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Where can a recent law grad find work?
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Anonymous
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I'm posting for a friend who will graduate with a jd in 2012. She has no job prospects yet and is, understandably, starting to freak out.
Anyone have advice? |
Anonymous
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Other than big firm jobs, which are only an option for someone with top grades from a top school, most people don't have jobs lined up a year before graduation. Smaller places have more immediate hiring needs and it doesn't make economic sense for them to make offers before someone has even passed the bar. That being said, it's a tough as hell job market out there for lawyers. I would encourage your friend to use her third year to focus on practical experience and networking. She should find a job or internship (or even more than one), do a clinic, do legal volunteer work, and attend bar association events. When you meet someone whose job sounds interesting take them out to coffee to ask them about it. At this point it's best to focus your efforts, including class selection, on one specific area of law. Unless she's got a 4.0 from Harvard, the one thing that will make employers notice your friend is a consistent demonstrated interest in their area of practice.
Another thing is to adjust her expectations. Apply to EVERYTHING. Her first job may pay less than $50K a year, but it's still better to be working and gaining experience and not have a resume gap. In time she will make a decent living, although probably not the big bucks she envisioned when applying to law school. |
Anonymous
| she has two years to go, why is she worried yet? |
Anonymous
| I hear that Australia is looking for people to work in their mining industry, if her salary requirements are competitive with labor imported from China. |
Anonymous
| I need a nanny. How are her childcare skills? |
Anonymous
| Which city does she want to work in? What tier was her law school and how well did she do there? What field of law does she want to practice in and where (government, firm, association, non-profit, etc.)? |
Anonymous
It's one year, actually. This is 2011. 2012 is next year and assuming a May/June graduation, that's less than a year away. Back in the day, a good student could hope for a job lined up as s/he started the last year of law school. If you want to go for a big firm, the strongest chance was to "summer" there the year before graduation. I take it this has not happened with OP's friend. Regardless, it's tough out there so it's certainly not to early to freak out, for what good it will do. |
Anonymous
| Possibly government, state and local. They aren't hiring much though. |
Anonymous
| Apply for the DC bar and start doing contract work. Positions with overtime pay pretty well. |
Anonymous
Anonymous
| Does she want to clerk? It was my first job out of law school and it was fantastic. |
Anonymous
| I would recommend she look at government work and not just attorney positions. I am not up to speed on all programs, but there are some incredible loan forgiveness programs for JDs willing to invest a number of years in service (10, I think?) and there are many jobs which have a regulatory slant which are not typical attorney positions. Think federal banking agencies, Treasury, etc. And there are internship opportunities during the summer which can result in jobs. Not all USG jobs require the usual lengthy hiring process. |
Anonymous
| Honestly - I think I would evaluate my prospects before taking out another year's worth of loans. $100K in the hole is a LOT different than $150K in the hole. |
Anonymous
Do you have any idea how hard it is to get in with the banking & financial regulators as an attorney? I work for one & you wouldn't believe the applicants we reject now - people we would have hired easily a few years ago. But there is such a glut of applicants & so few openings, we really pick & choose. |
Anonymous
| Does your friend have the chance of getting a job at places she did her summer internships? I know DH's federal agency hires a number of their interns on full time. |