January 13th, 2006
i guess the easy way never really works out
So I submitted my resume to our career services office for winter on-campus-interviews. I thought that might be a nice way to kick-start my job search, or at least get me off my ass as far as completing my resume. (It actually did that.) Of course, I didn’t get any interviews.
Part of the problem, I think, is that my experience has been entirely non-legal. I noticed that a lot of my classmates who got interviews were the ones who worked as paralegals before coming to law school. That’s kind of annoying. I think my experience gives me breadth and allows me to approach legal issues with a different perspective. But I also know that a lot of big law firms don’t really care about that breadth, and they want a lot of little them-clones who are easy to mold–and who will be totally OK with working 80-hour weeks for the bulk of their middle-20s.
No, I am not bitter. I promise. I am a little annoyed that the easy way of getting interviews didn’t work. I am curious if the career center included our grades in the information they provided to the employers, because my grades should have helped me get an interview. I wonder if anything in my background right now will help me get ANY sort of interview at this point.
So that’s where I stand right now. I had planned to spend the weekend working on my writing sample anyway; now I’ll have to work on cover letters and revising my resume also. And I have a meeting on Monday with my career services advisor, so maybe she can give me some insight into my lack of interviews. (Of course, I don’t know how helpful she’ll be with the actual mechanics of getting more interviews, since her advice on cover letters for judicial externships was the most unhelpful advice I’ve ever been given. And cover letters are important for getting interviews.)
Seriously, I hate this.
comments
You might ask Law-Rah about her 1L summer experience. As I recall, she was told she wasn’t going to find a good-paying firm job for her first summer, but through some strategy I forget (probably sheer determination and persistence), she got a great gig. And I think it happened sort of late in the spring semester, too. It’s definitely still early days for 1L summer jobs generally, so I’m sure something good will come along.
I wouldn’t self-flagelate too much on this one. My 1L job-hunt was an exercise in abject humility, and at the end of it all, without any help from the idiots in career services, I landed two offers — one with a fantastic professor, the other with the city council attorney.
I opted for the professor, and really, that turned out the best decision. Not only did he stand as a fantastic recommendation during 2L fall recruiting (when I actually stood a chance for a firm job), but he was a bright and shining spot on my resume. Firms like to see you’ve done research and writing in academia. Of course, they probably like more to see you’ve had firm experience before, but what do they know, anyway?
Granted, I didn’t make the big bucks that summer, but you’ve got plenty of time for that.
Sorry, I don’t mean to attempt to sound like I know anything about anything. Because really, I probably don’t. But I can at least relate.
Good hunting!
I don’t know if you’d be interested, but I talked to someone at the Illinois Attorney General office, and she said they love 1L’s and are taking resumes until sometime in March I think.
It would be great experience, at least.