The All Consuming 3L Job Hunt

I would like to begin this entry by wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008. May this be a year of new beginnings and great opportunities for all of you.

I know it has been a very long time since my last entry. Would you believe that I got swept up in a torrent of MCLSA end of the semester meetings, last minute deadlines for classes and the clinic, holiday shopping, and final papers and exams? Well, I did. But that was only from November to about mid-December. After that, I took a well-deserved break from everything academic which, believe it or not, includes writing in this blog.

Truth be told, I did do a bit of post-graduation job hunting during my time off. I consider that to be my most important “class” at this stage in my career. After a total of eight years of grueling higher education characterized by much hair pulling, blood, sweat, tears and gnashing of teeth and culminating in an obscene amount of federal loan debt, the notion of unemployment is....well, unspeakable. But unfortunately it does happen. I’d like to be able to say the people to whom it happens have only themselves to blame. If only it were as simple as lack of aggressive job-hunting. But there are any number of factors that affect the likelihood of post-graduation employment. One of which is demand for your skill. Another bit of bad news, most new grads don’t earn the higher end of their earning power for several years. In many fields, the degree itself is the bare minimum of what the employer is seeking. Many positions prefer three to five years of experience as well.

The good news is that many employers hire entry level law clerks and attorneys through special programs for new grads. For instance, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has an honors program through which all of its entry level attorneys are hired. Many employers including, state and federal government agencies, have similar programs. And with these programs, timing is everything. The deadlines for these programs are usually the September of your third year. The trick is to keep your eyes open.

A law firm, on the other hand, is much more likely to hire new a grad who has worked for that firm as a student. In other words, the best thing you can do to acquire a post-graduation position as a first year associate in a firm, is work at a firm during your law school career. You might consider doing this the summer before your third year. I would not necessarily recommend working at a firm during the school year. Firm work tends to be somewhat demanding. However, if you are a person who is very disciplined, by all means, do so.

I have been planning for my future for 21 years and now it is barreling toward me at break-neck speed. For me, this is a scary time and place. There are many decisions yet to be made. The job hunt is one small portion of it.

My apologies for breaking such a long fast with such a brief entry, but I promise I will be more dutiful in my blogging for the rest of this semester. Federal Income Tax awaits…