3L OCI/Employment Search Results: Forum

[Anonymous User]

Networking?

I copy-and-pasted the format from other posts. Networked and networked and networked some more.. Got a good number of application rejections out of it thus far.

[Anonymous User]

Networking?

I copy-and-pasted the format from other posts. Networked and networked and networked some more.. Got a good number of application rejections out of it thus far.

Well I hope the govt. position works out. Believe me, I know it's rough, but it's still early.

[Anonymous User]

Networking?

I copy-and-pasted the format from other posts. Networked and networked and networked some more.. Got a good number of application rejections out of it thus far.

Well I hope the govt. position works out. Believe me, I know it's rough, but it's still early.

Thanks. It's certainly early, but I have to remind myself of that every day or else I'll go nuts.

[Anonymous User]

For those of you 3Ls who had success getting large firm interviews through mailing, what was the time frame like for your mailing campaign?

2L here (IP background) with a summer offer from a small patent firm. I want to give BigLaw another shot as a 3L. I'm hoping improved GPA, Patent Bar registration and my tech background will match up somewhere in the country that happens to have a patent hiring need, so i think shotgun approach along with networking is gonna be best.

I was wondering when to start mass-mailing. Early summer (June)? Right before OCIs (August?)

Thanks for all your contributions to this thread.

[Anonymous User]

School: HYS
Market(s): Anyone who would interview me. (NY, DC, Chicago, LA, MIA)
Approximate class rank: Below Median
Journal: Secondary
Work experience: No
IP background: No
Summer Associate Position? No
Offered? No
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): URM, and significant Courtroom experience
Screening Interviews: 11 or 12
Mass mails: Maybe 20 (inclusive of DA mailings)
Callbacks received: 7 (2 were consulting firms)
Offers: 1 DA's office
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?: 2 of the ones I did callbacks for

[Anonymous User]

For those of you 3Ls who had success getting large firm interviews through mailing, what was the time frame like for your mailing campaign?

2L here (IP background) with a summer offer from a small patent firm. I want to give BigLaw another shot as a 3L. I'm hoping improved GPA, Patent Bar registration and my tech background will match up somewhere in the country that happens to have a patent hiring need, so i think shotgun approach along with networking is gonna be best.

I was wondering when to start mass-mailing. Early summer (June)? Right before OCIs (August?)

Thanks for all your contributions to this thread.

3L who got biglaw. No offered 2L summer.

Start networking now. Don't ask the people you are networking for jobs right now. Keep in contact and then in August, ask them for help.

I got my job through someone that I networked with my 2L year. I didn't ask him for a job, but rather I asked him for advice. At that time, he didn't offer to forward my resume to his boss. However, I stayed in touch with him and I went back to him in aug of my 3L year. He was much more willing to help. He talked to his boss and sent my resume in to HR.

[LawIdiot86]

Don't ask the people you are networking for jobs right now. Keep in contact and then in August, ask them for help.

This is the single biggest mistake I've made in the past and learned from and that I see my unemployed fellow 3Ls making. Meeting someone at a bar association meeting and talking to them for 20 minutes does not mean they want to help you find a job. Get business cards. Exchange them at the end of the 20 minutes. Add them on linkedin. See them at the next bar meeting. Send them an article from AmLaw or the like related to their practice asking about something the article omits. Ask them out for coffee for career advice. By the fourth or fifth meeting they'll be much more willing to be your champion to their boss/HR.

[romothesavior]

This thread makes the Midwest T20 OCI thread seem like gumdrops and rainbows. Very discouraging read. I guess 3L OCI really is a myth. I offer both condolences and encouragement. You guys who are posting sound like you have solid creds, and I feel like you'll land something eventually, maybe even after you pass the bar. Just gotta keep grinding the grind.

