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3L here with a 2L SA offer looking to change firms for a variety of reasons. I was reading another thread where a poster noted that making connections with alums at target firms was helpful in securing interviews. I'm wondering if anyone had any experience with this/recommendations for how to go about doing it. Specifically who to contact/what to say/etc.

This is what I would do (others are welcome to shout me down if this is way off base):

It's probably useful to email the alums asking to talk about their firm and practice area. That a 3L is asking should be enough to suggest you may be looking to change, so I wouldn't put that in writing unless the person specifically asks.

Then you should call the recruiting offices. If they aren't hiring 3Ls this year, you don't want to waste effort watering a tree that isn't gonna bear any fruit.

I'm sure what you are suggesting would be helpful, and I'm sure it might be especially so in a non-NYC market.

That said, I did none of the networking you are talking about and still had a successful 3L OCI. If you haven't mass mailed yet, I'd do that ASAP.