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T20 grad, 1 year out with heavy lit experience.

last two days I applied to about six V50 firms via firm website and about 4 of them rejected within 24 hours and the rest no response. what concerns me is that transcript wasn't even requested so it was based on resume and cover. is this usually what happens during mass mail? or is there something fundamentally wrong about my cover and resume? (my resume and cover was reviewed and approved by my CSO before if that makes any difference)

Anonymous User wrote:T20 grad, 1 year out with heavy lit experience.

last two days I applied to about six V50 firms via firm website and about 4 of them rejected within 24 hours and the rest no response. what concerns me is that transcript wasn't even requested so it was based on resume and cover. is this usually what happens during mass mail? or is there something fundamentally wrong about my cover and resume? (my resume and cover was reviewed and approved by my CSO before if that makes any difference)

I would just assume that those firms aren't hiring right now. Don't worry about it.

if you're actually mass mailing with no direction or tailoring whatsoever I think you should expect a fairly high rejection rate

Fuck those generic firm resume dumps. You need to be networking with partners at these firms. They're the ones that will get you an interview or at the very least hand deliver your resume to HR.

1styearlateral wrote:Fuck those generic firm resume dumps. You need to be networking with partners at these firms. They're the ones that will get you an interview or at the very least hand deliver your resume to HR.

that's the thing. i hate going to bar association meetings just to look for jobs. it reeks of desperation and they know it. i currently have a shitjob as a fallback but i think staying here any longer will be a liability.

Anonymous User wrote:

1styearlateral wrote:Fuck those generic firm resume dumps. You need to be networking with partners at these firms. They're the ones that will get you an interview or at the very least hand deliver your resume to HR.

that's the thing. i hate going to bar association meetings just to look for jobs. it reeks of desperation and they know it. i currently have a shitjob as a fallback but i think staying here any longer will be a liability.

Do you know what else reeks of desperation? Trying to lateral as a first-year lit associate. I'm not saying you shouldn't lateral, but you should probably let go of the idea that you need to avoid the appearance of desperation. Do whatever it takes.

If a firm isn't hiring, it isn't hiring and rejection is easy.

Start talking to hiring partners. Skip the recruiters.

lolwat wrote:If a firm isn't hiring, it isn't hiring and rejection is easy.

Start talking to hiring partners. Skip the recruiters.

do u mean to mass mail directly to them? i have some firms that i want to work for specifically because ive worked with them before as a volunteer. shit like that?

1. Seems like firms are hiring more transactional (or bankruptcy) than pure litigation.

2. These firms might have just raised salaries and received a ton of applications in response to that.

3. Do you have good or bad grades? If you have good grades, I would send the transcript even if they don't ask.

Anonymous User wrote:

1styearlateral wrote:Fuck those generic firm resume dumps. You need to be networking with partners at these firms. They're the ones that will get you an interview or at the very least hand deliver your resume to HR.

that's the thing. i hate going to bar association meetings just to look for jobs. it reeks of desperation and they know it. i currently have a shitjob as a fallback but i think staying here any longer will be a liability.

I've commented too often on this topic and I'm too lazy to go find my previous posts. Go through my post history to see what I think you should do. It goes beyond attending bar events. Build relationships with these people. They're more likely to hire someone they know than some shmuck they met at a cocktail hour.

In all honesty, a T20 grad with 1 year experience in "shitlaw" is not a super hot commodity. Not saying you can't find something, but it is not going to be as easy as sending out 6 apps to V50 firms.

blahblewblah wrote:In all honesty, a T20 grad with 1 year experience in "shitlaw" is not a super hot commodity. Not saying you can't find something, but it is not going to be as easy as sending out 6 apps to V50 firms.

I think you're misreading OP. I think he's just saying that his current big law job is shitty, not that he's working at some ambulance-chasing law firm for $30k/yr.

But if you're right--if OP isn't already in big law--then he's basically got no chance as a first-year lateral.

rpupkin wrote:

blahblewblah wrote:In all honesty, a T20 grad with 1 year experience in "shitlaw" is not a super hot commodity. Not saying you can't find something, but it is not going to be as easy as sending out 6 apps to V50 firms.

