Relative prestige of firm in smaller markets Forum

[SR1313]

I'm looking into a smaller California market for 1L summer associate positions. Will this tend to pigeonhole me when it comes to finding employment after law school? Is it wiser to focus on the L.A. firms? Or will the possible prestige of a firm name translate to other branches and/or firms in big cities? Thanks for your help.

[underdawg]

my guess: any firm job 1L will help you in a later job search.

as for prestige...well for example, mofo has like 8 people in sacramento. i would think the 'prestige' would be lower but you might get more experience in a smaller branch like that. and i don't think it would stick you in sacramento forever. but who knows, it might be extremely hard to get SA positions in smaller branches like that anyway

in conclusion: i don't know shit but i have a feeling it won't matter

[jsix]

I love that you even think you can be selective in your 1L firm job search.

[FrankReynolds]

diversity scholarships are gonna be pretty much the only 1L SA gigs this year.

[underdawg]

true dat

sorry whitey

[VWRescue]

Yea, this is really not something you should worry about, as the odds of you actually having to make this decision are incredibly low. Apply, see what happens, if you have offers then worry about it then. It was very, very hard even for 2Ls this year to get SA jobs in California. 1Ls would be an extremely long shot, coming from anywhere.

[SR1313]

I love that you even think you can be selective in your 1L firm job search.

It has nothing to do with selectivity, and everything to do with where I will be focusing my applications.

[Renzo]

diversity scholarships are gonna be pretty much the only 1L SA gigs this year.

This. There might be a small chance of finding a SA job in a smaller market where you have connections, but the odds still aren't good. With all the no-callback 2L's and no-offered 3L's, competition for any paying (even non-paying) work is going to be intense.

[RVP11]

We've been told by career services that sending 1L apps to firms in smaller markets to which we don't have major connections will be futile this year. The few firms looking to hire 1Ls are generally either looking for diversity or to stake an early claim on someone who has a connection to the market and is going to a top school from which they don't usually get much interest. So send to your hometown, and save a lot of time.

[Renzo]

We've been told by career services that sending 1L apps to firms in smaller markets to which we don't have major connections will be futile this year. The few firms looking to hire 1Ls are generally either looking for diversity or to stake an early claim on someone who has a connection to the market and is going to a top school from which they don't usually get much interest. So send to your hometown, and save a lot of time.

I'd extend this even further, and say that mailing to major-market firms is a waste this year, unless you've got an inside hook. I spoke with someone at a big NYC firm who said 2 yrs ago they had about 35 SA's, and about 12 were 1Ls. Last year they had about 20 SA's, and 4 1L's. This year it looks like about 12 SA's and 0-1 1L's. Bottom line is if you don't have a hook, start looking for non-firm summer work.

[sperry]

My t10 told us we shouldn't even bother applying for 1L firm summer jobs. If you aren't being set up with teh job by someone you have a connection to within the firm, don't even bother.

[RVP11]

My t10 told us we shouldn't even bother applying for 1L firm summer jobs. If you aren't being set up with teh job by someone you have a connection to within the firm, don't even bother.

So every firm on Symplicity doing a 1L resume collection and every firm on NALP who says "Y" to whether they're taking 1Ls this year is just joking with us?

No one's pretending that the chances of getting a 1L SA this year are even remotely decent. But your post sounds like an attempt to thin the pack - school's career services offices are very encouraging of 1Ls sending out resumes, for obvious reasons. It'd be very dumb of them to tell their students not to bother.

[underdawg]

My t10 told us we shouldn't even bother applying for 1L firm summer jobs. If you aren't being set up with teh job by someone you have a connection to within the firm, don't even bother.

So every firm on Symplicity doing a 1L resume collection and every firm on NALP who says "Y" to whether they're taking 1Ls this year is just joking with us?

No one's pretending that the chances of getting a 1L SA this year are even remotely decent. But your post sounds like an attempt to thin the pack - school's career services offices are very encouraging of 1Ls sending out resumes, for obvious reasons. It'd be very dumb of them to tell their students not to bother.

well a lot of them will just want to look like they are recruiting like old times. they figure no one will really follow up and see if they ended up hiring anyone

but yeah, why not throw your resume around?

[Renzo]

My t10 told us we shouldn't even bother applying for 1L firm summer jobs. If you aren't being set up with teh job by someone you have a connection to within the firm, don't even bother.

So every firm on Symplicity doing a 1L resume collection and every firm on NALP who says "Y" to whether they're taking 1Ls this year is just joking with us?

No one's pretending that the chances of getting a 1L SA this year are even remotely decent. But your post sounds like an attempt to thin the pack - school's career services offices are very encouraging of 1Ls sending out resumes, for obvious reasons. It'd be very dumb of them to tell their students not to bother.

If you actually go through each firm on NALP and look at how many 1L's they are planning on hiring, the answer is almost always zero or one for big firms. The "yes" checkbox for do you hire 1L's is a throwback to when they did. "Not remotely decent" doesn't begin to describe the chances of finding a 1L firm job this year. "Dire to impossible" is more accurate.

I'm not bothering to do a mailing in the big markets. I will hit up the NLJ 250 firms that have regional offices in my hometown because I think I might have a chance of beating out the regional schools, but I still think it's a long shot.