just how bad is the 1L job market?

[asiangirl]

I talked to a career office staff today and she said that it's really tight. She said some people are not willing to apply to places other than where they go to school, which explains why a lot of them are still jobless....

[asiangirl]

You should look into some less popular cities.

[Miss P]

You should look into some less popular cities.

There are at least two problems with your and your career counselor's advice:

(a) "Less popular" cities have their own local law schools full of students who want to work there (or who have connections there); and

(b) If the "less popular" cities are less populated, they generally have fewer jobs.

[stricly bricly]

i'm sure this both very school- and market-specific.  at my school pretty much everyone i know was able to get the kind of job they pursued whether it was a judicial externship, a firm job, public interest, public sector, research assistantship - whatever.  (but you'll notice almost all of the types of jobs i listed pay little to nothing.  however, public interest / public sector jobs will be funded via a school fellowship.)

at this point i think very few 1Ls (here) don't know what they're doing this summer. of course, firm jobs are still challenging to get, but like i said everyone who really wanted to work for a private firm has ended up with such an offer.

but we're all definitely scared shirtless of OCIP, which is coming up way sooner than anyone really wants to think about.

[asiangirl]

by firm jobs do you mean only biglaw, or any decent firms (small / mid-sized) that pays ?

[stricly bricly]

well i'm not the CDO or anything but i know a small handful of people who got biglaw, and then a larger handful of people who got "boutique" or midlaw paying close to market. 

[asiangirl]

it seems like people on the west coast have better luck?
I have read posts after post about some NYU 1Ls and the likes had hard time finding jobs.

[babs22pa]

Unfortunately I know quite a few people here at Berkeley who really wanted a firm job and had to settle for something else (usually public interest or clinics through Berkeley). I also know a few who don't have any job yet at all.
 
I guess I hang out with less successful (or lucky?) students than stricly bricly.

[asiangirl]

I think those who got firm jobs definitely have an edge ... when it comes to OCI. if they have decent gpa.

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

i'm sure this both very school- and market-specific.  at my school pretty much everyone i know was able to get the kind of job they pursued whether it was a judicial externship, a firm job, public interest, public sector, research assistantship - whatever.  (but you'll notice almost all of the types of jobs i listed pay little to nothing.  however, public interest / public sector jobs will be funded via a school fellowship.)

at this point i think very few 1Ls (here) don't know what they're doing this summer. of course, firm jobs are still challenging to get, but like i said everyone who really wanted to work for a private firm has ended up with such an offer.

but we're all definitely scared shirtless of OCIP, which is coming up way sooner than anyone really wants to think about.

I don't have a job for the summer, but I've done an incredibly poor job of trying to find one.  I want to be a RA, and I'm going to spam every single professor in our building tomorrow morning.