The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls) Forum

[Anonymous User]

on the one hand, it's exciting to see more and more postings for 3Ls/new grads going up, and seems to be more than previous years

on the other hand, i'm not getting any interviews after applying for them so this stinks

k bye back to studying for my remaining final

[Anonymous User]

Do firms just choose not to update on the candidates they had dinged for weeks? I had a callback and it’s been radio silence for two weeks. I guess this means it’s a ding? I’m sure the turnaround must be quick given the timeline is very late (April-May).

[nixy]

Two weeks actually isn't very long. Outside of OCI, hiring follows a lot of different schedules. It may yet be a ding, but two weeks is too early to give up.

[Anonymous User]

Two weeks actually isn't very long. Outside of OCI, hiring follows a lot of different schedules. It may yet be a ding, but two weeks is too early to give up.

When would be the right time to follow up? Is following up a bad idea?

[nixy]

Two weeks actually isn't very long. Outside of OCI, hiring follows a lot of different schedules. It may yet be a ding, but two weeks is too early to give up.

When would be the right time to follow up? Is following up a bad idea?

Personally I'm not big on following up unless you have a specific reason, like another job offer with a deadline. Employers may be shitty about communicating to applicants, but they don't just forget about interviews and job postings and so on - if they're interested, they will contact you. If they haven't, it either means the process is still ongoing, or they're not interested. Either way, following up isn't going to change anything.

But I'm also very much of the "you don't have the job till you have the job" mentality; I think people should go through the application process and then put it out of their minds and if you get hired, that's a lovely surprise. I know not everyone feels that way (and to be fair, I have a friend who followed up on a job every 3-4 weeks for something like 5 months, which I thought was way over the top, but she ended up with the job. And she also never got a rejection - they kept saying they weren't finished/needed more time, so it was fair enough to keep following up, but I probably wouldn't have had the stamina she had).

So I guess I think at least 3 weeks for a follow up. The exception is if they gave you a specific date, I would wait till that's past (probably a week or two, because those specific dates are never as set in stone as employers make them sound).

[Anonymous User]

Out of the 3L purgatory! Received offer for a fed clerkship. I ended up sending around 200 apps and was really getting burnt out so the timing could not have been any better. For those still looking, good luck! I really appreciated this thread throughout the past several months. A job search tip - for those with job experience before law school, look at FINRA's job posting. They have several non-entry level investigative positions open. JD advantage, but if you are at all interested in securities law it's not a bad place to start. I have a business background and got an interview for some of them so it seems like they're just looking for someone with transferable skills.

[Anonymous User]

I know there have been a lot of corporate/NYC first-year associate job openings this year. Should we expect this to continue over the summer? Will there be first-year associate positions available in the months leading up to everyones start dates?

[2013]

I know there have been a lot of corporate/NYC first-year associate job openings this year. Should we expect this to continue over the summer? Will there be first-year associate positions available in the months leading up to everyones start dates?

These have been posted since September for some firms (and at least this winter for others).

[thewoodsman]

Was emailed tuesday afternoon that my application materials were being reviewed, sent updated resume to reflect the honors I received upon graduation yesterday, HR emailed me today that the position has been filled.

Back to depression and bar prep.

[Anonymous User]

Hey friends. Can anyone give me the info on a respectable GPA at a T20 aiming for 3L BL in New York? My GPA has steadily improved since then but it will still hover around 3.46 by the time I graduate. My GPA during OCI was not that different and I had no screeners. I was wondering if this was just too low and I should focus my attention elsewhere.

[Anonymous User]

Hey friends. Can anyone give me the info on a respectable GPA at a T20 aiming for 3L BL in New York? My GPA has steadily improved since then but it will still hover around 3.46 by the time I graduate. My GPA during OCI was not that different and I had no screeners. I was wondering if this was just too low and I should focus my attention elsewhere.

What's your school's curve?

[Anonymous User]

Hey friends. Can anyone give me the info on a respectable GPA at a T20 aiming for 3L BL in New York? My GPA has steadily improved since then but it will still hover around 3.46 by the time I graduate. My GPA during OCI was not that different and I had no screeners. I was wondering if this was just too low and I should focus my attention elsewhere.

This will depend significantly on your school/curve. I graduated with a barely a 3.4 from a similarly ranked school, but we had a lower curve (I forgot what it was), so I was around top 1/3 at graduation.

[Anonymous User]

Hey friends. Can anyone give me the info on a respectable GPA at a T20 aiming for 3L BL in New York? My GPA has steadily improved since then but it will still hover around 3.46 by the time I graduate. My GPA during OCI was not that different and I had no screeners. I was wondering if this was just too low and I should focus my attention elsewhere.

What's your school's curve?

I think 3.39 or 3.40

[Anonymous User]

Figured I'd add a data point since this thread has been a helpful read for me.

Applied directly to a BL firm in a large northeast market around the second week of may. Had a screener the next day, a CB the week after that, then got an offer the next week. Idk if this is true for other big markets, but BL 3L/post-grad hiring seems to be going on still.

[Anonymous User]

Figured I'd add a data point since this thread has been a helpful read for me.

Applied directly to a BL firm in a large northeast market around the second week of may. Had a screener the next day, a CB the week after that, then got an offer the next week. Idk if this is true for other big markets, but BL 3L/post-grad hiring seems to be going on still.

