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Originally published in Student Lawyer magazine, September
2003 (Vol. 32, No. 1)
Jobs
Fall is the season to plan your own job-search attack
by Donna Gerson
If you weren't invited to on-campus interviewing (OCI) this fall,
stop fuming and listen up: Believe it or not, most law students
don't find employment through this particular hiring process. In
fact, less than a third of law students find full-time jobs through
OCI. For most of the rest, job offers result from self-initiated
contact with prospective employers.
Still, you can incorporate the governing principles of on-campus
interviewing into your own independent job search. This is more
constructive than criticizing OCI and feeling left out. Here's how
to take charge and maximize your employment prospects this fall:
Create and enforce your own job-search deadlines. OCI consists
of a series of spoon-fed deadlines for law students to drop off
résumés, register for interview slots, and attend
interviews. Rather than wait for external deadlines to motivate
you, create and enforce your own job-search deadlines to propel
you forward. For example, vow to complete your résumé
by Sept. 5 and to research firms of interest by Sept. 12. Mail letters
to prospective employers by Sept. 15. Begin to follow up with phone
calls to employers you haven't heard from within two weeks after
mailing your letters.
Organize your paperwork. Every student participating in
OCI must furnish employers with an updated résumé,
transcript, and writing sample. Emulate these students by creating
your own up-to-date portfolio of job-seeking papers. Update your
résumé to include your latest summer work experience
and current clinics or other classes that may be relevant to your
job search. Refresh your list of references and obtain the latest
copy of your law school transcript.
If you haven't done so already, order a copy of your undergraduate
transcript and make copies to keep on file, just in case an employer
requests this documentation. Make sure your writing sample represents
your best drafting effort by triple-checking it for proper grammar,
spelling, punctuation, and formatting, as well as logical consistency
and technical accuracy. Ask a faculty member, most likely your legal-writing
instructor or teaching assistant, to provide critical feedback about
your work. Make sufficient copies and keep all of your paperwork
on file in labeled folders.
Own a reliable telephone and answering machine. Whether
or not you participate in OCI, you must have a reliable telephone,
answering machine, and e-mail account so employers can reach you.
Your answering machine message must sound professional and articulate.
If you don't own an answering machine and rely on the kindness of
roommates or family members to take messages, furnish the telephone
area with pens and notepads.
Check your telephone and e-mail messages at least twice a day to
ensure you respond quickly to employers. During a job search, response
time can be crucial. A lag between an employer's call and your response
can make the difference between a good impression and a poor one.
It can even snatch an offer away from you if the employer loses
patience and fills the position or interview slot elsewhere.
Listen to your career services office. Particularly during
the fall OCI season, your career services office is working at high
pitch. Changes to interview schedules, information about new employers,
and the latest job postings are just a few of the developments communicated
to law students.
Understand the modes of communication your career services office
uses and tap into the information network they have worked hard
to create. For instance, if all career services office communications
are through your law school e-mail account, check that account at
least twice a day and don't summarily delete messages without reading
them first. Similarly, if last-minute postings appear on the career
services bulletin board or office door, make it a point to visit
the office each day.
By being in touch with the career services information network,
you'll know about the latest developments, changes, and additions
to all employment opportunities this fall-not only those encompassed
within OCI, but also those that fit into your independent search
strategy.
Research employers that truly interest you. OCI employers
tend to be large firms of more than 100 lawyers. Though you may
find a smattering of small or mid-sized regional firms, you're unlikely
to find most small law firms or many public interest, government,
or nontraditional employers on campus during the fall. While OCI
participants cull the NALP Directory of Legal Employers or scan
eAttorney for big-firm statistics, you should research employers
that truly interest you through Martindale-Hubbell and other resources.
In addition, take note of non-OCI processes and deadlines that
bear on your independent search strategy. For example, if you're
interested in public interest law, note that the Equal Justice Works
Career Fair and Conference will take place Oct. 23-24 in Washington,
D.C. Similarly, many federal and state government agencies have
hiring deadlines during the early fall. For instance, the U.S. Department
of Justice Attorney General's Honors Program deadline is Sept. 15.
(See www.usdoj.gov for details about third-year hiring and summer
internships.) By conducting careful research this fall, you'll avoid
missed opportunities and pursue jobs that are meaningful to you.
Attend educational programs. On-campus interviewing stresses
the mega-firms. Yet only about 10 percent of all practicing lawyers
work at firms of more than 100 lawyers. Most lawyers practice with
small and mid-sized firms, government agencies, and in nontraditional
venues. Therefore, learning about career options through educational
programs offered by your career services office and other sponsors
can help you make an informed decision and maintain your perspective.
Many of these programs are informal "lunch-and-learn"
events that encourage student participation in exchange for a relatively
short time commitment. In the process, you'll learn about the full
range of career opportunities, make valuable networking connections,
and strengthen your knowledge of the job market.
Practice interview skills before your first interview. In
a slow job market, interviews and job offers may be few and far
between. It takes only one interview to result in an offer, but
you must be ready. Therefore, hone your interview skills before
you embark on even your first job interview. Anticipate the typical
questions you may be asked, rehearse your answers, schedule a mock
interview with your career services office, listen to the feedback,
and work hard to improve your skills.
Develop the substance of your interview as well as your presentation
skills. Presentation skills include appropriate clothing and demeanor.
Appropriate interview attire includes a conservative suit and shoes.
Tone down your perfume or cologne, avoid excessive jewelry, and
discreetly cover unusual body piercing or tattoos. Maintain a positive
attitude and demonstrate honest enthusiasm for the possibility of
working for the employer. After your interview, send a thank you
letter (either e-mail or regular postal service) reiterating your
interest in the firm (if you are, in fact, truly interested in working
there).
Persist, despite setbacks, to reach your goal. Even students
who participate in on-campus interviewing experience failures while
searching for a job. Any job search invariably includes setbacks.
Those students who wallow in self-pity after a rejection miss valuable
job-search time and lose momentum. Focus iwww.abanet.org/careercounsel/students.htmlnstead on the positive
aspects and potential rewards of the process and remain focused
on your ultimate goal: the job that's right for you.
Donna Gerson, a former career services director at the University
of Pittsburgh School of Law, is author of Choosing Small, Choosing
Smart: The Secrets of Small and Mid-Size Firm Hiring (NALP, 2001).
E-mail her at donna_gerson@stargate.net
if you have comments on this article or would like her to speak
at your school.
For more career and job search guidance, visit the ABA Career
Counsel at www.abanet.org/careercounsel/students.html.
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