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Happy to answer questions for a bit regarding resumes, job searches,etc. All responses are just one person's point of view ...

hire me?

How awesome is your job? Because it seems pretty awesome to me.

What kind of firm are we talking about?

fatduck wrote:hire me?

Great example to start with - you need to be more specific ... Hire you for what? Why?

5ky wrote:What kind of firm are we talking about?

A top firm in a middle market

lawfirmrecruiter wrote:

fatduck wrote:hire me?

Great example to start with - you need to be more specific ... Hire you for what? Why?

i make a great latte.

I'll bite. What are the top three things (besides grades) you can do in an interview to impress a recruiter and the top three things you can do to get them to be disinterested?

And, of course, is there any situation that you actually look callback people that are below your GPA cutoff?

If an applicant is seeking a job in patent litigation or prosecution and has engineering work experience with a degree in engineering, would having an MS in mechanical or aerospace engineering be detrimental since the specialty is not as prominent as, for example, electrical engineering or would having solid work experience help overcome the lower utility of the degree?

What is your feeling on Work Experience vs. Grades? Does one ever make up for the other?

Do you ignore the "mass mailings" you get or do you take the time to consider each one of those candidates?

What is the best way to get your resume noticed by a law recruiter?

What would you say are the biggest mistakes you see in law students (who interview with you, bid on your firm, etc.)?

Do you expect a student to be able to choose what general area of law they are going to practice (even just lit v. corporate), and do you have a sense of whether or not other recruiters want students to be able to?

Important raging debate regarding fashion choice: if a student walks in with a tie which is skinnier than the standard 3.5 inches, say it's 3 inches, are you going to judge them for it?

lawfirmrecruiter wrote:

5ky wrote:What kind of firm are we talking about?

A top firm in a middle market

Ok, I still want to know how awesome your job is, but now I have an additional question:

How often do you go to the lateral market, and do you tend to look locally, or do you try to draw from the major markets, or both?

Anonymous User wrote:I'll bite. What are the top three things (besides grades) you can do in an interview to impress a recruiter and the top three things you can do to get them to be disinterested?

And, of course, is there any situation that you actually look callback people that are below your GPA cutoff?

Top Three things
1. Know about my firm before you come in the room and ask questions about our practice
2. Be honest about what practices you do (and don't) want to enter.
3. Relax and be yourself. I have seen many students crash and burn in interviews because they come across as too uptight and nervous. Interviews need to be a conversation not an interrogation.

Top mistakes
1. Say you'll do anything. We are a firm of specialists and if you hate where you end up you will leave in 2 years
2. Be too casual and familiar.
3. Don't know about the practices in my firm and what office locations we have

We will look beyond GPA when there is good previous work experience in business, etc.

What should an applicant write in a cover letter to demonstrate that he or she is truly interested in Your Firm, as opposed to another similarly sized/ranked firm in the same city that also has a great _____ department? How does one demonstrate a good fit?

At UT with a 3.2-3.3 just having finished first year (median will be a bit above 3.3). You interview well and have done a somewhat decent job of making connections to firms that pay market (think a couple of lunches with senior associates at the firms on multiple occassions), but those firms require top 33-40%. Assuming you are trying to make market pay or close to it in TX, what steps do you take starting tomorrow to maximize your chances?

Thanks.

Renzo wrote:

lawfirmrecruiter wrote:

5ky wrote:What kind of firm are we talking about?

A top firm in a middle market

Ok, I still want to know how awesome your job is, but now I have an additional question:

How often do you go to the lateral market, and do you tend to look locally, or do you try to draw from the major markets, or both?

We are about a 50-50 split between laterals and entry levels so I am looking in the lateral ,market all the time. We pull from local and major markets.

Renzo wrote:

lawfirmrecruiter wrote:

5ky wrote:What kind of firm are we talking about?

A top firm in a middle market

Ok, I still want to know how awesome your job is, but now I have an additional question:

How often do you go to the lateral market, and do you tend to look locally, or do you try to draw from the major markets, or both?

We are about a 50-50 split between laterals and entry levels so I am looking in the lateral ,market all the time. We pull from local and major markets.

warumnicht wrote:What should an applicant write in a cover letter to demonstrate that he or she is truly interested in Your Firm, as opposed to another similarly sized/ranked firm in the same city that also has a great _____ department? How does one demonstrate a good fit?

Hard to do I. A cover letter if you have no personal connection. Try to focus details in your resume to a particular practice area and focus. Reach out to alumni at the firm for advice and an introduction.

Anonymous User wrote:At UT with a 3.2-3.3 just having finished first year (median will be a bit above 3.3). You interview well and have done a somewhat decent job of making connections to firms that pay market (think a couple of lunches with senior associates at the firms on multiple occassions), but those firms require top 33-40%. Assuming you are trying to make market pay or close to it in TX, what steps do you take starting tomorrow to maximize your chances?

Thanks.

Keep making connections and try to have lunch with some partners.

Once a candidate passes screening interview and gets a callback, does grade still make a huge difference in the decision process? Thanks!

I want to be a summer associate after 1L. What advice would you give me? What is most important thing law firms look at in taking summer associates?

cdpen wrote:Once a candidate passes screening interview and gets a callback, does grade still make a huge difference in the decision process? Thanks!

For us, not really. Once you come in the office it is about personality and fit with our culture.

Assuming your firm has a tax department, would someone (me) with a CPA license and a Masters of Taxation from a nationally Top 20 ranked Accountancy program be competitive if he attended a 3rd tier state law school for financial reasons? I know grades are a factor, but I'm a 0L.

Edit: Feel free to be brutally honest, I don't mind.

LoyalRebel wrote:Assuming your firm has a tax department, would someone (me) with a CPA license and a Masters of Taxation from a nationally Top 20 ranked Accountancy program be competitive if he attended a 3rd tier state law school for financial reasons? I know grades are a factor, but I'm a 0L.

You would be competitive but would have to get your LLM.

What are your thoughts on a grade drop that occurs after the person already has an interview locked up but before the interview actually happens?