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unc0mm0n1 wrote:
So I mailed out about 150 applications. I got about 10 interviews out of that and two offers (although I was still up for 3 more that I cancelled after I got my initial offer). I'm a URM who goes to HYS and that's at best 1 out of 30 (and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have received offers from all of the other firms). I think your OCS is giving you awful information. Maybe if you go to a top school and your grades put you in the top ten then 10-20 might be enough but even then to be safe I'd apply to a lot more if you truly want a 1L SA.
Well, fuck.
I attend HYS too, and obviously as a 1L have no grades, so I have no idea why they told me what they did. They definitely understood I was referring to big law. Anyway thanks for the information. I'll just stick with my original plan to mass mail and cross fingers.
Also realize that the market you're targeting plays a significant role. I applied to 7 firms in Texas; received callbacks at three of them, and accepted an offer with one them. Granted, I'm a URM from CCN, but the ratio is statistically favorable enough to suggest that particular markets will increase your odds considerably. That, or I'm the luckiest dude alive.
I still haven't seen a satisfying answer ( and maybe there isn't one) but if you want a SA is it better to apply early (what exactly is early) or wait until grades?
msblaw89 wrote:I still haven't seen a satisfying answer ( and maybe there isn't one) but if you want a SA is it better to apply early (what exactly is early) or wait until grades?
I feel like in past years the advice has been to apply early and they will ask you to update them with grades. The goal is just to be on their radar before they get swamped with applications, and depending on your school to even end up with interviews before your transcript comes in.
My personal plan is either to carve out a day around Dec. 1st and make it job day, or to do it right after finals depending on how my schedule looks.
msblaw89 wrote:I still haven't seen a satisfying answer ( and maybe there isn't one) but if you want a SA is it better to apply early (what exactly is early) or wait until grades?
I feel like in past years the advice has been to apply early and they will ask you to update them with grades. The goal is just to be on their radar before they get swamped with applications, and depending on your school to even end up with interviews before your transcript comes in.
My personal plan is either to carve out a day around Dec. 1st and make it job day, or to do it right after finals depending on how my schedule looks.
If the firm is going to extend you an interview without grades you may as well give them the chance to, and if they won't it's not like they are going to ding you for showing them your 4.0 disjoint from your original app.
I think your plan of limiting your applying time to a certain day makes a lot of sense. I would read the mass mail guides for 2Ls BK187 has up so you don't waste time developing a strategy or learning how to mass mail and then just spend the one day executing.
shameless self-bump. when we say mass mail, does this mean email to a recruiting contact with 2 separate attachments (cover letter and resume), or physically mailing to an address?
Anonymous User wrote:^For judges snail mail is the way to go. For firms, an email with your resume and coverletter in PDF/Word attachments is usually OK.
As one file? Or two? And should one customize the file name to the firm?
Anonymous User wrote:^For judges snail mail is the way to go. For firms, an email with your resume and coverletter in PDF/Word attachments is usually OK.
As one file? Or two? And should one customize the file name to the firm?
You put your cover letter in the body of the email for firms, so the only attachment should be your résumé. For goodness sake, don't over-complicate things be trying to tailor file names or combine PDF documents, you'll just slow yourself down and enter more possibilities for errors.
Have one cover letter tailored to BIGLAW, one tailored to small/midlaw, one for PI, one for judges and one for everything that falls outside the aforementioned categories?
Have one cover letter tailored to BIGLAW, one tailored to small/midlaw, one for PI, one for judges and one for everything that falls outside the aforementioned categories?
Also, do PI resumes have to adhere to the strict 1 page limit? I'm a 1L with extensive pre-law school public service work experience, and at this point I'm just one line short of it becoming 2pp.
Should all of my work experience, paid or otherwise, be under one heading, or should I separate compensated work experience from internships/volunteer work?
Should I include a line mentioning my memberships to bar ass'ns in the market I want to target to demonstrate my "ties" and seriousness about wanting to come back home?
Should I include months of employment, or is just mentioning years OK?
Is 10 pt Times New Roman font too small? (that's just for the body of the resume--name and contact info is in larger font)
If I attend CLEs as a law student, should I put those down?
Checking in with a quick question. I am from a secondary market and hope to go back there after law school. I have good connections at some of the firms in town, and would probably be able to get a job for my 1L summer. If I want to work there long term is this a good idea or should I wait until 2L year so I have a better chance at being hired long term?
theramblinman wrote:Checking in with a quick question. I am from a secondary market and hope to go back there after law school. I have good connections at some of the firms in town, and would probably be able to get a job for my 1L summer. If I want to work there long term is this a good idea or should I wait until 2L year so I have a better chance at being hired long term?
What is the market? A lot of secondary and tertiary markets prioritize 1L hiring and intend to ask their 1Ls to return for 2L and post grad employment.
If we are submitting a writing sample, what kind of header should it have? Should I entitle it "Memorandum" or "Writing Sample"? Should I leave the header I currently have on it addressed to my professor? Or change it to the prospective employer?
Communicate now with those who not only know what a legal education is, but can offer you worthy advice and commentary as you complete the three most educational, yet challenging years of your law related post graduate life.
It's much, much, much better to focus on finals right now and wait until break to focus on resumes/contacts, especially if you're interested in BigLaw. Send a GOOD resume out without grades so you can get on their radar, then personally follow up with the recruiter when grades come out. If you tank your finals because you were spending time with resumes, it won't matter how early you got your resume in.
