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I'm a 2011 graduate, took the bar exam and have a clerkship lined up for next year (2012-13). But I don't have a jerb for 2011-2012. I don't want a 1-year gap on my resume at all. Any ideas on what I can do?

For firms, I'm guessing they wouldn't like hiring someone that's going to leave after a year. This situation is spinnable to a 1-year trial run (i.e., sort of an extended summer associate) but I don't know if any firms would go for that. Worth trying, but does anyone know if this works? Also, official internship positions at various places seem to often require that the applicant still be in school, which I'm not. Again, worth sending mail to these places to see if they're willing to hire me anyway, but does anyone know if this works?

What else? Majority of typical year-long positions (clerkships, fellowships, etc) have obviously been filled by now, though on occasion, stuff opens up and I apply for them. I could also do some unpaid work, but not for very long--my financial situation totally sucks. There are occasionally some temp/project jobs, but when I look at the job posting they almost always want people with some experience, not a recent grad.

Thanks!

Firms would ordinarily have hired you (they would give you an offer to return after your clerkship), but you've waited until far too late. I would look for small practitioners and basically beg to work for them. With a clerkship, someone will give you a job paying $12/hr that will get you through a year.

Keep doing what you're doing, but apply for the positions that want experience too. You might actually be better qualified than some people with experience, or at least smarter and more likable. The future clerkship on your resume will help kick your resume onto the good pile.

not sure where you're located but find a small firm and ask to do something with them if that's feasible. OR else find a firm that's doing a project you could work on or an association related to a university (center for climate law at x university etc). Or maybe there's a one year master's/professional degree course or something you could take?

You could always look at some do-gooder opportunities abroad. Seems kind of late to be starting to think about this though.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, friends! I agree that the timing is really late, but I wasn't sitting on this or waiting. I got the clerkship pretty recently, and I had been applying to a lot of stuff for the past year--fellowships/internships/etc that started in 2011, fall associate/entry level stuff at firms, and 2012 clerkships. So, I'm extremely excited about getting the clerkship; the next step is to get myself out of the awkward position of finding something for 2011-12 at this point in the year.

study abroad.

watch TV, there's some good shows on.