Jobs

It’s October, and the fall interview season holds different things in store for you—exactly what depends upon what year you’re in. First-year students get a free pass on the active part of interview season, while second-year students take center stage and need to make the most of it. Third-year students who don’t already have jobs lined up after graduation will need to play catch-up.

If you’re a first-year student, October is truly no time to fret about jobs—the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) won’t let you! Its “Principles and Standards for Law Placement and Recruitment Activities” provides that “[l]aw schools should not offer placement services to first semester first year law students prior to November 1 except in the case of part-time students who may be given assistance in seeking positions during the school term. Prospective employers and first year law students should not initiate contact with one another and employers should not interview or make offers to first year students before December 1.”

In other words, first-year students should not be dividing their attention between studying and job hunting. If you’re a first-year student and want to work in a law-related job this summer, check with your school’s career services office—but only on or after Nov. 1. If, on the other hand, you want to take the summer off and relax, it probably won’t be held against you. Neither potential employers nor your professors will begrudge you that last bit of luxury before you hit the world of full-time lawyering.

But if you’re a second-year student, the fall interview season is a very big deal. Where you spend the summer after your second year can set the course for your career. If your summer employment experience goes according to plan, you’ll most likely want to go back after graduation, and the employer will want you back. NALP’s “Principles and Standards” provides that “[e]mployers making offers before September 15 of the student’s third year for full-time positions following graduation to law students previously employed by them during any preceding summer should leave those offers open at least until November 1.” The Nov. 1 date gives students the option to go ahead and participate in on-campus and other fall interviewing, even though they have offers in hand.

Second-year students should have an idea of what area of law they’d like to work in after graduation, so they can line up as many interviews as possible with applicable employers. NALP’s “Principles and Standards” is instructive in this area as well: “Before beginning an employment search, candidates should engage in thorough self-examination. Work skills, vocational aptitudes and interests, lifestyle and geographic preferences, academic performance, career expectations and life experiences should be carefully evaluated so that informed choices can be made.”

I recommend two means of self-examination—introspection and psychometric testing. Looking inward is the most obvious; you have a lot of information about what you are and aren’t interested in, which areas of study you’ve enjoyed and which you haven’t, which electives you’re looking forward to taking. What threads tie these subjects together? Once you figure that out, you’ll have an easier time deciding how you want to capitalize on your law degree.

The second means of self-examination, psychometric testing, complements introspection. If you are at all unsure about what you want to do when you graduate, find out whether your school offers psychological and interest testing. Growing numbers of law students have access to such tests through their career services offices, and taking them can be well worth your time.

I value interest tests because of my own experience. When I graduated from college, I didn’t want to be a lawyer; I wanted to be a counseling psychologist. During high school and college, I had taken an interest inventory twice. As a graduate psychology student, I took it again and finally accepted that my interest profile remained highest for law and politics. I needed to change my career goal midstream, because the tests consistently showed I wasn’t best suited for a career in psychology. My enjoyment and ability as a lawyer have subsequently vindicated that decision. It was my thought process that had been wrong; my interest tests had been right.

If you’re a third-year student and don’t have a job lined up after graduation, you’re faced with a predicament: Employers interview fewer third-year than second-year students. Why? Let’s use the class of 2000 as an example. A year ago, in fall of 1998, employers offered positions for summer of 1999 employment predominantly to members of the class of 2000 (who were then in their second year). This fall, when these employers made offers for full-time positions after graduation, they selected among the students they had employed during the summer. Consequently, there are fewer positions available for people not in the prime category.

Even if this describes your situation, on-campus interviews are still a major resource. If employers you’re interested in are coming to campus, be sure to submit your résumé. Another valuable tool schools offer is “résumé forwarding” to employers who won’t be conducting on-campus interviews. (Some schools may have students forward the résumés themselves.) And don’t overlook simply sending résumés to employers you find on your own, using popular lawyer directories such as Martindale-Hubbell and NALP’s Directory of Legal Employers.

Don’t write off any potential source for interviews. Finding a job is a numbers game. With respect to any one particular employer, it’s unlikely that an initial interview will result in a job offer; as you start interviewing, the numbers are against you. The way to get the numbers on your side is to rack up lots of interviews. Some students, especially those whose grades are in the bottom half of the class, don’t see on-campus interviews as a real resource for themselves. If this sounds like you, try to set negativity aside. Employers whose hiring criteria you meet might well search out your campus.

By shooting lots of arrows, you can turn the numbers in your favor, but not by shooting indiscriminately. Be sure you’re aiming at the right targets. NALP’s “Principles and Standards” provides that, “[p]rior to making employment inquiries, candidates should learn as much as possible about target employers and the nature of their positions. Candidates should interview only with employers in whom they have a genuine interest.”

If, as a third-year student, you don’t have a viable offer in hand, perhaps you should be interested in more employers. Re-examine your preferences and career expectations. Have you ruled out too many geographic areas or types of practice? Are your salary expectations unrealistic? It’s still fall, and that’s not too late to turn the numbers in your favor.

David C. James is the hiring lawyer for the office of the San Diego city attorney.

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