Also, working in a small firm >>>> being a barista. Far, far better. I know a guy personally who works in shitlaw ID work who had an offer to go make 150-200k from a departing partner who was going out on his own. I know another guy who got good at what he did at his small firm and moved into a solid position at another small plaintiff's firm, and he now makes six figs, probably more than most of his former classmates who went to biglaw. Rare? Yes. Anecdotal? Yes. But your potential lifetime earnings are going to be many times higher working as a lawyer in a small firm than they will going to Starbucks or Wal Mart.

Good luck y'all.

[Anonymous User]

This thread makes the Midwest T20 OCI thread seem like gumdrops and rainbows. Very discouraging read. I guess 3L OCI really is a myth. I offer both condolences and encouragement. You guys who are posting sound like you have solid creds, and I feel like you'll land something eventually, maybe even after you pass the bar. Just gotta keep grinding the grind.

Also, working in a small firm >>>> being a barista. Far, far better. I know a guy personally who works in shitlaw ID work who had an offer to go make 150-200k from a departing partner who was going out on his own. I know another guy who got good at what he did at his small firm and moved into a solid position at another small plaintiff's firm, and he now makes six figs, probably more than most of his former classmates who went to biglaw. Rare? Yes. Anecdotal? Yes. But your potential lifetime earnings are going to be many times higher working as a lawyer in a small firm than they will going to Starbucks or Wal Mart.

Good luck y'all.

One of the posters above... T20 20% with 3L job.
3L recruiting is tough at schools like CCN MVP. The only chance that people have at the t25 schools is to be in the top 1/3 and to network your ass off.

It is too late to start networking in Aug of your 3L year. You need to start networking the summer of your 1L year and continue to do so through your 2L year and into the summer. Once you establish some rapport with some of the lawyers that you've networked with then you can ask them for help. Think of it like a farmer growing crops. The earlier you harvest your oranges, the worst it taste.

It is really a numbers game. The more people you talk to, the higher yoru chance of getting a job. However, some of it is dependent on luck. I had a friend who got a 2L job with the 2nd person he networked with outside of OCI. I have another friend who has networked with 70+ lawyers and is still jobless. Both are in the top 1/3.

[Anonymous User]

School: T10
Market(s): NYC
Approximate class rank: Top 20-25%
Journal: No.
Work experience: Yes.
IP background: No.
Summer Associate Position? Yes (NYC V50).
Offered? Yes.
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): No.
Screening Interviews: 1
Mass mails: Sent ~10 mass mails targeting firms in NYC with the specific practice area that I'm interested in (my summer firm did not have this specific practice area). I also reached out to alumni at the firm I was really interested in (the one where I received/accepted an offer) that were recommended by friends who summered at the firm.
Callbacks received: 1 V10, 1 V15 (received callback after accepting the V10 offer, did not attend)
Offers: 1 (V10)
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?: Dings from 6, no response from 2.

[traehekat]

For those of you 3Ls who had success getting large firm interviews through mailing, what was the time frame like for your mailing campaign?

2L here (IP background) with a summer offer from a small patent firm. I want to give BigLaw another shot as a 3L. I'm hoping improved GPA, Patent Bar registration and my tech background will match up somewhere in the country that happens to have a patent hiring need, so i think shotgun approach along with networking is gonna be best.

I was wondering when to start mass-mailing. Early summer (June)? Right before OCIs (August?)

Thanks for all your contributions to this thread.

3L who got biglaw. No offered 2L summer.

Any idea why?

[Anonymous User]

For those of you 3Ls who had success getting large firm interviews through mailing, what was the time frame like for your mailing campaign?

2L here (IP background) with a summer offer from a small patent firm. I want to give BigLaw another shot as a 3L. I'm hoping improved GPA, Patent Bar registration and my tech background will match up somewhere in the country that happens to have a patent hiring need, so i think shotgun approach along with networking is gonna be best.

I was wondering when to start mass-mailing. Early summer (June)? Right before OCIs (August?)

Thanks for all your contributions to this thread.

