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Had a chance to meet with a Partner a few times who went to the same law school and undergrad as myself. Would it hurt to send him my resume and let him know I've mailed his firm's recruiter? He is a managing Partner at his firm, so I assume he has some weight.

I would have just reached out to him asking if there were any employment opportunities at his firm first. If there are, he'll tell you to send him your resume, which he would forward along to the appropriate people.

I'm a 1l and his firms takes summer.

The underlying advice doesn't really change. I assume you're interested in a 2L summer position, since this summer has already started. If his firm does OCI, sending him your resume isn't really going to help; but keeping in touch with him will, especially if he has a hand in summer hiring. Keep getting coffee/lunch with him if you haven't been doing that already.

If his firm doesn't do OCI, e-mail him as I described above and simply state that you are interested in his firm and/or working with him on ____. He'll likely offer to have you forward your resume for consideration.

Networking takes time and effort, but it's worth it in the end (at least I've thought so).

Exactly. Asking the partner a question like that, to bait out the offer to help forward your resume, etc., is about giving the partner the chance to offer to help before you ask for it, because it makes him look and feel better. Who initiates the offer is important. I understand you've already built a relationship, but, if anything, that makes it more important.

ookoshi wrote:Exactly. Asking the partner a question like that, to bait out the offer to help forward your resume, etc., is about giving the partner the chance to offer to help before you ask for it, because it makes him look and feel better. Who initiates the offer is important. I understand you've already built a relationship, but, if anything, that makes it more important.

Just say you're interested in x area of law and that you want to meet people, get exposure, and garner experience. I've even offered to volunteer or work for course credit (which is no cost to the firm), which shows you're not just trying to get a job offer, but rather you're genuinely interested in experience and learning something. Once you get in the door, you can work on solidifying a full-time offer.

Networking really is an art and you have to learn how to come in at an angle that doesn't appear to be desperate and scheming. To put it simply, friends help friends. You want to be in a position with a lot of partners where if they're asked by a colleague if they know of any good associates, you're the person they think of to recommend.

Just make sure there are no spelling mistakes in the subject line.

Devlin wrote:Just make sure there are no spelling mistakes in the subject line.

This guy knows what's up. Was wondering if anyone was gonna point that out.

Devlin wrote:Just make sure there are no spelling mistakes in the subject line.

Skills: Attention to detail, research, writing, Microsoft Office, attention to detail