Top Law Schools

When is the credited time to begin emailing firms for SUMMER 2014 2L SA's?

TYIA

I would say late July/early August. The intention is to get the stuff in before OCI season rolls around, but not so early that the firms are still focused on this current years' summer program (which is why sending in June or early July isn't a good idea).

Keep in mind that the VAST majority of mass mail apps will seemingly fall into a black hole. I applied to many firms via mass mail, got a few calls and interviews out of it, so it was absolutely worth it. But most of the firms never even responded (they ask for professionalism, yet often don't show it themselves).

I found I was most successful mass mailing regional offices, especially those in my home state, which tends to prefer local students and those with strong ties. Also, these regional offices of big firms tend to get less applications than many of the bigger city offices, so there was less chance of getting lost in a pile. For the firms I was most interested in, I went out of my way to write emails to alums of my schools who worked there, set up some phone convos with them to learn more, etc. Often, the connections I made led to interviews since they would often put in a word for me.

I highly recommend utilizing these non-OCI channels as a complimentary facet of your job search.

Anonymous User wrote:I would say late July/early August. The intention is to get the stuff in before OCI season rolls around, but not so early that the firms are still focused on this current years' summer program (which is why sending in June or early July isn't a good idea).

Keep in mind that the VAST majority of mass mail apps will seemingly fall into a black hole. I applied to many firms via mass mail, got a few calls and interviews out of it, so it was absolutely worth it. But most of the firms never even responded (they ask for professionalism, yet often don't show it themselves).

I found I was most successful mass mailing regional offices, especially those in my home state, which tends to prefer local students and those with strong ties. Also, these regional offices of big firms tend to get less applications than many of the bigger city offices, so there was less chance of getting lost in a pile. For the firms I was most interested in, I went out of my way to write emails to alums of my schools who worked there, set up some phone convos with them to learn more, etc. Often, the connections I made led to interviews since they would often put in a word for me.

I highly recommend utilizing these non-OCI channels as a complimentary facet of your job search.

I agree that mass mailing is a necessary tool for any job search (even with a solid OCI schedule). Because I am summering across the country from my law school, and in my target market, I actually did a mass mail in early June. It has already turned into 6+ screeners, and 1 callback. If you have the excuse of being away from your school (and therefore away from school sanctioned receptions), the earlier mailing is welcomed.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I would say late July/early August. The intention is to get the stuff in before OCI season rolls around, but not so early that the firms are still focused on this current years' summer program (which is why sending in June or early July isn't a good idea).

Keep in mind that the VAST majority of mass mail apps will seemingly fall into a black hole. I applied to many firms via mass mail, got a few calls and interviews out of it, so it was absolutely worth it. But most of the firms never even responded (they ask for professionalism, yet often don't show it themselves).

I found I was most successful mass mailing regional offices, especially those in my home state, which tends to prefer local students and those with strong ties. Also, these regional offices of big firms tend to get less applications than many of the bigger city offices, so there was less chance of getting lost in a pile. For the firms I was most interested in, I went out of my way to write emails to alums of my schools who worked there, set up some phone convos with them to learn more, etc. Often, the connections I made led to interviews since they would often put in a word for me.

I highly recommend utilizing these non-OCI channels as a complimentary facet of your job search.

I agree that mass mailing is a necessary tool for any job search (even with a solid OCI schedule). Because I am summering across the country from my law school, and in my target market, I actually did a mass mail in early June. It has already turned into 6+ screeners, and 1 callback. If you have the excuse of being away from your school (and therefore away from school sanctioned receptions), the earlier mailing is welcomed.

Yes that is true. If your schedule makes it necessary to send out the applications earlier, then it is not improper to do so. But I would not send out too early unless the circumstances are a bit extenuating.

Did you send it to particular individual or firm's general email address?
Also when you say mass emails, what's the range?
like 50? 100? or 500?

Also any funny story? like you later discovered putting wrong firm's name?