3L who got biglaw. No offered 2L summer.

Too many SA accepted i guess... they hired under 50% of the SAs. I was also the only SA not from the area.

Any idea why?

[Anonymous User]

Rate my chances: 2L from a T10 w/ a v20 SA lined up. Interested in M&A work so I want to shoot for the v5 if at all possible. My grades were top 1/4 after 1L and am now w/in the top 10% after 2L fall. Presuming I get an offer from my v20 and maintain top 10% what do you think my chances at "trading up" would be?


Also, this is for NYC.

Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Rate my chances: 2L from a T10 w/ a v20 SA lined up. Interested in M&A work so I want to shoot for the v5 if at all possible. My grades were top 1/4 after 1L and am now w/in the top 10% after 2L fall. Presuming I get an offer from my v20 and maintain top 10% what do you think my chances at "trading up" would be?


Also, this is for NYC.

Thanks.

Very similar situation, would like to know this as well.

[Anonymous User]

Rate my chances: 2L from a T10 w/ a v20 SA lined up. Interested in M&A work so I want to shoot for the v5 if at all possible. My grades were top 1/4 after 1L and am now w/in the top 10% after 2L fall. Presuming I get an offer from my v20 and maintain top 10% what do you think my chances at "trading up" would be?


Also, this is for NYC.

Thanks.

Very similar situation, would like to know this as well.

I'd imagine you have a shot, but would like to hear from some other people as I am likely to be trying a similar move, though from a lower ranked vault firm.

[Anonymous User]

Rate my situation:

T10
I was bottom of my class last year, but I got a very prestigious government position. This semester I hit above median. Do you think I have a shot with firms for hiring?

[romothesavior]

Rate my situation:

T10
I was bottom of my class last year, but I got a very prestigious government position. This semester I hit above median. Do you think I have a shot with firms for hiring?

So, you were bottom of the class and had one semester above median? Still not liking your chances. But what do I know? Not much.

[Helmholtz]

Rate my chances: 2L from a T10 w/ a v20 SA lined up. Interested in M&A work so I want to shoot for the v5 if at all possible. My grades were top 1/4 after 1L and am now w/in the top 10% after 2L fall. Presuming I get an offer from my v20 and maintain top 10% what do you think my chances at "trading up" would be?


Also, this is for NYC.

Thanks.

Very similar situation, would like to know this as well.

I'd imagine you have a shot, but would like to hear from some other people as I am likely to be trying a similar move, though from a lower ranked vault firm.

Every single one of these quotes is the same person. This is retarded and just clogs up the thread. Don't be surprised if the veil of anonymity is pierced next time.

[romothesavior]

Rate my chances: 2L from a T10 w/ a v20 SA lined up. Interested in M&A work so I want to shoot for the v5 if at all possible. My grades were top 1/4 after 1L and am now w/in the top 10% after 2L fall. Presuming I get an offer from my v20 and maintain top 10% what do you think my chances at "trading up" would be?


Also, this is for NYC.

Thanks.

Very similar situation, would like to know this as well.

I'd imagine you have a shot, but would like to hear from some other people as I am likely to be trying a similar move, though from a lower ranked vault firm.

Every single one of these quotes is the same person.

wtf.......

Hahahahaha.... The patheticness of some law students is hard to quantify.

[traehekat]

*sigh* fucking law students

[IAFG]

Rate my chances: 2L from a T10 w/ a v20 SA lined up. Interested in M&A work so I want to shoot for the v5 if at all possible. My grades were top 1/4 after 1L and am now w/in the top 10% after 2L fall. Presuming I get an offer from my v20 and maintain top 10% what do you think my chances at "trading up" would be?


Also, this is for NYC.

Thanks.

Very similar situation, would like to know this as well.

I'd imagine you have a shot, but would like to hear from some other people as I am likely to be trying a similar move, though from a lower ranked vault firm.

