2L, Mech. Engineer, no summer job, what now? Forum

[ThrowAway123234]

I am a 2L, at a "tier-2" school, have a mechanical engineering background, patent bar eligible, and as the title says, I still don't have a summer gig. My GPA is slightly below median, I'm friendly, and generally well-liked by my peers. I attended PLIP this summer and had around 15 screeners, 2 callbacks, and zero offers.

Throughout undergrad, I never struggled with finding summer jobs. My undergrad grades are pretty great, I've historically interviewed well, and I have fairly great (though not super "hardcore" engineering) work experience at high-end companies.

From my view, it seems like there are very few IP folks that don't have a summer job lined up yet, and I'm not sure how I seemed to slip through the cracks. After spending a considerable amount of time job searching during 1L for my 1L summer job, and over the summer up until now for my 2L summer job, I'm beginning to hit a wall and feeling very discouraged and burnt out.

Are there any other IP students in the same boat, and what is your job search strategy moving forward?

[trmckenz]

I'm sorry to hear no firms have jumped on you. Sounds like you're really employable. Just have to find the right fit.

FWIW, I did not have much success at PLIP either. And I had 4.5 years of patent agent experience, an EE degree, and came from a good school with above-median grades. Go figure.

It's kind of a weird spot since you're looking for summer associate positions, not full-time ones. But there are firms that would probably appreciate adding you to their team, assuming you want to do IP. And if you are willing to do patent prosecution, your chances will increase.

I would start by:

(1) talking to IP professors at your school about your situation. They often have connections to firms, and can help place students, especially when outside of typical hiring timelines.
(2) talking to your school's career services. Could be hit or miss depending on your school, but they should be working overtime to place you somewhere. You're a great candidate for patent firms / biglaw.
(3) mass mailing any and all firms with patent groups. Make a list of firms that are close to your school, or in a market that you want to live / have ties to. Also include the large national patent practices like MoFo, Knobbe, Fish, Finnegan, etc. as well as tech practices like WSGR, Cooley, etc. There are also lots of IP litigation shops that are always looking for patent people to hire.
(4) contacting a recruiter. This might be a last step, as I'm not sure recruiters place summer associates. But I will say that the patent market is different than other legal markets. So they may know of firms with needs, and you could apply there. Check out amatchrecruiting.com for one example (no affiliation).

Additionally, seek feedback on your resume from your professors and career services office.

Hope that helps. Best of luck to you.

[patent_guy]

I'm sorry to hear no firms have jumped on you. Sounds like you're really employable. Just have to find the right fit.

FWIW, I did not have much success at PLIP either. And I had 4.5 years of patent agent experience, an EE degree, and came from a good school with above-median grades. Go figure.

It's kind of a weird spot since you're looking for summer associate positions, not full-time ones. But there are firms that would probably appreciate adding you to their team, assuming you want to do IP. And if you are willing to do patent prosecution, your chances will increase.

I would start by:

(1) talking to IP professors at your school about your situation. They often have connections to firms, and can help place students, especially when outside of typical hiring timelines.
(2) talking to your school's career services. Could be hit or miss depending on your school, but they should be working overtime to place you somewhere. You're a great candidate for patent firms / biglaw.
(3) mass mailing any and all firms with patent groups. Make a list of firms that are close to your school, or in a market that you want to live / have ties to. Also include the large national patent practices like MoFo, Knobbe, Fish, Finnegan, etc. as well as tech practices like WSGR, Cooley, etc. There are also lots of IP litigation shops that are always looking for patent people to hire.
(4) contacting a recruiter. This might be a last step, as I'm not sure recruiters place summer associates. But I will say that the patent market is different than other legal markets. So they may know of firms with needs, and you could apply there. Check out amatchrecruiting.com for one example (no affiliation).

Additionally, seek feedback on your resume from your professors and career services office.

Hope that helps. Best of luck to you.

Most of this is good advice - I wouldn’t bother with the recruiter, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt. Most of all, don’t get too down on yourself. The midsize and smaller firms aren’t looking for summer clerks yet, and that will pick up after the first of the year. I didn’t have anything lined up for my 2L summer until probably February or March, and ended up splitting with two places for great experiences. One of them gave me an offer and here I am.

With that said, mass mail every firm with an IP group in any market you could see yourself living. Any experience you can get (prosecution, lit, IPRs, etc) will be good for you.

Take the patent bar as soon as you can. Try to take it in the spring, but if you can’t do it over the summer. Even if you don’t find anything (and I bet you will), this will have made your summer very productive long term. You won’t want to do this when you start working and it’ll be a big boost for your job search. Put on your resume you expect to sit for the patent bar in the spring, march, whatever. It’ll give you some credibility.

[dvlthndr]

I want to second the idea of taking the patent bar (especially if you wind up without a job and have free time over the summer). Even if you don't want to do prosecution long-term, it is a signal to firms that you are serious about patent law.

[ThrowAway123234]

Thanks for the advice everyone. My plan is to do patent prosecution, so taking the patent bar will be on the agenda very soon. Also, I could have another crack at PLIP for 3L hiring, so there is always that option. I have been closely connected with the career services office, who have been helpful, but nothing has seemed to click yet, unfortunately.

Either way, thanks for the encouragement!

[patent_guy]

Thanks for the advice everyone. My plan is to do patent prosecution, so taking the patent bar will be on the agenda very soon. Also, I could have another crack at PLIP for 3L hiring, so there is always that option. I have been closely connected with the career services office, who have been helpful, but nothing has seemed to click yet, unfortunately.

Either way, thanks for the encouragement!

Good luck. Patent pros is kind of it’s own animal and it’s concentrated in a lot of boutiques and small firms that are on the later summer hiring schedule. Keep working hard and be patient.

Also look at in house spots if you’re in an area that has some. That would be a great opportunity to see the other side if a firm doesn’t work out.

[dvlthndr]

You're going to be fine. Just keep at it.

Things might seem grim, but it's actually not hard to find a random prosecution job once you have a J.D. and a reg number (in fact, you are likely to start getting random recruiter calls the second you get registered).

You can skim the job board at patentlyo.com to see what is out there, but there is no shortage of small IP firms looking for warm bodies. You can (and should) aim for biglaw in a big city, but it might give you a little comfort to know that prosecutors can always find work *somewhere*.

[ThrowAway123234]

Fantastic, I'm checking out patentlyo.com right now. Also, a firm is my top choice, but I'd be happy to go in-house as well. Thanks for the help.