The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls) Forum

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rad lulz

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Re: Mourning and Weeping in the Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting)

Post by rad lulz » Wed Oct 10, 2012 6:29 pm

TTH wrote:
Omerta wrote:
Lol we're so fucked. I applied to about 275 firms so far (excluding clerkships and gov't shit). Results? Zero (0).

edit: I crack up every time I see "Able Seaman" as a job category on USAJobs.
Damn bro. That's rough. I've had shit results, but I haven't dropped nearly as many apps as you have.
Honestly I think cold-emailing firms is probably a waste right now. The ones that were gonna hire before graduation largely hire 2Ls, and many firms are still in 2L recruiting. Basically I've been trying to work my pretty strong network back home. I've had varying success. People have been very willing to help at least.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by bronson » Wed Oct 10, 2012 6:43 pm

Agree. I would think that mass-mailing as a 2L would have better results if only because at that point you're only looking for a 3-month-ish SA or a clerkship where you're only working 20 hours a week, and firms are looking for ways to fill out classes or find an extra hand. As a 3L, the SA gig is up and we're now looking for full-on jerbz. I would think that firms are more reluctant to bite in that situation.

Probably still have to give it some effort - if only to make myself feel better - but it's tough to imagine a happy ending.

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Re: Mourning and Weeping in the Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting)

Post by Omerta » Wed Oct 10, 2012 6:58 pm

rad lulz wrote:
TTH wrote:
Omerta wrote:
Lol we're so fucked. I applied to about 275 firms so far (excluding clerkships and gov't shit). Results? Zero (0).

edit: I crack up every time I see "Able Seaman" as a job category on USAJobs.
Damn bro. That's rough. I've had shit results, but I haven't dropped nearly as many apps as you have.
Honestly I think cold-emailing firms is probably a waste right now. The ones that were gonna hire before graduation largely hire 2Ls, and many firms are still in 2L recruiting. Basically I've been trying to work my pretty strong network back home. I've had varying success. People have been very willing to help at least.
I agree, but the effort to potential benefit ratio is pretty good. Not trying to humblebrag or anything, but I interviewed with 40+ firms. It was definitely worth sending follow-up apps to those since they were interested enough to give me an interview the first time around. Up to this point, I've only really applied to NALP firms, which are obvious longshots here, and clerking apps sucked up most of my time. Now, I'm going to try smaller firms in my school's market since I've already check out every firm with more than 10 attorneys in my hometown.

Even though I was no-offered, I thought having a prior SA position + good grades would get me a few looks.

I'm more worried about taking the barzam and isolating myself to looking for a job in one state. At least now I can spam the east coast.

What really makes me feel bad is I'm so comparatively lucky relative to lots of other people. I have good grades, little debt, and supportive parents. My heart goes out to y'all with 100k+.

rad lulz

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by rad lulz » Wed Oct 10, 2012 7:08 pm

You had 40+ interviews for 3L jobs? Damn son.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Omerta » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:10 pm

rad lulz wrote:You had 40+ interviews for 3L jobs? Damn son.
No, during 2L fall.

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rad lulz

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by rad lulz » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:11 pm

Omerta wrote:
rad lulz wrote:You had 40+ interviews for 3L jobs? Damn son.
No, during 2L fall.
Oh, okay. Silence now. You still think it's worth it to mail now?

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Omerta » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:32 pm

rad lulz wrote:
Omerta wrote:
rad lulz wrote:You had 40+ interviews for 3L jobs? Damn son.
No, during 2L fall.
Oh, okay. Silence now. You still think it's worth it to mail now?
I'd at least check with firms you got an interview/callback with. Also, NALP has a tab that tells you how many entry-level associates from the past year were SAs, so you can get the gist of which firms look/hire outside their SA class for first year associates. But 98% of the firms I've talked to filled their first year requirements through their SA program.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by mvpforme » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:48 pm

Omerta wrote:
rad lulz wrote:
Omerta wrote:
rad lulz wrote:You had 40+ interviews for 3L jobs? Damn son.
No, during 2L fall.
Oh, okay. Silence now. You still think it's worth it to mail now?
I'd at least check with firms you got an interview/callback with. Also, NALP has a tab that tells you how many entry-level associates from the past year were SAs, so you can get the gist of which firms look/hire outside their SA class for first year associates. But 98% of the firms I've talked to filled their first year requirements through their SA program.

Some of those entry-level positions are for people who were deferred, unfortunately.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:09 pm

During 2L OCI I was top 15% at a T1 school with LR. (now top 10%) During 2L I won several national moot court competitions and got on LR e board. After striking out at 2L OCI and subsequent mass mail I ended up working shitlaw during the summer.

I've been massmailing like crazy for for the past three months. 150 mass mails resulted in 4 interviews. Waiting to hear back on one of them, dinged at the others.

At this point, I'm just going to ride out the rest of this loan money. I'm going to party balls. If I still don't have anything lined up when I graduate I'm going to move away from this crappy city and move to Colorado. I swear to god, I'll ski bum the rest of my life and never pay a penny back. On the bright side, even though I'll be poor I'll probably enjoy my life more than many of my friends who landed biglaw.

The unfortunate part is realizing that I have failed. I already knew this after 2L summer, but now it's getting real. So much for a family, decent car, and home. Cheers bros, and good luck to all of you.

