ITT Cool Posters Give Good Advice to 2L Job Search Noobs

[Susan B. Anthony]

Q for botbot about timing for mailing.

I'm planning on applying to every NALP firm (plus some others) in both Portland and Seattle, but I go to a small T30 school on the east coast (grew up in PNW, parents and in-laws live there, so no prob w/ connection). Back when I was applying for 1L jobs I talked to a firm recruiter lady and she told me that a good way to do it would be to pick a week sometime in August when I can go back to the area and then apply to firms some time in July and say "hey I'll be in town August ##-## and would love to come in for an interview." i'll also note that none of these firms will be coming to OCI at my school. does this sound like a good plan? if not, what would you do?

That isn't a bad plan.  I know a number of students who sent their resumes at the end of July or early August with a "I'll be in town and available for interviews on these dates", but none were actually contacted for interviews during that period.  Do it, but don't be overly disappointed if you don't hear back from the firms in time to get a quick interview.  A few of the students still landed jobs in their market of choice...

I did this with some success (I think I sent cover letters and resumes to 8 firms, and got 4 interviews in the week I was home and 1 after I'd gone back to school); I'm sure it helped that I was returning to my home market from a highly ranked school.

Be sure to give the firms a minimum of 2 weeks turn-around from the time they'll get your resume to the time you're in town (but more is better). If I'm remembering correctly, I heard from firms about a week and a half after I sent my materials, which was a little more than a week before I was going to be in town. I was actually planning on making follow-up calls the day the firms started calling me, which is sometimes necessary because *&^% just gets thrown in a pile to be dealt with later.

[botbot]

I would just like to add that vault/NLJ ranking does not necessarily correspond with selectivity. I actually had a better call back ratio with V50 firms than I did with V100 and a better ratio with V100 than I did with NLJ250 firms. Part of this was that the higher-ranked firms I interviewed with were more highly leveraged, and were therefore hiring much larger numbers of summers.

Not to mention market bias at non-V100 firms.  See Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Miami, etc.

[,.,.,.;.,.,.]

Tag for when I get grades back.

[Talk Is Cheap]

Tag for when I get grades back.

[Talk Is Cheap]

Well, grades this semester are a bust. What I wouldn't give for a plus or two next to some of those B's...hell, just ONE of those B's...

Looking at a nice slot dead center, maybe top 40% if quartiles turn out to be generous this year. OCI isn't going to get me anything, though I suppose I will bid on those firms that say they will accept bids from top 50%-ers. I'm at Minnesota.

Any upperclassmen kind enough to give me some helpful advice on what I can do to start my self-directed job search come this fall? I'm pretty much open to anything but would like to avoid local government or judicial work.

[pre]

4) Determine least expensive way to print resumes + mailers (or labels).  Use white cotton paper.  Print + prepare.  Mail first week of August.  You should be sending ~150 letters.  Balance these letters between the uber-prestigious, V100, and less prestigious regionals.

Is traditional mail preferred over email submissions?

[Matthies]

Well, grades this semester are a bust. What I wouldn't give for a plus or two next to some of those B's...hell, just ONE of those B's...

Looking at a nice slot dead center, maybe top 40% if quartiles turn out to be generous this year. OCI isn't going to get me anything, though I suppose I will bid on those firms that say they will accept bids from top 50%-ers. I'm at Minnesota.

Any upperclassmen kind enough to give me some helpful advice on what I can do to start my self-directed job search come this fall? I'm pretty much open to anything but would like to avoid local government or judicial work.

Networking. Get involved in the legal community outside the school. Join the local bar association, see if they have a an Inn of the Court, get involved in bar association events. Get the hell out of school and start mixing with working judges and lawyers. If it’s a choice between joining some club at school or getting involved in the legal community always choose the *&^% outside of school.

At this point you want to avoid mass mailing unless that’s your only option because your grades are not that great and you don’t go to a name band school, so you really can’t count on your resume standing out on its own, you want to avoid being in the situation where that piece of paper is all that distinguishes you from another piece of paper. You'll lose unless everyone applying is below you, not the best spot to put yourself in.

Who you know beats where you go or what grades you have. But you have to be active about it and start now, just talking to someone at an event is not networking, you have two years by end of 3L you should know a few lawyers and judges well enough you have their home numbers in your cell phone. If you get to that point they will be recommending you for jobs and you won’t be applying blindly to anything.

[botbot]

4) Determine least expensive way to print resumes + mailers (or labels).  Use white cotton paper.  Print + prepare.  Mail first week of August.  You should be sending ~150 letters.  Balance these letters between the uber-prestigious, V100, and less prestigious regionals.

Is traditional mail preferred over email submissions?

Generally, traditional mail seems to be preferred over email submissions.

Some firms, though, have a strict preference for online submissions.  Check each firm's website before sending out the resumes.

[BearlyLegal]

Do you guys have any advice regarding researching lit boutiques that pay, say, 100k+? Seems like most of these places aren't listed on NALP and the other usual suspects that list law firms.

[SEC_2L]

Is traditional mail preferred over email submissions?
[/quote]

Generally, traditional mail seems to be preferred over email submissions.

Some firms, though, have a strict preference for online submissions.  Check each firm's website before sending out the resumes.

[/quote]

Would you suggest sending the materials on plain white or cotton resume/business paper? I used the pricey stuff for 1L summer mailings but was wondering if firms actually prefer regular paper...