Sharing Law School Job Search Experience as an International Student Forum

[Anonymous User]

How was your job search experience as an International Student (F-1) visa.

I received an offer from international office of a renowned firm, but it seems like many domestic firms are hesitant hiring an international student.I received CBs from all the international offices of law firm, but all but one firm did not extend me an offer. I was very close to striking out. (27 Screeners, 3 Cbs and 2 offers - all from international offices). I do not speak Mandarin, so I couldn't apply for positions in HK/Mainland China in most instances.

Any international students who went through OCI, please share your job search experience. I hope this posting serves as an reference point for future international students.

[Anonymous User]

I am an international student from a non-EU European country, at a T13, with Ivy+ undergrad (Don't speak French or Spanish).

I am 3L and heading to a V10 in DC for a general corp practice, so I ended up in a great place but my process was as tough as it can be. At 2L OCI I had slightly above median grades and still struck out. I had 25+ screeners, and 3 callback interviews- 2 in DC, 1 in NY. I think one issue was that I bid mostly DC and was looking mostly for litigation positions there w/out journal, though for NY I did interviews for corporate positions.

I ended up splitting my summer between a MidLaw firm and in an in-house position at an international company (I also turned down a position at a BigLaw firm's office in my home country for mostly a highly personal reason, but also because I did not want to face the "So do you plan to go back to your home country?" question.) My summer experience was all corporate and I had switched my focus to all corporate positions in my classwork for 3L when I started looking for fulltime positions. I also had a significantly higher GPA when I started looking (think 0.2 GPA increase), which made a lot of firms I would not be in contention even in 2L OCI for a possibility. I accepted the first offer I got, which was my dream firm/office anyhow but was also getting some interest at other firms mostly in NY.

Two more things: 1) I read somewhere else, that they are not supposed to ask you about your visa situation. Not sure if it is true as a general law firm policy- they certainly legally can. I certainly faced that question a lot during the screeners- never at a CB interview, and each time that question derailed the interview since then you are talking about intricacies of the H1-B visa process and not what makes you a good candidate for the position.
2) I think if you are an international student the litigation/ corporate divide becomes extra important. I should admit that other international students at my school did not struggle as much and almost all are placed within BigLaw at US offices, but all are also doing corporate work. One exception is international arbitration where if you are an international student for a LatAm country, or perhaps just have excellent Spanish, then you add value and can get those positions. It is simply much easier to show that your international background adds value for corp. positions

[Anonymous User]

International, F-1 visa, non-EU countries, here are my 2 cents: you just have to try your very best to stay ahead of the game ALL THE TIME.

Unless you are doing hard IP, always go to a T-14 law school. Among fellow F-1 folks, I've met CCN bottom 10% who got offers, as well as T2 top 10% who struck out. But now that you are reading this, I suppose you've already enrolled in law school.

Get your GPA as high as possible. The higher your GPA, the more room for error. But of course, exams are curved, which means it's impossible for everyone to get a good GPA, and it may not be entirely your fault when you screw up an exam.

When you are in T-14, you stand a chance as long as your GPA starts with 3. I have no idea what will happen if your GPA is sub-3, but I'm aware that 2.9999 makes a big difference than 3.00001. Basic psychology.

Be a damn good interviewer. Being above average is not enough to beat the odds. Practice with career service or anyone who is willing to mock interview with you. Or you can hire a career coach who specializes in job interviews.

If you have below median or around median GPA, make sure to bid as many NYC firms as possible. Pick the firms that are least selective of GPA and hire large classes every year. I won't name any firm here. If you don't know which firms are the least selective, either ask your career service, or check out the number of summers each firm has hired in the past few years and see which firm ranks low on Vault but hires many summer associates.For your reference: https://www.chambers-associate.com/law- ... ng-numbers.

Do as much research on each firm as possible before you interview. Network, go to receptions or events, be proactive.

In terms of 1L summer job, location matters more than the subject matter of the job. Random non-profit in NYC Manhattan is a better option than Wyoming DOJ, if you ask me.

If you strike out OCI, you may want to consider working part-time at a local law firm in order to build up professional network and reputation.

If you strike out OCI and you still want to work in the US, don't overlook the mid and small sized firms. While V100 and Am200 normally sponsor visas, there are quite a few small firms (even personal injury firms with fewer than 10 attorneys) that are willing to sponsor visa as well. Some small firms may be hesitant at first because they are not familiar with the process. Educate yourself on the H1-B application process and offer to help them as much as you can.

Almost ALWAYS say you want to do corporate work (unless the firm is exclusively litigation), regardless of what you truly want to do. Your goal at the moment is to get a job. You may transfer to whatever group you like once you get the job, but right now you need to get your foot in the door. Corporate is the safest bet. That said, international arbitration is also feasible if you know Spanish or Portuguese.

If you have ever learned (or taken a few lectures on) a foreign language other than English, now it's a good time to pick it up. Try your best to improve it to at least a conversational/intermediate level.