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Bikeflip

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Bikeflip » Thu Oct 11, 2012 12:09 am

Checking in, if only to find some motivation to keep churning out jerb stuff. I've been thinking "What's the damn point?" far too much these past few weeks.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:21 am

Bikeflip wrote:Checking in, if only to find some motivation to keep churning out jerb stuff. I've been thinking "What's the damn point?" far too much these past few weeks.
I keep asking myself the same question, and unfortunately the answer increasingly becomes suicide.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Bikeflip » Thu Oct 11, 2012 2:01 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Bikeflip wrote:Checking in, if only to find some motivation to keep churning out jerb stuff. I've been thinking "What's the damn point?" far too much these past few weeks.
I keep asking myself the same question, and unfortunately the answer increasingly becomes suicide.
Lawl skool may have ruined things in the short term (and medium term), but even talk of suicide is extreme.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Oct 11, 2012 2:13 am

Bikeflip wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Bikeflip wrote:Checking in, if only to find some motivation to keep churning out jerb stuff. I've been thinking "What's the damn point?" far too much these past few weeks.
I keep asking myself the same question, and unfortunately the answer increasingly becomes suicide.
Lawl skool may have ruined things in the short term (and medium term), but even talk of suicide is extreme.
Well, now I know I am not the only one who has thought about that as the answer. Still, I think the above posters idea of becoming a ski bum is a way better idea, except I would prefer to go to out west be a beach bum. I don't care for the cold.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by RickyDnwhyc » Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:58 am

Was AreYouInsane's plan to escape to Turkey and never pay back the debt a viable one?

Can the debt follow you to another country?

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by TTH » Thu Oct 11, 2012 11:44 am

RickyDnwhyc wrote:Was AreYouInsane's plan to escape to Turkey and never pay back the debt a viable one?

Can the debt follow you to another country?
I think the key is expat'ing to a country that won't enforce a judgment from an American court.
Anonymous User wrote:The unfortunate part is realizing that I have failed. I already knew this after 2L summer, but now it's getting real. So much for a family, decent car, and home.
So much this. My wife really wants to have kids, and I have means by which to support a family lined up. It's depressing as fuck. And I've had to pull two all nighters this week for Journal shit, and grinding that shitpaper out knowing it hasn't done me any good career-wise is downright depressing.

Hang in there, guys, like the man said, one day soon a change is gonna come.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Oct 11, 2012 2:09 pm

For those having suicide thoughts, go see your school's psych office. They give you medicine that basically makes you feel high all day, and those thoughts go away. I'm just IBR'ing it until they get rid of it, then adios USA.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:46 pm

just got a nice rejection via phone the day after a callback. :evil:

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by RickyDnwhyc » Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:50 pm

I think the key is expat'ing to a country that won't enforce a judgment from an American court.
Why isn't everyone ITT compiling a list of these countries right now?

... How much is your USA pride really worth? It's a big world out there.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by rad lulz » Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:52 pm

RickyDnwhyc wrote:
I think the key is expat'ing to a country that won't enforce a judgment from an American court.
Why isn't everyone ITT compiling a list of these countries right now?

... How much is your USA pride really worth? It's a big world out there.
How bout you start us off.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by RickyDnwhyc » Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:54 pm

rad lulz wrote:
RickyDnwhyc wrote:
I think the key is expat'ing to a country that won't enforce a judgment from an American court.
Why isn't everyone ITT compiling a list of these countries right now?

... How much is your USA pride really worth? It's a big world out there.
How bout you start us off.
The North Pole

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by BarbellDreams » Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:57 pm

Checking in. CB in 3 weeks at my dream job. Likely have no shot and I would say underqualified but we'll see. Other than that, zero. 200+ apps led me to 1 interview. Rejection letters are all over my house randomly. QE actually sent me 3 for some reason, they were from different offices and worded differently (though obviously stock) so at least they bothered to mix it up a bit.

Whats worse? Working shitlaw for 40K/year with no growth prospects in a city you despise waking up in or taking a shot at moving to a city with no jerb but strong ties assuming you have good grades/resume?

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Oct 11, 2012 7:50 pm

Just got a rejection after a CB that came down to 5 people for two spots. Damnit, damnit, damnit.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Omerta » Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:09 pm

Brothers,

Try to snag a (paid) internship if you can. IMO, they are not that difficult to find during the school year. School is easy/skippable and an internship is attractive because (1) getting paid (2) experience (3) networking. Not saying you're going to make SA money, but something is better than nothing. I have two interviews lined up for next week. One is legal and one is non-legal. Both have the potential to turn into full-time positions.

Wallowing in self-pity isn't helpful. Even if you have no interest in practicing law, at least try to position yourself with SOME experience in the relevant area because it could help you transition out of law if you have no interest in practicing.
mvpforme wrote: Some of those entry-level positions are for people who were deferred, unfortunately.
The NALP box says "prior SA" so it could include deferred people who were prior summer associates. Whatever, at least it indicates the possibility they go outside their SA class.

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by Bikeflip » Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:39 am

BarbellDreams wrote: Whats worse? Working shitlaw for 40K/year with no growth prospects in a city you despise waking up in or taking a shot at moving to a city with no jerb but strong ties assuming you have good grades/resume?
Any chance you can do a spring semester in practice in the second city?

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Re: The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls)

Post by TTH » Fri Oct 12, 2012 7:42 am

RickyDnwhyc wrote:
I think the key is expat'ing to a country that won't enforce a judgment from an American court.
Why isn't everyone ITT compiling a list of these countries right now?

... How much is your USA pride really worth? It's a big world out there.
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