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Ok so I'm lucky enough to have two "offers" to choose from. But I'm having trouble making a decision, so I wanted to know TLS's opinion.

Facts about me: straight from undergrad, top 40 school, above average grades, some internships in undergrad, clerked for a judge for half the summer and studied abroad the other half. I also go to school in a different state that I'm from. I eventually want to move back to where I'm from.

Here are my options to choose from:

Option 1: The firm has about 250 attorneys and six offices with two located in different countries, and ALL the practice areas I'm interested in.

I applied to some firms via email in my home state. One firm sent an email back less than 24 hours after I had sent my cover letter and resume and responded by saying "we will hire you. contact us in march/april next year". Of course I was shocked and skeptical, but the person that emailed me this is the founding partner of the firm. He has directed me to people to talk with and get in contact with when I'm back in my home state. My career counselor says things like this happen, and that what he sent me in an email can be considered an offer that can be relied on. My one doubt now is that I've sent an email to a partner (a person I was told to contact and have spoken with before) in the office I was interested in and he hasn't gotten back to me, and the fact that this offer sounds too good to be true. I also don't know if it's paid.

Option 2: Small firm with less than 10 attorneys in the state I go to school at, and not really practice areas I'm interested in

I found the firm through OCI and I do know it is a paying position. I'm not sure if I would enjoy the practice areas there, but I'm leaning towards taking it because I'm nervous that Option 1 won't work out. The people are very nice, and to be honest I could become interested in those practice areas. I just don't want to give up this offer and in the end not have anything.

Option 3: See if both firms would do a half summer

I'm nervous about this because of the economy and it may be harder to get a permanent offer if I work only a half summer. But then at least that lets me have something in my pocket, yet still be able to possibly work for Option 1 if it works out.

Sorry for the long post.

I voted, but I'm 0L.

How certain did it seem like an offer in the email? Was it a general "oh, you seem like a good candidate to send on to our recruitment team" or "Yes! You! We need you!!"?

Z3RO wrote: How certain did it seem like an offer in the email? Was it a general "oh, you seem like a good candidate to send on to our recruitment team" or "Yes! You! We need you!!"?

I quoted in my op exactly what the email contained minus my name. Literally he said

" (my name), we will hire you. Contact us in march/april next year"

.

Could you reply to Option 1 and ask them straight up whether you can rely on them? You could couch it in positive terms -- how you would love to work for them and stop searching for jobs, but that you are not sure whether this is a genuine offer.

So would no one recommend splitting a summer in this economy?? Even if one of the firms asked to only have you for 6 weeks?

Anonymous User wrote:So would no one recommend splitting a summer in this economy?? Even if one of the firms asked to only have you for 6 weeks?

What region of the country are these opportunities in? Splitting is the norm in the Fifth Circuit, but not really all that common elsewhere.

If you want to work in the area, working for the local law firm will be best, you'll get to go to BAR lunches and network and things like that. While Opt. 1 may look better on your resume, Opt 2 will probably land you a local job.

caution: 0L, just basing this on my undergrad internship exp.

Neither area is in the Fifth Circuit. I'm from the west, but I go to school in the south.

Thanks everyone for their opinions. I'm going to call Option 1 and see if they can give me a more definite offer and hope for the best!