Summer 2013 Non-OCI Job Hunt (Mass Mail, Job Fairs, etc) Forum

[071816]

I got a lot of "reapply in February" responses from smaller and mid-sized firms. I think I'm gonna hold off on applying to more stuff until after Thanksgiving.

[Lwoods]

Any advice on approaching boutiques that do not have hiring/contact info on NALP or on their website. Do I e-mail alumni, partner or what? Do I say I want to be a summer clerk?

With small firms, don't assume they have summer positions; go in seeking an informational interview. Target alumni of your law school and/or undergrad or those who have something else in common with you.

Don't necessarily go in expecting it to directly result in a summer job, but 1) it may lead to an opportunity elsewhere, and 2) it can happen (I actually got the offer I accepted through an informational interview).

[jess]

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[2LsAPlenty]

I'm still jobless too. I received some offers but ultimately declined because they were unpaid and not really in fields I cared to work in ever. I was really hoping to get a firm job, but it looks like firms hate me, even tiny ones. When I got my first offer back in October, I notified the two outstanding firms I hadn't heard from post-CB. Firm #1 never got back to me, but they said they'd be finished hiring by October 31 anyway. Firm #2 responded and said they wouldn't be finished interviewing by the time my offer deadline rolled around and thus wouldn't be in a position to make any offers yet. I responded and said I had decided to decline my offer and was still interested. That was 2+ weeks ago, and it's been silence since my last e-mail. Doh.

I'm working with a fed. agency this spring, and so far, only fed. agencies seem interested in me for the summer. Looks like my resume will screen gov't now.

I wish it was easier to create some sort of support group for unemployeds at my school. I know there are some people on my LR who are jobless like me, as well as some people in my transfer class (all based on anonymous TLS posts). It would be nice to know who these people are IRL, so I can have someone to talk to. I feel uncomfortable talking to LR people with jobs at V3 DC offices because they all seem so full of themselves when it comes to employment stuff.

Agree, but don't assume all the LR people have jobs, especially at schools other than T14. It is always a difficult subject to bring up and unless they post it on their LinkedIn page or someplace public, you never really know for sure. However, I believe there are a lot of people, including LR, holding out for firm jobs.

[ilovesf]

I'm working with a fed. agency this spring, and so far, only fed. agencies seem interested in me for the summer. Looks like my resume will screen gov't now.

I wish it was easier to create some sort of support group for unemployeds at my school. I know there are some people on my LR who are jobless like me, as well as some people in my transfer class (all based on anonymous TLS posts). It would be nice to know who these people are IRL, so I can have someone to talk to. I feel uncomfortable talking to LR people with jobs at V3 DC offices because they all seem so full of themselves when it comes to employment stuff.

I know these feels. I'm pretty sure after next summer I won't be able to get a job with a firm ever, because all of my WE will be PI/Gov. Oh well, that's why I went to LS anyway. A lot of people I know on LR are still talking about their awesome firm jobs like everyone has one, it's so annoying. But I know a couple of other people who also don't have jobs yet, so we're trying to motivate each other to apply to more stuff.

[ilovesf]

I have my first PI (phone) interview coming up. I've only had firm and judicial interviews before. Is there anything I should do differently here?

[jess]

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[stewie27]

I have my first PI (phone) interview coming up. I've only had firm and judicial interviews before. Is there anything I should do differently here?

Fellow 2L, but I did a few PI/gov interviews this year and a lot for last summer, including ~4 PI phone interviews. I think the key is to research the organization as much as you can and have really good questions. I think that- unlike firms (maybe judges too, I didn't do any of those)- PI orgs really are different. A few of my interviewers from last year that gave me an offer mentioned that they really liked that I asked good questions that showed that I had done my research and was interested.
One benefit is that you can have notes in front of you over the phone. A few times I even had my laptop with their homepage up, even if I didn't end up looking up anything it was nice knowing that I could, I guess. Another tip is to do the interview where you feel comfortable. I have shitty cell reception in my apt and didn't want to do it in school so I ended up sitting in my car in the parking lot. Maybe that won't work for you, but it was nice for me to be somewhere where I wouldn't be interrupted or lose my signal.
The one thing I had to watch out for was to be sure to not speak too quickly and to speak loudly and clearly enough. A few times I also found myself nodding to what the interviewer was saying, which they obviously couldn't see. It is weird to not get any visual feedback for what you're saying, but overall I found phone interviews to not be as bad as I thought they would be.

Edit: PS, good luck!

[Anonymous User]

I have always gotten called in after a phone interview. The tip is just to be engaging and polite. Avoid awkward silences for more than 2 seconds and if you guys both start talking always catch yourself and say something like "i'm sorry, please go ahead". I know this sounds simple, but as long as the conversation flows you should be good.

