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Am I supposed to wait a few days or weeks before emailing an alum that works at a firm I've mass-mailed? Also, what exactly do I ask them...."I'm a student at ______ law and was wondering if you could help me get an interview with _____ firm?"

I generally reached out immediately after, or sometimes even before, I mailed my materials to recruiting. Just condense your cover letter into an email and send it to the alum. Ideally it's an alum who practices in an area of law you have expressed/can credibly express interest in but don't sweat it if it's not, and don't fake that.

Sideshow Raheem wrote:I generally reached out immediately after, or sometimes even before, I mailed my materials to recruiting. Just condense your cover letter into an email and send it to the alum. Ideally it's an alum who practices in an area of law you have expressed/can credibly express interest in but don't sweat it if it's not, and don't fake that.

Thanks so much for your input! How do you usually ask for their assistance? Does "I would really appreciate if you could help me with getting an interview with _______ firm" sound too desperate? How do you tie what you need from them with your condensed cover letter?

Anonymous User wrote:

Sideshow Raheem wrote:I generally reached out immediately after, or sometimes even before, I mailed my materials to recruiting. Just condense your cover letter into an email and send it to the alum. Ideally it's an alum who practices in an area of law you have expressed/can credibly express interest in but don't sweat it if it's not, and don't fake that.

Thanks so much for your input! How do you usually ask for their assistance? Does "I would really appreciate if you could help me with getting an interview with _______ firm" sound too desperate? How do you tie what you need from them with your condensed cover letter?

I wouldn't mention an interview at all. It's recruiting season, you're a 2L, they have a good idea of why you're emailing them. Just mention in the email that you recently applied (or are about to apply) for a SA position with their firm. If they're willing to help, they'll know what to do - either forward your email to recruiting or let recruiting know you reached out.

Ideally you'd be able to meet up with them in person for coffee and lightly broach the subject mid-conversation ("I applied/am going to apply to your firm...do you have any advice for getting pulled out of the stack of applications?"). I understand that it might be too late for that unless you're currently living in the city that the alum is in.

Sideshow Raheem wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Sideshow Raheem wrote:I generally reached out immediately after, or sometimes even before, I mailed my materials to recruiting. Just condense your cover letter into an email and send it to the alum. Ideally it's an alum who practices in an area of law you have expressed/can credibly express interest in but don't sweat it if it's not, and don't fake that.

Thanks so much for your input! How do you usually ask for their assistance? Does "I would really appreciate if you could help me with getting an interview with _______ firm" sound too desperate? How do you tie what you need from them with your condensed cover letter?

I wouldn't mention an interview at all. It's recruiting season, you're a 2L, they have a good idea of why you're emailing them. Just mention in the email that you recently applied (or are about to apply) for a SA position with their firm. If they're willing to help, they'll know what to do - either forward your email to recruiting or let recruiting know you reached out.

Ideally you'd be able to meet up with them in person for coffee and lightly broach the subject mid-conversation ("I applied/am going to apply to your firm...do you have any advice for getting pulled out of the stack of applications?"). I understand that it might be too late for that unless you're currently living in the city that the alum is in.

Meeting up with them will be difficult since I dont live in the geographic area I want to work in. Sorry for bombarding you with questions but just one more - are you saying to email the recruiting coordinator and let him/her know that I reached out to an associate/partner that works there? Is there any reason why I would have to do that? Im a novice at this stuff

Anonymous User wrote: Meeting up with them will be difficult since I dont live in the geographic area I want to work in. Sorry for bombarding you with questions but just one more - are you saying to email the recruiting coordinator and let him/her know that I reached out to an associate/partner that works there? Is there any reason why I would have to do that? Im a novice at this stuff

No problem. It kinda depends on the order of events here. If you meet with and/or reach out via email to the alum (provided s/he responds) before applying then I'd include the fact that you spoke to them (bonus points if you can mention a specific thing they told you about a practice area/firm culture/etc.) in the application email to recruiting. If you've already applied and reach out to the alum afterwards, I don't think it's a great idea to email recruiting just to tell them you spoke with the alum. If you don't hear from the firm within ~2 weeks it might make sense to send an email reiterating your interest and mentioning in that email you spoke to an alum (again, try to tie in something they told you to a reason you're interested in that particular firm).