It's not too late - BEST advice for the job search
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 3:13 am
Unless you're top 10%, or come from a top school, then it's not a numbers game. You can fill out hundreds of those online app forms and emaill all the recruiting departments, but if you don't actually make them believe that you want to work there, then you won't get an interview. You'll feel great after having hundreds of those application "seeds" out there germinating, but nothing's gonna sprout!
With your limited time remaining for that elusive big firm search, THIS is what you should be doing - not mass mailing. These methods have been the best for me, in order of success rate (I'm barely top 1/3, top 25 school, 2nd journal). They are obvious, but their importance should be stressed:
1) Think of any friend, family member, or friend's friend, or friend's family member that is a lawyer. Rack your brain. Ask around. Once you track down this person, get in touch and tell him/her that you're interested, and include your resume.
2) Apply to a firm you want through their preferred method. Then e-mail the chair of some practice area that you're interested in at the firm. Tell them you already applied, but you wanted to also bring your application to their attention. Only do this if it's a genuine interest that you can demonstrate through past experience. Otherwise you might piss them off.
3) Apply to firms outside of major markets. Think of any connection you can to some place like Mississippi or Minnesota, and hit this hard in your cover letter. Actually this can and should be combined with 1) or 2) above.
4) If you have any time after COMPLETELY exhausting the above methods, then you can resort to mass-mailing. Some people on TLS have had some success, although I haven't.
FYI I have 15 interviews so far - 5 through OCI, 10 through my above methods, and ZERO through cold mass-mailing (although I did waste a lot of time and applied to about 50 firms this way.) GOOD LUCK! Also save some time to pick out a new tie for interviews.
With your limited time remaining for that elusive big firm search, THIS is what you should be doing - not mass mailing. These methods have been the best for me, in order of success rate (I'm barely top 1/3, top 25 school, 2nd journal). They are obvious, but their importance should be stressed:
1) Think of any friend, family member, or friend's friend, or friend's family member that is a lawyer. Rack your brain. Ask around. Once you track down this person, get in touch and tell him/her that you're interested, and include your resume.
2) Apply to a firm you want through their preferred method. Then e-mail the chair of some practice area that you're interested in at the firm. Tell them you already applied, but you wanted to also bring your application to their attention. Only do this if it's a genuine interest that you can demonstrate through past experience. Otherwise you might piss them off.
3) Apply to firms outside of major markets. Think of any connection you can to some place like Mississippi or Minnesota, and hit this hard in your cover letter. Actually this can and should be combined with 1) or 2) above.
4) If you have any time after COMPLETELY exhausting the above methods, then you can resort to mass-mailing. Some people on TLS have had some success, although I haven't.
FYI I have 15 interviews so far - 5 through OCI, 10 through my above methods, and ZERO through cold mass-mailing (although I did waste a lot of time and applied to about 50 firms this way.) GOOD LUCK! Also save some time to pick out a new tie for interviews.