the firm from their website. But I'm planning on doing 100+ cover letters ideally, and I'm not even sure who to hone in on and target specifically since the odds are so statistically low for any individual firm.

Would it be a good idea to just target by practice group?
ie one batch of CLs for firms that do Banking/Financial Law, another for employment law, litigation, etc?

Anonymous User wrote:Someone have a guide to mail merge, I feel like its been done on this forum many time but I can't find it on search. Thanks

http://law.fordham.edu/assets/CareerPla ... _MERGE.pdf

NYC Law wrote:

thesealocust wrote:When people say mass-mailing, they usually aren't implying a particular volume, they just mean applying for jobs via letters or emails as opposed to via OCI. Since jobs are hard to get there's a lot to be said for sending out many applications, but it can also be important to have at least somewhat targeted cover letters.

Also, there's some variability in what is actually sent. A cover letter and resume are the only truly required items to be sent, and a lot of 1Ls avoid the writing sample because there hasn't been much time to produce one and only a few firms really care.

How targeted? I made it through about 30-40 pages of the 1L job thread and it seems like the consensus was it isn't worth it if you're just going to throw in a few random lines about the firm from their website. But I'm planning on doing 100+ cover letters ideally, and I'm not even sure who to hone in on and target specifically since the odds are so statistically low for any individual firm.

Would it be a good idea to just target by practice group?
ie one batch of CLs for firms that do Banking/Financial Law, another for employment law, litigation, etc?

The OP is talking about 2L summer jobs.

For 1L jobs, targeted cover letters don't really matter because 1L jobs don't really matter (except that you need to have one). I only applied to private practice, so I basically used the same cover letter and only changed regional info. Other people I know had different cover letters for PI v firms, but not targeted other than that. The odds of you actually getting a 1L SA are so low that personally I would spend time studying and not worry about targeting cover letters.