Confused 1L Employment Question Forum

[Anonymous User]

Sent out a few apps today. Should I just take the first thing that comes my way? Will there be deadlines where I won't have much time to decide?

A few family friends are close friends with judges and have offered to call them,
one family friend small firm has offered me a job "if I don't get anything else,"
the recruiter for a larger corporation in my home/law school/secondary market has offered to "help me out," and another, more distant connection has offered to email the head of the legal department at a large tech organization that has a big in-house legal department. And I'm applying to the Symplicity 1L firm positions that I can find, and various family friends know some of those people too (my family is large, has lived in this city forever, and is REALLY, weirdly social).

I'm definitely interested in doing corporate/transactional work, and maybe something technology-related, so I'd love to work at an in-house department around here or a firm. Should I focus on judges as well?

So....do I just send everything I can out and take the first thing that comes along IF anything pans out? I have a lot of tentative things in the air right now, and I'm simultaneously worried about ending up with nothing and offending someone who called in a favor for me by cancelling. I don't mean to sound like an asshole-- none of these are certain at all. I guess I'm not sure how to approach this, and whether I should instantly accept the first thing I get or wait until I (maybe, possibly) have more options? Or should I just not worry about it because 1L jobs just need to be legal? I'm thankful I have a backup plan, at least, if everything fails.


TL;DR: What connections should I call in and what jobs do I apply to, and what/when should I accept? What should I do?

[03121202698008]

Judges will generally expect an answer right then and there...either at the interview or on the phone. It's easy to end up facing a tough choice of whether or not to accept. Not much I can tell you to help you...

[traehekat]

with judges you should also know that it is considered bad form to apply to a judge and then decline an offer from him/her. some people say it's not a big deal, particularly as a 1L rather than as a 3L looking for a clerkship, but i think the general consensus is that you should accept from the first judge that extends an offer.

[Anonymous User]

with judges you should also know that it is considered bad form to apply to a judge and then decline an offer from him/her. some people say it's not a big deal, particularly as a 1L rather than as a 3L looking for a clerkship, but i think the general consensus is that you should accept from the first judge that extends an offer.

Thanks! And that would be (look) better than any in-house or firm position, even if those are more relevant to what I want to do?

Edit: forgot to mention, this is the OP.

[traehekat]

with judges you should also know that it is considered bad form to apply to a judge and then decline an offer from him/her. some people say it's not a big deal, particularly as a 1L rather than as a 3L looking for a clerkship, but i think the general consensus is that you should accept from the first judge that extends an offer.

Thanks! And that would be (look) better than any in-house or firm position, even if those are more relevant to what I want to do?

Edit: forgot to mention, this is the OP.

would an externship with a judge look/be better than firm or in-house? it certainly wouldn't LOOK better. externships with judges are great experiences and i highly recommend them, but they are a dime a dozen i think. probably the most common 1L employment route. firms are better in the sense that they pay and if you are applying to firms as a 2L its good to point to your experience working in a firm, even if its smaller. and obviously its better if they are more relevant to what you want to do.

[Anonymous User]

I was lucky enough to have a judge who specifically said I could have a week to decide since he wanted me to get a chance to go on some other interviews and make a fully informed choice as to what type of court/which judge I felt would be the best choice. Such generosity is rare, and I ended up picking that judge anyway.

[sebastian0622]

When someone says they'll hire you "if you can't find anything else," I translate that as "you can do work here, but I'll pay you shit." So that's a factor.