Am I Fuc*ed/What should I be doing Forum

[samrun]

Above median 3L at a 40-50 ranked school. No job lined up. I absolutely hated the small firm I worked at over the summer so I decided not to stay on during the school year.

I'd like to work at a small firm (i've worked at 3 small firms during law school) /govt (possibly interning at the DA's office next semester) /public interest (interned at a non profit half of 1l summer). Should I already have something lined up? Our career services says most people don't get anything till after graduation but everyone I talk to seems to have stuff lined up. Aside from applying to posted jobs and networking, what can I do at this time? Appreciate any advise/comments

[ookoshi]

If you're just shooting for small firm/local government jobs, there's not as much lead time as other jobs. But, you might want to think about starting a little higher. Above median at a T1-ish school should be able to get state level government jobs, some mid-sized firms, and possibly state level clerkships, etc., especially if you're staying in the state where you're going to school. Remember, you can always go smaller, it's hard to go bigger. I'd start casting a bigger net than small firms and local gov't jobs, and I'd start applying to everything under the sun now.

[samrun]

If you're just shooting for small firm/local government jobs, there's not as much lead time as other jobs. But, you might want to think about starting a little higher. Above median at a T1-ish school should be able to get state level government jobs, some mid-sized firms, and possibly state level clerkships, etc., especially if you're staying in the state where you're going to school. Remember, you can always go smaller, it's hard to go bigger. I'd start casting a bigger net than small firms and local gov't jobs, and I'd start applying to everything under the sun now.

I applied to a bunch of mid-sized firms for 2L summer positions last spring and a few clerk positions for the fall but no luck. By not as much lead time do you mean small firms/local govt don't post jobs till around graduation time/later?

[ookoshi]

I applied to a bunch of mid-sized firms for 2L summer positions last spring and a few clerk positions for the fall but no luck. By not as much lead time do you mean small firms/local govt don't post jobs till around graduation time/later?

Yeah, small firms and local government jobs are usually posted to fill an immediate need. Think about it this way, the larger the entity, the more resources they have that they can plan out a larger lead time.

Think about it this way. If a firm has 40 attorneys, then being +/- 2 attorneys on what their needs are just means the attorneys there are 5% over/under-worked from what the firm expects. If a firm has 3 attorneys, being over/understaffed by even 1 head count is a big deal and something they have to fix ASAP.

[samrun]

Anyone else have any advise?

[downing]

Spend your free time during 3L searching for a position at a respectable small firm. Build your experience for 2 or 3 years and jump ship to a mid-sized firm. I found my first job, which was at a small firm, around the end of my 3L year. I stayed at the small firm for 2 years, then decided to I wanted to change practice areas, so I applied to and was offered a position as a Superior Court law clerk. Now I have some promising leads for my next associate position at several regional mid/large firms.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone else have any advise?

I was in the same rut as you were. Went to a T40/50, had a median GPA, and despite interning during the summers I didn't have a job after graduation. What did I do? I mass mailed every DA and PD office in my state, leveraged my internship experience in the interviews, and after a couple of strike outs, I got a job.