Every single one of these quotes is the same person. This is retarded and just clogs up the thread. Don't be surprised if the veil of anonymity is pierced next time.

Lemme guess, this poster also started a thread on the same subject.

[Anonymous User]

School: T10
Market(s): NYC
Approximate class rank: Top 20-25%
Journal: No.
Work experience: Yes.
IP background: No.
Summer Associate Position? Yes (NYC V50).
Offered? Yes.
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): No.
Screening Interviews: 1
Mass mails: Sent ~10 mass mails targeting firms in NYC with the specific practice area that I'm interested in (my summer firm did not have this specific practice area). I also reached out to alumni at the firm I was really interested in (the one where I received/accepted an offer) that were recommended by friends who summered at the firm.
Callbacks received: 1 V10, 1 V15 (received callback after accepting the V10 offer, did not attend)
Offers: 1 (V10)
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?: Dings from 6, no response from 2.

Thanks for sharing your info. I am in a similar situation in almost all respects coming into this summer, and had a few questions:

1) Did you do any Symplicity/3L OCI interviews at all or do everything through mass mailing?

2) What was the timing like w/r/t getting your 2L summer offer and then interviewing at other places? When you received the offer at the end of the summer did you say, "I'd like to think about it"? Is there any risk at all of the firm rescinding their offer if you don't accept it on the spot and ask for a little more time?

3) Did the firms you were interviewing with want recs from your summer firm? This could raise similar concerns as Question 2...

4) When you say top 20-25%, you're basing that off the 1L curve still, right?

5) Any general words of wisdom? (Anyone w/ a success story feel free to chime in here)

[Anonymous User]

Look for alternative careers. After 2L BigLaw OCI is over, I don't get why so many people are willing to martyr themselves to get some crappy legal job so long as its legal. Shitlaw is the absolute worst from a paying, hours and lifestyle prospective. There is reason that law is probably the least happy field out there. After 2L OCI, I just admitted I probably wouldn't have made a decent attorney anyway and didn't find it worthwhile to go network 24/7 to find some shit gig or the 1/10,000 big/mid law gig.

I make more than most of "lawyer" colleagues despite working like 35 hours a week. Have a decent pension, health care plan too.

[Anonymous User]

Look for alternative careers. After 2L BigLaw OCI is over, I don't get why so many people are willing to martyr themselves to get some crappy legal job so long as its legal. Shitlaw is the absolute worst from a paying, hours and lifestyle prospective. There is reason that law is probably the least happy field out there. After 2L OCI, I just admitted I probably wouldn't have made a decent attorney anyway and didn't find it worthwhile to go network 24/7 to find some shit gig or the 1/10,000 big/mid law gig.

I make more than most of "lawyer" colleagues despite working like 35 hours a week. Have a decent pension, health care plan too.

That's all fine and good, but not relevant to my question at all. I have a V40 2L SA coming up and am acting under the assumption that, barring a screwup, I'll get an offer. My firm isn't as strong in the particular area I'm trying to enter, though, so I was trying to get info re: moving to a different firm after 2L summer (a process that calls for some discretion). Not necessarily "moving up," mind you - just moving sideways into a similar firm with a stronger presence in this field.

[sadsituationJD]

You unemployed 3 L's should start registering with the temp agencies like Update, Lexolution, HireCounsel, Epiq, etc. These agencies are the "middlemen" who staff doc review projects for the Biglaw firms.

Most of these e-discovery projects have left NYC and other major cities due to high office rent and the fact that the temps have to be paid a bit more. But there is work if you're willing to go to say GA:

--LinkRemoved--

If you get a bit of doc review experience (2 to 4 years under yer belt nowadays), you can get NYC gigs which pay $29 an hour:

--LinkRemoved--


Of course, there are no paid health benefits/promotions/skill building or anything like that, but at least it's a place to hang for awhile until you decide on an alternative career to law, which BTW is still shedding jobs at a steady clip:

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/04/06/leg ... ort-march/