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When I was freshly out of law school, I applied and had a screener for a job at a biglaw firm in my home city. It didn’t go well at all. The position was for a 2/3 year associate in a specialized corporate group and the partner was asking very substantive questions about that area of law (which I had almost no coursework in, never mind experience).

I was able to land a job on the opposite coast shortly thereafter in the same corporate subgroup. Almost a year into my position, a recruiter reached out to me to submit me for the same exact position that hadn’t been filled. I was hesitant but I went ahead with it. As expected, I was quickly rejected.

That was 10-ish months ago. The job has been posted for almost two years now (it was posted around the time I graduated). I would really like to go back to my home city and that is the only posted job for my field.

I now have over a year and a half of experience (closet to two years) at my firm, so I don’t think I’m unqualified. Also, I may avoid using a recruiter this time.

Is it just a waste of time since that first interview went that poorly? That’s the partner I’d be working under.

Am I out of my mind applying for the same position for the third time? I know this probably happens very rarely given that positions are usually filled quicker than this, but if anyone has any experience, please let me know.

I’ve only spoken to people who have applied twice and gave up.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take

-Michael Scott

But also it’s worrying that they can’t fill the position for literal years.

This is either a booming practice group or a terrible position that they can't keep filled. But it doesn't hurt to apply again I guess.

Agree that there's no downside to applying again.

I'd recommend tailoring the cover letter to address the previous issue head on. They clearly remember OP, so there's no point pretending the bad interview didn't happen. So maybe write something along the lines of, you really enjoyed meeting with the team two years ago, but recognize that at the time your experience wasn't a good fit. Now that you've gotten almost two years of [practice area] experience under your belt, you'd love to explore the possibility of joining them.