I think you're misreading OP. I think he's just saying that his current big law job is shitty, not that he's working at some ambulance-chasing law firm for $30k/yr.

But if you're right--if OP isn't already in big law--then he's basically got no chance as a first-year lateral.

I read it the same way as blahblewblah, if OP is in biglaw now, why would staying there longer be a liability? I'd think staying longer and getting more experience could only help trying to lateral.

rpupkin wrote:

blahblewblah wrote:In all honesty, a T20 grad with 1 year experience in "shitlaw" is not a super hot commodity. Not saying you can't find something, but it is not going to be as easy as sending out 6 apps to V50 firms.

I think you're misreading OP. I think he's just saying that his current big law job is shitty, not that he's working at some ambulance-chasing law firm for $30k/yr.

But if you're right--if OP isn't already in big law--then he's basically got no chance as a first-year lateral.

That may be. I interpreted "shitjob as a fallback but i think staying here any longer will be a liability" as a non-big law job. Staying at a big law job may be shitty, but not really a liability.

If he's a non-traditional background he honestly needs to go to partners and not recruiting departments. HR is there to find reasons to reject you especially when they are not actively hiring. Their criteria for hiring isn't who can help get the work done, its who looks good on the firm website. If he thinks he can immediately hit the ground running, he can be better off going to find a partner at a firm with some connection to him and build on that network until a position is created for him than hoping for salvation from HR since they will ding you for missing any of their metrics.

Anonymous User wrote:

lolwat wrote:If a firm isn't hiring, it isn't hiring and rejection is easy.

Start talking to hiring partners. Skip the recruiters.

do u mean to mass mail directly to them? i have some firms that i want to work for specifically because ive worked with them before as a volunteer. shit like that?

You can, yes. I mass mailed to hiring partners. Sometimes they ignore. Sometimes they just forward to the recruiting coordinator and you get dinged just the same. Sometimes they notice and talk to you.

You worked for some firms as a volunteer? I think in that case you might try seeing if the hiring partner will grab a coffee with you to talk. Thats less formal than sending an app that might not get read in detail. And you make connections that way n

lolwat wrote: do u mean to mass mail directly to them? i have some firms that i want to work for specifically because ive worked with them before as a volunteer. shit like that?

You can, yes. I mass mailed to hiring partners. Sometimes they ignore. Sometimes they just forward to the recruiting coordinator and you get dinged just the same. Sometimes they notice and talk to you.

You worked for some firms as a volunteer? I think in that case you might try seeing if the hiring partner will grab a coffee with you to talk. Thats less formal than sending an app that might not get read in detail. And you make connections that way n[/quote]

i worked with an attorney at the biglaw as a volunteer during 2L. he's not a partner. im not sure how reaching out to him for a coffee will make a difference vs emailing him my resume asking if he is willing to hand it to HR for me. I'd think he'd be annoyed being asked for coffee. I am open to suggestions.

i worked with an attorney at the biglaw as a volunteer during 2L. he's not a partner. im not sure how reaching out to him for a coffee will make a difference vs emailing him my resume asking if he is willing to hand it to HR for me. I'd think he'd be annoyed being asked for coffee. I am open to suggestions.

It's up to your judgment of the person. Most people I know would rather chat with someone and offer to help, rather than get a resume with the message "Sup, can you pass my resume along to HR?"

Also, a non-partner at biglaw probably won't have much pull unless he is connected with the hiring partner. I mean, I've had someone respond to one of my e-mails before with something to the effect of, "Hey, I don't have time to chat, but send me your resume and I'll send it up to the hiring partner." That's still just as good, and they did that. But getting your resume sent to HR, if you're referring to someone like the recruiting coordinator, typically will be no better than sending it to them yourself. I think this was mentioned before, but you need to think about what HR at a firm (i.e., the recruiting coordinator) does. They screen the hundreds of applications that come in daily and auto-ding 99% of them for various reasons.