Also, I always had my resume/writing samples opened and their website or job listing online.

[Lasers]

I have always gotten called in after a phone interview. The tip is just to be engaging and polite. Avoid awkward silences for more than 2 seconds and if you guys both start talking always catch yourself and say something like "i'm sorry, please go ahead". I know this sounds simple, but as long as the conversation flows you should be good.

Also, I always had my resume/writing samples opened and their website or job listing online.

Wow I didn't mean the above to be anon ...damn phone.

[Anonymous User]

snagged an interview from my school's simplicity with a mid-sized firm. don't have much confidence though considering how poorly i've done this semester with interviews but we'll see.

what's the difference between a summer law clerk and a summer associate at a firm? i'm assuming the former is not as guaranteed to lead to a full time offer.

[rad lulz]

snagged an interview from my school's simplicity with a mid-sized firm. don't have much confidence though considering how poorly i've done this semester with interviews but we'll see.

what's the difference between a summer law clerk and a summer associate at a firm? i'm assuming the former is not as guaranteed to lead to a full time offer.

Why don't you ask em. Some firms use summer clerk and summer associate interchangeably.

[ilovesf]

Thanks for the tips! I REALLY want this thing. My interview went okay. The interviewer was super nice. This would be amazing.

[Anonymous User]

I finally got an offer I am happy with and just accepted it. Yay.

I'm.. uh.. excited? to rejoin this thread next summer for 3L hiring.

[jess]

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[FeelTheHeat]

I finally got an offer I am happy with and just accepted it. Yay.

I'm.. uh.. excited? to rejoin this thread next summer for 3L hiring.

Oops, this was me.

Well fuck, congrats! Talk about awesome news going into Thanksgiving.

[Anonymous User]

I finally got an offer I am happy with and just accepted it. Yay.

I'm.. uh.. excited? to rejoin this thread next summer for 3L hiring.

Oops, this was me.

Well fuck, congrats! Talk about awesome news going into Thanksgiving.

Yeah I just accepted a v30 offer from a November CB via mass mail so there's still opportunities out there. I actually had another one that I canceled too so good luck everyone.

[071816]

I finally got an offer I am happy with and just accepted it. Yay.

I'm.. uh.. excited? to rejoin this thread next summer for 3L hiring.

Oops, this was me.

Well fuck, congrats! Talk about awesome news going into Thanksgiving.

Yeah I just accepted a v30 offer from a November CB via mass mail so there's still opportunities out there. I actually had another one that I canceled too so good luck everyone.

Mind PMing me the names of the firms?

[Anonymous User]

I finally got an offer I am happy with and just accepted it. Yay.

I'm.. uh.. excited? to rejoin this thread next summer for 3L hiring.

Oops, this was me.

Well fuck, congrats! Talk about awesome news going into Thanksgiving.

Yeah I just accepted a v30 offer from a November CB via mass mail so there's still opportunities out there. I actually had another one that I canceled too so good luck everyone.

When did you mass mail and what market are these CBs/offers from?

[ilovesf]

Sending my resume to a dream summer internship in sports law. If I get this, I'll die.

[jess]

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[ilovesf]

Sending my resume to a dream summer internship in sports law. If I get this, I'll die.

GL!

Thanks I really need something positive right around now.

[Metaread]

When do small and mid-sized firms typically start hiring? I got some replies saying January/February, and from others no reply at all...

[Anonymous User]

Yeah I just accepted a v30 offer from a November CB via mass mail so there's still opportunities out there. I actually had another one that I canceled too so good luck everyone.

When did you mass mail and what market are these CBs/offers from?

[/quote]


Both of these were mailed in the October 20s and CBs after recovery from Sandy. NYC, but also got a sniff from a top tier LA firm with a fairly tenuous connection to the partner I mailed.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah I just accepted a v30 offer from a November CB via mass mail so there's still opportunities out there. I actually had another one that I canceled too so good luck everyone.

When did you mass mail and what market are these CBs/offers from?

Both of these were mailed in the October 20s and CBs after recovery from Sandy. NYC, but also got a sniff from a top tier LA firm with a fairly tenuous connection to the partner I mailed.[/quote]

You could probably just name the actual firms since you accepted an offer already; you're anonymous anyway

For my part if I didn't already mention it here, I turned down Mayer Brown (Chi) and Steptoe & Johnson (DC) a couple weeks ago (Early November) (and also canceled a CB at Neal Gerber (Chi) in late October; idk if any of them are still looking but worth a shot