Thanks!!

nohryi wrote:Did you send it to particular individual or firm's general email address?
Also when you say mass emails, what's the range?
like 50? 100? or 500?

Also any funny story? like you later discovered putting wrong firm's name?

Thanks!!

Firms usually list out contact folks for various offices. So I just looked up the appropriate person on the firm sites. Often, one person handles apps for a few offices, but many firms have a different person in each office. So I would just find the email address for the right person, and send over my stuff. A mass mail app typically includes just a resume and cover letter, so don't start including writing samples or anything like that unless prompted.

I don't recall raw number. My school has pretty much every big firm visit, so my mass mailing was more directed at regional offices, slightly smaller firms, more regional firms, etc. It was more of a backup thing. I would say I did something like 50 mass mail apps. I'm a transfer at my school, so I was lucky to suddenly have access to all the best firms via OCI. If it weren't for the transfer, I would have mass mailed easily 100 or so more firms, since I would need a bigger safety net, plus the pool of non-OCI firms would have been greater.

No real funny stories from mass mails. I think I once put Mr. instead of Ms. since the name was foreign and real ambiguous as to whether it was male or female. So I search it online and, of course, google simply says its a name that, in its country of origin, can be used for boys and girls. I guessed wrong, but didn't really matter. The firm screw up would be an auto-reject, so I'd be mindful of that

Anonymous User wrote:

nohryi wrote:Did you send it to particular individual or firm's general email address?
Also when you say mass emails, what's the range?
like 50? 100? or 500?

Also any funny story? like you later discovered putting wrong firm's name?

Thanks!!

Firms usually list out contact folks for various offices. So I just looked up the appropriate person on the firm sites. Often, one person handles apps for a few offices, but many firms have a different person in each office. So I would just find the email address for the right person, and send over my stuff. A mass mail app typically includes just a resume and cover letter, so don't start including writing samples or anything like that unless prompted.

I don't recall raw number. My school has pretty much every big firm visit, so my mass mailing was more directed at regional offices, slightly smaller firms, more regional firms, etc. It was more of a backup thing. I would say I did something like 50 mass mail apps. I'm a transfer at my school, so I was lucky to suddenly have access to all the best firms via OCI. If it weren't for the transfer, I would have mass mailed easily 100 or so more firms, since I would need a bigger safety net, plus the pool of non-OCI firms would have been greater.

No real funny stories from mass mails. I think I once put Mr. instead of Ms. since the name was foreign and real ambiguous as to whether it was male or female. So I search it online and, of course, google simply says its a name that, in its country of origin, can be used for boys and girls. I guessed wrong, but didn't really matter. The firm screw up would be an auto-reject, so I'd be mindful of that

As a transfer, in your cover letters did you note that you are a transfer or did you just identify yourself as a "Rising 2L at [New Law School]"?

Anonymous User wrote: As a transfer, in your cover letters did you note that you are a transfer or did you just identify yourself as a "Rising 2L at [New Law School]"?

I am not the anon that you were addressing, but as a transfer going into my 2l year, I ALWAYS identified myself as a transfer when applying for stuff in the region of my new law school. If nothing else, it might be interesting enough that someone will give your application a second look, and someone will definitely ask you in an interview about why you transferred. The few things that I applied for out of the region of my new school, I didn't bother.

The anon you were addressing definitely went to a better school than me though (as indicated that he had a lot of big firms come to his school for OCI) so the regionalism might not have mattered to them.

question on giving firms your information more than once:

there are a couple of big firms coming to my school for oci that i would love to get at least screening interviews with. i submitted some pretty generic cover letters to them for oci and did not get an interview from either. after submitting my materials, i met with a partner at each of the firms and asked them questions--pretty much informational interviews, but they went very well. should i now contact the HR directly and write better cover letters mentioning the meetings that i had and reaffirm my interest? i think i could have a chance with my grades/softs but possibly just did not stick out enough to get an initial interview