Postby MinnesotaLawQs » Tue Mar 21, 2017 9:29 am
I think the idea that Minnesota had an "insular" legal market is VASTLY overstated. I have less familiarity with the PD world, but law firms are more than happy to hire transplants whether as entry-levels or laterals. The idea that you can't get hired without Minnesota ties is simply not true.
I think the misconception may come from the fact that Minnesotan law firms (1) generally don't take the "churn and burn" approach of hiring associates with the intention to keep them only for a few years, and so are more interested in your long term FUTURE commitment (not past ties) to the firm and its community than firms in some other markets might be and (2) for a variety of reasons, Minnesota is not a "market of choice" for young ambitious lawyers, and so firms sometimes worry that applicants with no apparent ties might be seeking a job for a wrong reason (e.g. They have some hidden defect that prevented them from getting a job anywhere else; they failed to be successful at firms elsewhere and wrongly think the job is easier here; they wrongly think Minnesota firms have a better "lifestyle" where they can work less hard than at comparable firms elsewhere; they are just looking for a short-term opportunity to tide them over until they can get the job they really want; etc.).
If you can give the impression that you are interested in being a long-term part of a Minnesota firm, that you have the capacity to succeed anywhere, and that you are applying to that firm with eyes wide open and for the right reasons, for the most part no one will care about your past ties to the state.
As for social insularity... there is a real phenomenon that makes it harder for some transplants to integrate, but it is grossly overstated by Smaug. A few thoughts:
- Minnesotans tend to marry and have kids younger than those in the coasts, so there is a relatively smaller and tamer scene of single 30-somethings hanging out all the time.
- When transplants "make friends" in places like NYC and D.C., they typically are not making friends with the natives. They are making friends with other transplants. There are fewer and more distributed transplants in Minnesota than in those places.
- Part of the Minnesotan culture is a self-consciousness and humility. Some people won't dare presume that you would care to be friends with them. That means transplants need to be a little more proactive taking friendships to the next level.
- Minnesotans are, as a baseline, very friendly. This confuses some transplants who think they have "icy friends" rather than "friendly strangers." You get used to this but have to be prepared for it.
- People who come here for law school avoid a lot of these issues, since the law school environment remedies a lot of the above issues that affect people who just move randomly. I also think those that come in knowing the background can integrate quite well.
