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There's plenty of talk about the importance of ties to a region if you want employment there, but how strong do these ties need to be exactly?

For instance, I grew up in Florida and went to undergrad at a prominent state school there. I assume this means I'll have ties to anywhere in Florida? Even Miami, when I grew up and lived in north Florida?

I'm going to be in Chicago for law school, so I assume I have ties here as well.

What about other places that are more iffy? My wife has lots of family in Birmingham and I have a bit, my dad grew up there, does that count?

How about southern legal markets in general? Is Atlanta close enough to north Florida that I can claim ties? How about Charlotte and Houston?

My sister lives in Denver. Does that count?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what exactly "ties" entails and how picky employers are about them - in other words, exactly how much connection do you need to an area to convince firms that you're willing to work for them?

Any advice?

duckmoney wrote:There's plenty of talk about the importance of ties to a region if you want employment there, but how strong do these ties need to be exactly?

For instance, I grew up in Florida and went to undergrad at a prominent state school there. I assume this means I'll have ties to anywhere in Florida? Even Miami, when I grew up and lived in north Florida?

I'm going to be in Chicago for law school, so I assume I have ties here as well.

What about other places that are more iffy? My wife has lots of family in Birmingham and I have a bit, my dad grew up there, does that count?

How about southern legal markets in general? Is Atlanta close enough to north Florida that I can claim ties? How about Charlotte and Houston?

My sister lives in Denver. Does that count?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what exactly "ties" entails and how picky employers are about them - in other words, exactly how much connection do you need to an area to convince firms that you're willing to work for them?

If I were interviewing you, I would consider Florida (including Miami), Chicago, Birmingham and Denver as all good ties. You could also make a case for Atlanta.

lawfirmrecruiter wrote:

duckmoney wrote:There's plenty of talk about the importance of ties to a region if you want employment there, but how strong do these ties need to be exactly?

For instance, I grew up in Florida and went to undergrad at a prominent state school there. I assume this means I'll have ties to anywhere in Florida? Even Miami, when I grew up and lived in north Florida?

I'm going to be in Chicago for law school, so I assume I have ties here as well.

What about other places that are more iffy? My wife has lots of family in Birmingham and I have a bit, my dad grew up there, does that count?

How about southern legal markets in general? Is Atlanta close enough to north Florida that I can claim ties? How about Charlotte and Houston?

My sister lives in Denver. Does that count?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what exactly "ties" entails and how picky employers are about them - in other words, exactly how much connection do you need to an area to convince firms that you're willing to work for them?

If I were interviewing you, I would consider Florida (including Miami), Chicago, Birmingham and Denver as all good ties. You could also make a case for Atlanta.

Thank you!

You're probably alright for Denver, but I got grilled on ties at every callback, and I grew up in Colorado, went to college here and worked in the city pre-law school. Be ready for it if you come out this way.

Depends on how well you can sell all this stuff. And some ties are stronger than others. This isn't really a science.

You definitely have ties to Chicago. Law school in a city is more than enough to justify a job in the city.