How to Change Bum Life (or, get a better paying job lol) Forum

[kcjlo10]

I'm a second year corporate attorney at a small boutique in the midwest. Graduated from a decent school in the top 40 - median grades (about .03 away from cum laude). Had a tough time getting a job so was unemployed for like a year after law school.

To be blunt, I make less than I did before undergrad (just under $2100/month) when I did landscaping, and am not sure what the best way to navigate my career from this point on is. The position itself is quite nice for building experience, as there is plenty of relevant work and I am assigned interesting projects, with the head attorney seemingly trusting me more and more with more significant assignments. The first year I felt like a talentless bum lawyer, but now things are changing and I actually feel like an attorney/am able to think through issues and solve problems and produce good work product.

I've applied to other firms with no luck; had an interview with a small company in a small college town that didn't work out. Getting into biglaw somehow would be a dream (and I wouldn't mind working crazy hours or not having a life), but really, anything where I can actually make enough money to actually start paying down my student loans and credit card debt at least would be nice.

Does anyone have any suggestions for navigating this situation by chance? I would like to stay in corporate, and I have done quite a bit of corporate immigration as well (fully handling H-1Bs, Green Cards, etc., including full client-attorney interactions with clients). I understand beggars can't be choosers so I don't hold any delusions about some golden rainbow waiting for me, but I'm sure there are some strategies to employ from here onward that would be more effective than others.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!