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2L from a T3 here. While job searching 2 months ago, I cold-reached out to an alum (~5th yr. associate) at a biglaw firm to see if she had any suggestions on how to make my resume stand out if I mailed it in (they didn't do OCI @ my school). She offered to let me call her to get her 2c, which I did. I (stupidly) didn't prepare sufficiently for the call. I found out during the call that she did OCI interviewing at other (higher ranked) schools in the area, and it soon became apparent that she was giving me a somewhat informal interview (asked me a lot of questions about what my specific interest in this firm was, etc.). I fumbled with the questions quite a bit. Anyway, she did actually end up giving me advice on how to go about getting biglaw jobs if I struck out at biglaw during 2L OCI (i.e. tips for 3L OCI or post-clerkship job searching).

I'm currently positioning myself to do some of the things she suggested (i.e. by the time 3L comes around I'll have done what she suggested--I don't want to be more specific). I want to keep up contact with her (both for long-term networking purposes and short-term job purposes) and tell her what I'm up to, ask her how she's doing, etc., but I'm having a hard time figuring out a way to do it without making it either look weird/random, or look like I'm just trying to hit her up for a job during 3L OCI. Any suggestions on how to go about this? I figure I should send the email now while she still might remember me, and while it's sufficiently far away from next year's OCI to make it not look like that's all i'm interested in.

tl;dr: how do you keep up a network with someone you once hit up for a job offer without making it seem like that's still all you are interested in?

I wish you'd asked this before your phone call, but I guess that's a moot point now.

Generally, I ask the person at the end of the conversation if they mind if I connect to them on Linked-In. But only if 1) I've already found out that they have a Linked-In account, and 2) I made a really good impression, such that they will remember me when I connect to them.

In your case, I would consider a follow up email (if you haven't done that already), and if you have I would just try to remind her when you see her again that you spoke on the phone a year ago.

Your intuition to network is a good one. You should be trying to tap your alumni base as much as possible. Also, if you aren't already using social media to network you definitely should be: http://thestudentappeal.com/blog/social ... re-lawyers

lol, ask for permission to connect on linkedin?

c3pO4 wrote:lol, ask for permission to connect on linkedin?

yea seriously, wut lol?

OP: ask her to grab a beer and talk about everything besides working for her firm. in fact ask her Qs on how to approach other firms. develop a real mentor/mentee life-long relationship. as she sees u taking her advice and growing - she will practical beg u to come work for her firm.

dood wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:lol, ask for permission to connect on linkedin?

yea seriously, wut lol?

OP: ask her to grab a beer and talk about everything besides working for her firm. in fact ask her Qs on how to approach other firms. develop a real mentor/mentee life-long relationship. as she sees u taking her advice and growing - she will practical beg u to come work for her firm.

If you can..... thats an exceellent idea (ask her to grab a drink though, shes not a dood) lol

AssumptionRequired wrote:

dood wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:lol, ask for permission to connect on linkedin?

yea seriously, wut lol?

OP: ask her to grab a beer and talk about everything besides working for her firm. in fact ask her Qs on how to approach other firms. develop a real mentor/mentee life-long relationship. as she sees u taking her advice and growing - she will practical beg u to come work for her firm.

If you can..... thats an exceellent idea (ask her to grab a drink though, shes not a dood) lol

good point, maybe a coffee to discuss ur career moves. i asked some lawyers to grab beer and golf before but thats bc they were bros. BTW - v. important is to keep ur relationship going. for example, after i got my first offer i celebrated with a partner mentor at a unrelated firm.

sometimes i've sent articles in the news to them, mainly relating to something we talked about, and commenting on it in a few lines. just make it casual like hey just wanted to check in and say hi, btw found this article i thought u might be interested in etc.

if shes an alum you can also ask her if she has any classes/professors she would recommend. just anything to get the ball rolling really

[OP]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.