Getting some certifications will help, too, depending on your fields of interest. Especially during OCI where no one has a clear specialization, having something to demonstrate your interest will be eye-catching. E.g., if you are interested in white collar crimes or internal investigation, CFE or ACAMS is a good option. If you are interested in finance, CFA or CPA will be helpful along the way. If you have a background in information/computer, CIPP can be an option.

Some caveat - please take my words with a grain of salt. This is based only on my own experience and the people around me.

If anywhere during the interview, something like "your English is very good" comes up, don't gloat. It's a red flag. It means the interviewer has nothing better to say to you.

Personally, I don't know if JD will be valued in civil law countries, so you might want to do some research if you intend to go back right after law school.

[Anonymous User]

I did OCI last year, and my general impression is that this year was harder for international students than in my year. The current administration is making things progressively harder for us, along with the prospect of a recession.

My experience overall wasn't terrible; I had 25 screeners, 7 callbacks, and 3 offers out of the 5 callbacks I ended up doing. I'll be going to a V20 in NY for litigation. However, this comes with the caveat that I go to HYS and went to an Ivy undergrad. I also don't have a discernible accent, and it's not apparent from my resume that I'm an international student at all. My friends who were in similar positions and had better grades seem to have not had any difficulties in recruiting at all.

Couple general notes:
1. Students whose resumes made it more obvious that they were international students/who have strong accents had a noticeably harder time during recruiting, and interviewers were more likely to ask them about their visa status during screeners.
2. Interviewers generally don't ask about visa status during screeners/it might not be allowed under your school's recruiting policies, but many firms have generic callback forms that have a box to indicate whether you'll need visa sponsorship or not.
3. There are a very limited number of firms that have genuinely robust visa sponsorship policies, mostly the large NY firms. I'm talking about firms that will sponsor you twice, including in your 3L year; apply for the H1B even after you have to relocate to a foreign office; consider applying for an L visa in the event that the H1B doesn't work out again; and eventually will sponsor a green card. I'd generally advise looking for firms that have a lot of foreign offices, and have a history of relocating associates abroad. Obviously, you should only ask about these things once you have an offer, unless you're really confident about your chances.
4. Saying you're interested in corporate over litigation will likely help your chances of getting an offer, if only because most overseas offices have cap market practices, but not U.S. litigation practices. It's much easier to relocate you if you do cap markets or M&A than, say, appellate litigation. This will also be an ongoing concern for you once you start working, in that even a firm with a robust visa sponsorship policy might just not have a spot overseas for you if you're not corporate and you don't win the lottery in time. Some firms may decide to let you go if that's the case, and some firms in particular are known for doing this. That said, firms are a business and if push comes to shove, even the "good" firms may have to let you go.

[Anonymous User]

Great advice on this thread here so far, so I will offer something different: impressions of different law firms (mostly V10s). I went to a T14 (as a JD candidate) and I have no other distinguishing characteristics besides being an international student and going straight-through to law school from undergrad. Anon because I work at one of these firms now.

Disclaimer - these are my impressions and they can be quite subjective, so take it with a pinch of salt. That said, I reckon they are fairly accurate.

CSM - Very difficult for international students. They don't seem to hire that many international students, and that's likely because of their interview process. Because of their full day interview process and how unstructured it is, international students are at a disadvantage. But if you are somewhat more outgoing than the general law school population, you have a shot.

WLRK - Very, very difficult for international students, but that would have been true even if you weren't an international student. You need top grades (not tippy top, but top 15%+), and they seem to like people with prior experiences in, say, investment banking, but most international students don't have that kind of CV. Their interview process was also somewhat harder than the other interviews I have had too.

Skadden - Average difficulty. Skadden is quite well known for liking certain personalities, and so if you fit that mould, you shouldn't have any issues even as an international student. Bonus points for wanting to work at an overseas office, since they are quite large and have offices across the globe.

SullCrom - Easy. SullCrom interviews really come down to one thing - grades. If you have good grades, you can get a SullCrom offer if you are not a complete sociopath. They have a generous visa policy, and they also have some international offices that you can look at.

Latham - Average difficulty. Latham is a bit like Skadden - if you are outgoing enough and have an okay personality, then it shouldn't be too hard to get an offer from Latham. Also a very large law firm with many offices, so being an international can actually help if you want to work in a particular region (e.g. Asia, Latam)

Kirkland - Very difficult. Kirkland is difficult not because you need top grades or anything like that. It's hard as you need a certain personality, and by that I mean they are looking for folks with an entrepreneurial drive of sorts. Think this is where international students don't fare as well.

DPW - Average difficulty. DPW is a bit of a mixed bag - it can be hard to get an interview there if you don't meet their grades criteria, but once you are past that hurdle, it's really quite easy. They did seem to like internationals with a more "preppy" vibe (aka the internationals that are more well off), likely because there were more common topics to talk about in interviews.

STB - Easy. DPW's twin (almost literally next door as well). Very hard to differentiate between DPW and STB. Back in my time, many internationals were able to get early offers (like, before actual interviews started for most people) at STB, so it's a viable target if you have the grades.

Hope that this info would help internationals thinking about law firms in the future. PM me if you need any more info. Good luck!