Networking in NYC as a recent jobless graduate? Forum
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Networking in NYC as a recent jobless graduate?
How should I approach alumni and what should I ask?
A firm specific question? But those firms are not hiring anyone at this moment (mid-sized or boutique)...
A firm specific question? But those firms are not hiring anyone at this moment (mid-sized or boutique)...
- zot1
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Re: Networking in NYC as a recent jobless graduate?
The innocent way to go about it is to hit up alumni from both college and law school (some might say no on college) and ask them if they would meet with you for coffee to discuss their path because you're interested in a similar career. When you meet with them you ask questions about how they got to where they are. Be friendly, polite, conversational, etc. Pretty much make them like you so they'd want to do something for you like saying "hey I wouldn't mind taking a look at your resume and sending it some place." Even if they work in a place where they are not hiring, they might know someone who is.
One very aggressive technique is to ask if they wouldn't mind taking a look at your resume to provide feedback. The idea here is that once they see your resume they'll be impressed by you and will want to help you. The problem is that not every is open to doing this since as you know Attorneys are really busy and can't spend time doing shit for students/graduates. This is why it's best to let them ask. But if you're talking to someone who says stuff like "let me know if there's anyway I can help," that's when I'd ask them to take a look at my resume.
Even if these meetings could be awful and time-consuming, you'd never know when they will pay off for you. I have a friend who had one of these meetings and the person asked for her resume. She gave it to her contact, nothing happened. She took a two-year term position. As her term was about to expire, she was frantically looking for new jobs. Then she got a call "a while back contact gave me your resume. We weren't hiring then but we are now and we were wondering if you'd like to come in for an interview." She got a job at that firm now, and she's loving it. So that contact paid off even though it took some time.
One very aggressive technique is to ask if they wouldn't mind taking a look at your resume to provide feedback. The idea here is that once they see your resume they'll be impressed by you and will want to help you. The problem is that not every is open to doing this since as you know Attorneys are really busy and can't spend time doing shit for students/graduates. This is why it's best to let them ask. But if you're talking to someone who says stuff like "let me know if there's anyway I can help," that's when I'd ask them to take a look at my resume.
Even if these meetings could be awful and time-consuming, you'd never know when they will pay off for you. I have a friend who had one of these meetings and the person asked for her resume. She gave it to her contact, nothing happened. She took a two-year term position. As her term was about to expire, she was frantically looking for new jobs. Then she got a call "a while back contact gave me your resume. We weren't hiring then but we are now and we were wondering if you'd like to come in for an interview." She got a job at that firm now, and she's loving it. So that contact paid off even though it took some time.
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Re: Networking in NYC as a recent jobless graduate?
Grab coffee/lunch with whoever you can. Go to networking events. Go down to the courthouses and ask attorneys if they need help (I know of at least one person who did this successfully... as cringey as it sounds). The most important thing right now is to get a job and experience as quickly as possible.
I disagree with zot to the extent that undergrad alum are not good people to reach out to. If you went to a unique undergrad as compared to those in NYC like I did, it's a great talking point.
I disagree with zot to the extent that undergrad alum are not good people to reach out to. If you went to a unique undergrad as compared to those in NYC like I did, it's a great talking point.
- zot1
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Re: Networking in NYC as a recent jobless graduate?
Hey now. I said college is a go, but added the caveat that some might not agree with that.1styearlateral wrote:Grab coffee/lunch with whoever you can. Go to networking events. Go down to the courthouses and ask attorneys if they need help (I know of at least one person who did this successfully... as cringey as it sounds). The most important thing right now is to get a job and experience as quickly as possible.
I disagree with zot to the extent that undergrad alum are not good people to reach out to. If you went to a unique undergrad as compared to those in NYC like I did, it's a great talking point.
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Re: Networking in NYC as a recent jobless graduate?
I see, my b.zot1 wrote:Hey now. I said college is a go, but added the caveat that some might not agree with that.1styearlateral wrote:Grab coffee/lunch with whoever you can. Go to networking events. Go down to the courthouses and ask attorneys if they need help (I know of at least one person who did this successfully... as cringey as it sounds). The most important thing right now is to get a job and experience as quickly as possible.
I disagree with zot to the extent that undergrad alum are not good people to reach out to. If you went to a unique undergrad as compared to those in NYC like I did, it's a great talking point.
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Re: Networking in NYC as a recent jobless graduate?
My addition: I went to a small state school for undergrad and absolutely reached out to people who went to that undergrad - there were not many, but they all responded and were far more willing across the board to help me out then law school alums. So if you went to a huge school for undergrad you might be out of luck, but if you went to a small school or one that people tend to stay connected to definitely use that.
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Re: Networking in NYC as a recent jobless graduate?
I agree with this with a caveat. I don't think school size matters so much, I think what matters is an underrepresentation in the field. I went to BIG STATE U for undergrad (think Florida, Ohio State, Wisconsin, etc.). There are relatively few lawyers from these schools compared to Ivy undergrad grads (I'm talking about big firms, at least). I found during networking that alumni from my school were super helpful, where some of my friends tried to reach out to their more prestigious alumni network and got nowhere.Anonymous User wrote:My addition: I went to a small state school for undergrad and absolutely reached out to people who went to that undergrad - there were not many, but they all responded and were far more willing across the board to help me out then law school alums. So if you went to a huge school for undergrad you might be out of luck, but if you went to a small school or one that people tend to stay connected to definitely use that.
Of course, this may or may not help OP, but I think its certainly worthwhile to reach out to undergrad alums if you can find them.
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Re: Networking in NYC as a recent jobless graduate?
I literally walked up to an attorney at 100 Centre and said do you need some help, and it did help me at the time. If you are jobless in nyc, my best advice is to leave town as quickly as you can. The city is expensive to live in, and your peer group has been gunning for jobs in your area since they were 1L's.