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For those who have experience/insight into the lateral hiring process at biglaw firms, how many applicants does a firm usually get for a job posting? Obviously, the answer is highly reliant on the practice area and amount of experience the firm is looking for. But for your run of the mill junior litigation position, how many applications is normal?

For a junior litigation position? Probably hundreds.

Several hundred sounds right for a junior posting, especially if it appears open to unemployed 3Ls or recent grads. Midlevel and senior positions can draw more than a hundred, though in my experience, the vast majority would never be considered and the number of competitive candidates is often rather small.

OP Here. Clarification: a spot that requests 1-3 years of experience (no 3Ls)

Unemployed 3Ls will apply to 1-3 year experience jobs. So, still hundreds of applicants.

How long does it usually take to hear back from a firm after applying for a posting with say, 100 other applicants?

2013 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 05, 2021 2:13 pm

Unemployed 3Ls will apply to 1-3 year experience jobs. So, still hundreds of applicants.

Does applying to 1-3 year experience or 2-4 year experience positions work for 3Ls who have a biglaw offer but want to switch firms based on practice area interest?

Anyone have an idea as to what the numbers look like for a random federal government position in a non-major city? Like attorney-advisor with HHS in Tampa, FL or Lexington Kentucky or something similar.

Does applying to 1-3 year experience or 2-4 year experience positions work for 3Ls who have a biglaw offer but want to switch firms based on practice area interest?

It doesn't hurt to apply, but you should focus on 3L OCI and on postings specifically for entry-level associates. When my firm posted junior positions we got swamped with 3L applicants and we just assumed they either struck out or got no-offered. Very few even got interviews.

Anyone have an idea as to what the numbers look like for a random federal government position in a non-major city? Like attorney-advisor with HHS in Tampa, FL or Lexington Kentucky or something similar.

No idea about non-major markets. In DC, I recently interviewed for a niche agency position that received 150 applicants, with 10 selected for an interview. I'm T14 biglaw + somewhat relevant experience, FWIW. Some government positions can draw several hundred applicants, but as I understand, most applicants are contract attorneys, solos, and others with no relevant experience.

The total number of applicants isn't necessarily that informative. The key is how many competitive applicants there are.

When I've done hiring, at least 90% of the applicants weren't even in the ballpark. Firms/Companies will get an amazing number resumes from non-attorneys, Cooley 1Ls, attorneys who haven't practiced law in 20 years, attorneys in completely unrelated practice groups, etc. The power of the internet is such that people will spam their resume to every vaguely law related job in hopes of a fluke.

It's bit like how HLS has a 15% acceptance rate, but you have a very high chance of admission with a 4.0/175. A lot of those rejectees never had a remote chance of acceptance.

Yes, I reviewed apps for my government non-major city office, for which we got a couple hundred. There's a remarkable number of people applying who, say, graduated from a T4 across the country <5 years ago and have been working since as a solo in a transactional practice and give no reason for being in our city when we want a litigator, or someone who got a JD 20 years ago but has worked as an accountant for the last 15 years.

There are still quite a few competitive applicants, but it's by no means the whole ~200.

piggy backing off of this:

There is a lot of discussion on TLS about checking in with firms after a screener or a CB. But, when (if ever) is it a good idea to check in with a firm after you've submitted an application but haven't heard back yet? I.e. if I submitted an application to a job posted on a firm's website 3 weeks ago, is it appropriate to check in via email with the contact that emailed me that my application was received?

I think when you’re talking about an initial application - no screener or callback - the only appropriate time to check in is if you have another offer on a deadline. Unless the response saying that your application was received had a very concrete timeline that has passed (like “you will definitely hear back from us within 3 weeks”), you have no idea where they are in their hiring process and it’s not going to be productive. They haven’t forgotten about you or about the position they’re hiring for; either they haven’t reviewed applications yet, they haven’t decided who to interview yet, or they don’t want to interview you. If they want to interview you, they will be in touch. You just wait till that happens.

Frankly, most job hunting is releasing stuff into the ether and then going on with your life. If you hear back, great! If not, oh well, on to the next thing.

(Caveat: if you have a friend at the firm feel free to ask them if they know what’s up, of course.)