Did you apply to an open entry-level posting?

[Anonymous User]

Figured I'd add a data point since this thread has been a helpful read for me.

Applied directly to a BL firm in a large northeast market around the second week of may. Had a screener the next day, a CB the week after that, then got an offer the next week. Idk if this is true for other big markets, but BL 3L/post-grad hiring seems to be going on still.

Did you apply to an open entry-level posting?

Yes, to join the fall 2021 associate class.

[Anonymous User]

Figured I'd add a data point since this thread has been a helpful read for me.

Applied directly to a BL firm in a large northeast market around the second week of may. Had a screener the next day, a CB the week after that, then got an offer the next week. Idk if this is true for other big markets, but BL 3L/post-grad hiring seems to be going on still.

Did you apply to an open entry-level posting?

Yes, to join the fall 2021 associate class.

Congrats! How many business days did it take to get the offer after the callback?

[Anonymous User]

what practice group? Did you have a relevant background? intern, undergrad, and law school classes?

[Anonymous User]

Figured I'd add a data point since this thread has been a helpful read for me.

Applied directly to a BL firm in a large northeast market around the second week of may. Had a screener the next day, a CB the week after that, then got an offer the next week. Idk if this is true for other big markets, but BL 3L/post-grad hiring seems to be going on still.

Did you apply to an open entry-level posting?

Yes, to join the fall 2021 associate class.

Congrats! How many business days did it take to get the offer after the callback?

CB was on a Tuesday and then Friday of the next week I got the offer.

[Francy22]

what practice group? Did you have a relevant background? intern, undergrad, and law school classes?

[Anonymous User]

what practice group? Did you have a relevant background? intern, undergrad, and law school classes?

Corporate. I don't think I had anything on my transcript that jumped out as corporate since I took a wide mix of classes. I did have relevant prior professional experience in the industries the firm's corporate group tends to work in a lot though. Plus I was top 25% of my class at at a t25. But, I actually only applied because I realized halfway through my 3L year that I didn't want to do litigation so my resume really didn't indicate a preference for corporate at all.

[Anonymous User]

Rising 3L here. Chances of NY BL? 3.7 at T20 with 3.4 median. No law review. Currently interning for a small firm. Initially interested in litigation but at this point I am willing to do anything to chip away at this $200k debt, so I am open to M&A/capital markets work. I am just confused on how to approach firms. My school's career services office has been worthless. When and where should I start reaching out? I did the whole networking thing last fall and made some decent connections, but obviously did not follow through on landing a SA gig. I understand COVID screwed up the timeline a bit, so I was not sure when to start sending applications.

[Anonymous User]

Rising 3L here. Chances of NY BL? 3.7 at T20 with 3.4 median. No law review. Currently interning for a small firm. Initially interested in litigation but at this point I am willing to do anything to chip away at this $200k debt, so I am open to M&A/capital markets work. I am just confused on how to approach firms. My school's career services office has been worthless. When and where should I start reaching out? I did the whole networking thing last fall and made some decent connections, but obviously did not follow through on landing a SA gig. I understand COVID screwed up the timeline a bit, so I was not sure when to start sending applications.

I would start sending them now, but I am also just a rising 3L. I know that Quinn at least is doing 3L hiring at my school, if that helps.

[2013]

Rising 3L here. Chances of NY BL? 3.7 at T20 with 3.4 median. No law review. Currently interning for a small firm. Initially interested in litigation but at this point I am willing to do anything to chip away at this $200k debt, so I am open to M&A/capital markets work. I am just confused on how to approach firms. My school's career services office has been worthless. When and where should I start reaching out? I did the whole networking thing last fall and made some decent connections, but obviously did not follow through on landing a SA gig. I understand COVID screwed up the timeline a bit, so I was not sure when to start sending applications.

I’d also start practicing interview skills. Unless your GPA skyrocketed recently, I think it is somewhat weird that someone who is probably top 25% at a top 20 school couldn’t land an SA gig.

[Anonymous User]

Rising 3L here. Chances of NY BL? 3.7 at T20 with 3.4 median. No law review. Currently interning for a small firm. Initially interested in litigation but at this point I am willing to do anything to chip away at this $200k debt, so I am open to M&A/capital markets work. I am just confused on how to approach firms. My school's career services office has been worthless. When and where should I start reaching out? I did the whole networking thing last fall and made some decent connections, but obviously did not follow through on landing a SA gig. I understand COVID screwed up the timeline a bit, so I was not sure when to start sending applications.

I’d also start practicing interview skills. Unless your GPA skyrocketed recently, I think it is somewhat weird that someone who is probably top 25% at a top 20 school couldn’t land an SA gig.

I was below median after 1L Fall and kept that gpa up until right before OCI, since 1L Spring went pass/fail. Killed it my 2L, so yeah pretty big jump. I don't think my interview skills were entirely terrible. It's not like I had nervous breakdowns or was totally awkward in my interviews (though who am I to judge myself). I did mock interviews and received feedback on how to approach answers and everything. I felt I unnecessarily restricted myself, by asking only for lit and in secondary markets I didn't have solid ties to (never targeted NY). In hindsight, I should have loaded my interview schedule with those firms. Definitely will practice more