Tldr, you need to get your resume in front of the lawyers that do the hiring, not the recruiting coordinator and not some random associate/senior associate. That doesn't mean you can't go through those people to start with. I've had some luck where I got dinged by the recruiting coordinator, but got an interview after re-sending my resume to the same firm--to the hiring partner instead.

lolwat wrote:
It's up to your judgment of the person. Most people I know would rather chat with someone and offer to help, rather than get a resume with the message "Sup, can you pass my resume along to HR?"

Also, a non-partner at biglaw probably won't have much pull unless he is connected with the hiring partner. I mean, I've had someone respond to one of my e-mails before with something to the effect of, "Hey, I don't have time to chat, but send me your resume and I'll send it up to the hiring partner." That's still just as good, and they did that. But getting your resume sent to HR, if you're referring to someone like the recruiting coordinator, typically will be no better than sending it to them yourself. I think this was mentioned before, but you need to think about what HR at a firm (i.e., the recruiting coordinator) does. They screen the hundreds of applications that come in daily and auto-ding 99% of them for various reasons.

Tldr, you need to get your resume in front of the lawyers that do the hiring, not the recruiting coordinator and not some random associate/senior associate. That doesn't mean you can't go through those people to start with. I've had some luck where I got dinged by the recruiting coordinator, but got an interview after re-sending my resume to the same firm--to the hiring partner instead.

That is truly amazing and I really appreciate your helpful insight. I commend you for your resilience and am happy to hear ppl like you are in the legal field. Just out of curiosity, did that partner end up making you an offer?

Anonymous User wrote:

lolwat wrote:
It's up to your judgment of the person. Most people I know would rather chat with someone and offer to help, rather than get a resume with the message "Sup, can you pass my resume along to HR?"

Also, a non-partner at biglaw probably won't have much pull unless he is connected with the hiring partner. I mean, I've had someone respond to one of my e-mails before with something to the effect of, "Hey, I don't have time to chat, but send me your resume and I'll send it up to the hiring partner." That's still just as good, and they did that. But getting your resume sent to HR, if you're referring to someone like the recruiting coordinator, typically will be no better than sending it to them yourself. I think this was mentioned before, but you need to think about what HR at a firm (i.e., the recruiting coordinator) does. They screen the hundreds of applications that come in daily and auto-ding 99% of them for various reasons.

Tldr, you need to get your resume in front of the lawyers that do the hiring, not the recruiting coordinator and not some random associate/senior associate. That doesn't mean you can't go through those people to start with. I've had some luck where I got dinged by the recruiting coordinator, but got an interview after re-sending my resume to the same firm--to the hiring partner instead.

That is truly amazing and I really appreciate your helpful insight. I commend you for your resilience and am happy to hear ppl like you are in the legal field. Just out of curiosity, did that partner end up making you an offer?

No, I didn't get an offer there. Everyone at the firm had insane credentials so it was a bit of a reach to begin with. I think I got a callback years ago with another firm (v100 I think? well-known in California at least) by e-mailing my stuff to the hiring partner AND the recruiting coordinator at the same time. And I got my current job now because I sent my resume directly to a name partner (small boutique firm).

lateralling as a first year lit associate with whatever stats is basically impossible.

Email v. snail mail for reaching out to partners? Email always felt overly intrusive for partners, especially managing/hiring/name partners, and much easier to just delete, whereas snail mail they can view at their leisure and have a physical copy of application. Thoughts?

Anonymous User wrote:Email v. snail mail for reaching out to partners? Email always felt overly intrusive for partners, especially managing/hiring/name partners, and much easier to just delete, whereas snail mail they can view at their leisure and have a physical copy of application. Thoughts?

Your instincts are backwards on this one. Send email.

Disagree that lateraling as a first year lit associate is basically impossible. I'm T14 top third who's been sending resumes. I'm employed at a non big-law firm. Had one V50 interview and have am law 200 interview two weeks from now. Not offer in hand but firms have been receptive.

tyroneslothrop1 wrote:Disagree that lateraling as a first year lit associate is basically impossible. I'm T14 top third who's been sending resumes. I'm employed at a non big-law firm. Had one V50 interview and have am law 200 interview two weeks from now. Not offer in hand but firms have been receptive.

El Pollito wrote:lateralling as a first year lit associate with whatever stats is basically impossible.