For Non-OCI: How did you find your job? Forum

[Anonymous User]

For those of you who didn't get an SA position through OCI -- how did you find your job (and for what type of firm)? I'm a practicing attorney of about two years. I recently moved to a new city for personal reasons and am having a really difficult time getting a new job. I've been on at least 12 interviews and have been looking for the better half of six months. I am at the point of considering non-attorney positions as well, although it's not really preference.

I had an offer right out of law school for a small firm, so I was lucky in that sense but maybe not so lucky because it was in a small practice area that's made it hard to position myself. I'm just curious if anyone can recommend any sources that have helped them or any suggestions. I'd really appreciate it so much. Thank you!

[Abbie Doobie]

check with your law school's CSO. mine posts quite a few experienced attorney positions on their symplicity portal. i was able to get a non-oci job through a connection at a firm that someone in my school's CSO had. though this may not work if your school isn't located near your new city.

also, get out there and start networking with attorneys in your new city. build up a presence so that you're not such an unknown when you go in for an interview

[Anonymous User]

Mass mailing worked for my first gig, got my second gig through spring OCI.

ETA: Only read title, not post. This is probably not helpful.

[Anonymous User]

For those of you who didn't get an SA position through OCI -- how did you find your job (and for what type of firm)? I'm a practicing attorney of about two years. I recently moved to a new city for personal reasons and am having a really difficult time getting a new job. I've been on at least 12 interviews and have been looking for the better half of six months. I am at the point of considering non-attorney positions as well, although it's not really preference.

I had an offer right out of law school for a small firm, so I was lucky in that sense but maybe not so lucky because it was in a small practice area that's made it hard to position myself. I'm just curious if anyone can recommend any sources that have helped them or any suggestions. I'd really appreciate it so much. Thank you!

What kind of market are you in right now?
What position and practice area were you a part of before? Are you in a niche field?
What kind of jobs are you looking for now?

[horriblegb]

I surely tried networking when I moved to the new location out of law school, I networked my butt off, but ended up getting my current position through shameless mass mailing . . . . over the course of about 9 months

[Anonymous User]

Thanks. I've done a little bit of mass mailing, but probably not as much as I should have. I was discouraged after receiving so many rejection letters and just thought there was absolutely no way of making progress there esp. since I didn't start off in biglaw. I've been using my school's job portal but it hasn't yielded much other than two interviews with no offers.

It's NYC which I know is competitive, but I went to law school here so I think that should help -- although I do know it's competitive. I worked as an associate attorney in a niche practice, which hasn't helped at all in most instances but does make me look "unique" or "entrepreneurial" to some firms and helps get me an interview at some smaller places. Maybe I'm wrong, but I do think it would be easier if I'd practiced in corporate or lit for a few years and then tried to transfer into another firm with a corporate or lit group. I don't think I would have had as much of a problem, but I know it still would have been work and not necessarily easy. Being so focused from the start I feel really hurts my chances going forward.

I'm not necessarily looking for biglaw. I'm open to pretty much anything at this point, but would prefer not to be with a solo or doing med mal, insurance defense, etc. Would prefer corporate, M&A, trademark, anything businessy. I don't have a lit background, but would not turn up anything of that nature. I'm also thinking about consulting, but I've read other topics here in this forum and I know it's not always easy to get into that from law (especially considering my niche).

I'm planning to go to more networking events, but just having a hard time figuring out what to attend. What types of networking events have y'all gone to? School alumni events? I see some lawyer career fairs posted on craigslist sometimes, so I'm contemplating going to one of those, but I'm not certain if it's a scam or what.

[A. Nony Mouse]

What about local bar association events?

[TooOld4This]

1. Send resume cover letter to every firm in town. For any one that had your niche or something close to your niche, tailor your resume to that and consider sending the letter to the relevant practice head.

2. Troll all the headhunter sites. Half the time, if you are reasonably clued into the market you can figure out who is hiring. Send your resume directly to the employer, only going through the headhunter if they say they have the exclusive, or if you really can't figure it out. If you go through a headhunter, only give them your resume after you have interviewed them and have a good vibe/have checked out that they are well respected. Make sure they only submit your resume after they have cleared it with you and keep track of where you have applied and where various headhunters have submitted for you.

3. Watch GoInHouse.com, Association of Corporate Counsel, and Indeed.com on at least a weekly basis.

4. Check to see if your area has any Fortune 500 companies. That web site will give you good info on the companies and will link you to their web pages where you can get into their job portal.

5. Find the business journal in your area to learn more about companies in your area. Look for their career page. Also see if alumni from your UG or law school work there and set up info interviews.

6. Join groups. Attend UG and law school alumni events. Join the local bar and attend meetings of interest.

7. Search for UG and law school alumni in the area and set up info interviews to ask them about the legal market.

[Anonymous User]

I went to a regional TT/TTT. I was top 10% with LR after 1L. Struck out at a dozen OCI interviews.

Late fall/winter of 2L I applied to every job posting on my CSO job board and mass mailed all the small/midsize litigation firms in my area. I got a few callbacks but nothing worked out. Stressed and desperate as all hell I kept applying into spring semester. LR and job search tanked my 2L GPA a bit, and I was pretty depressed.

A month from 2L finals I got two SA/summer clerk offers at 10-20 attorney firms in my area. I went with the one doing business litigation and was offered a job after the summer. Decent pay, low required billables, great firm culture. Seriously was a stroke of luck.

Just keep looking and do not brush off any opportunity. People always say to network, and those people are right. Although my offer came from a job posting, my previous networking with attorneys gave me a great connection during the interview. I have a number of friends that locked down positions through networking events or job references from professionals they had met. Don't give up until you've actually tried everything.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks so much. This really, really helps a lot. I've struck out so many times over the last several months that I've felt so defeated. Even when I think an interview has gone over exceptionally well, I see a rejection letter a few days later -- or they don't even have the courtesy to get back to me.

I will keep trying. This advice is extremely helpful. Thank you. Hopefully, in a few weeks or months, I'll be able to come back here and say it all went over well.