Road trip across the US to find a job? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anon because of the possibility of this being an extremely embarrassing idea.

Anyway, for personal reasons, I can't look for jobs at law firms until December of this year. Currently not working as a lawyer. I would ideally like something in big law or midlaw

I have a UBE score that qualifies me to practice in any jurisdiction.

Here's what I'm thinking: I've always wanted to travel around the U.S., so I was thinking I'd buy a van and drive across the country to different UBE jurisdictions, letting firms know that I'll be in the area. I remember during law school I'd get lots of interviews by telling firms I'd be in the area. I don't have any geographic preferences.

Dumb idea?

[benwyatt]

Dumb idea?

Yes.

[Miss-Bubbled]

Probably a terrible idea...but if you do it please film your adventures and post to YouTube.

[Man from Nantucket]

If you hand out free candy from your van I think your chances of finding a job will be increased.

[ghostoftraynor]

Great idea. Make sure its one of those box white vans. You could invite various partners in for coffee.

[Miss-Bubbled]

If you hand out free candy from your van I think your chances of finding a job will be increased.

But make sure to spell kandy with a K

[objctnyrhnr]

Why not just tell a ton of firms across the country that you’ll be in the area soon and see who bites (offers interview) and just...go there?

[Johnnybgoode92]

Best of luc OP. Everyone respects hustle

[QContinuum]

Why not just tell a ton of firms across the country that you’ll be in the area soon and see who bites (offers interview) and just...go there?

IMO, pretty apparent that OP really just wants an excuse to take a good long cross-country road trip vacation. Sadly, we at TLS can't lie. There are many ways to get a legal job, but going on a cross-country road trip isn't one of 'em.

[Anonymous User]

Why not just tell a ton of firms across the country that you’ll be in the area soon and see who bites (offers interview) and just...go there?

IMO, pretty apparent that OP really just wants an excuse to take a good long cross-country road trip vacation. Sadly, we at TLS can't lie. There are many ways to get a legal job, but going on a cross-country road trip isn't one of 'em.

OP here.

But why, what specifically makes you say this wouldn't work?

What's the difference between applying to a firm in, for example, Chicago, from my living room and driving there, versus applying and going there while I'm on a cross country road trip?

[JHP]

Why not just tell a ton of firms across the country that you’ll be in the area soon and see who bites (offers interview) and just...go there?

IMO, pretty apparent that OP really just wants an excuse to take a good long cross-country road trip vacation. Sadly, we at TLS can't lie. There are many ways to get a legal job, but going on a cross-country road trip isn't one of 'em.

OP here.

But why, what specifically makes you say this wouldn't work?

What's the difference between applying to a firm in, for example, Chicago, from my living room and driving there, versus applying and going there while I'm on a cross country road trip?

What would be your process? You spam apply to a ton of firms from your living room now, wait for your application to make its way from the bottom of the pile to the top, hope that your "I'll be in town!" e-mail doesn't go to the recruiter's trash bin, and then drive into town at the exact time that hopefully one of the bites will want to interview you? Are you going to loiter in each city for about a month or two hoping someone will e-mail you to come in? As facetious as some of the other posts have been, it's more about the (lack of) practicality of this idea, and the fact that no one thinks a traveling circus approach to legal recruitment will work.

[FND]

it's not a bad idea, but you've got to genuinely be interesed in a location.

"Hi, I'm driving through, but may stop in Tulsa if you're lucky, and you really should interview me because I'm awesome, despite the fact I can't even spell Tulsuh properly and think you're all a bunch of dumb hicks" won't do the trick.

"Hi, I really love Tulsa. I've been there before, and I really enjoyed spending time in Brookside. I also love the art-deco architecture downtown. I'm looking to live in a vibrant city in the south-central part of the country because reasons, and Tulsa is an underrated gem. I would love to move to Tulsa, and as I have a strong interest in puppy law, of course your firm is the best puppy-law firm in town. Here's a few good reasons why I'm a good fit for your current advertised opening. I'll be visiting Tulsa again around these dates, and if you have an opportunity, I'd love to learn more about your firm" might net you an interview.

The problem is, you've got to sound genuine while giving a very good reason to want to live in each town, and why each firm would be a perfect fit. They're not looking to hire someone who's got no ties, never been there before, doesn't share the culture or politics, and is likely to leave as soon as a better job comes along.

[QContinuum]

it's not a bad idea, but you've got to genuinely be interesed in a location. ... "Hi, I really love Tulsa. I've been there before, and I really enjoyed spending time in Brookside. I also love the art-deco architecture downtown. I'm looking to live in a vibrant city in the south-central part of the country because reasons, and Tulsa is an underrated gem. I would love to move to Tulsa, and as I have a strong interest in puppy law, of course your firm is the best puppy-law firm in town. Here's a few good reasons why I'm a good fit for your current advertised opening. I'll be visiting Tulsa again around these dates, and if you have an opportunity, I'd love to learn more about your firm" might net you an interview.

The problem is, you've got to sound genuine while giving a very good reason to want to live in each town, and why each firm would be a perfect fit. They're not looking to hire someone who's got no ties, never been there before, doesn't share the culture or politics, and is likely to leave as soon as a better job comes along.

I mean, that's why I don't think the cross-country road trip is gonna be a good idea. How many different locations - especially locations OP has never even been to, let alone has ties to - can OP genuinely make that detailed pitch for?

And as for the reason why I said, "IMO, pretty apparent that OP really just wants an excuse to take a good long cross-country road trip vacation"? Why, I said that because OP themselves admitted as much:

Here's what I'm thinking: I've always wanted to travel around the U.S., so I was thinking I'd buy a van and drive across the country

[FND]

words

Yeah, I agree. Looking for jobs in non-major cities without ties is a difficult endeavor. Winging it as justification for some dream trip is just fooling yourself - may as well just go on that cross-country road trip without wasting the time and effort, and enjoy yourself without distractions

[QContinuum]

Yeah, I agree. Looking for jobs in non-major cities without ties is a difficult endeavor. Winging it as justification for some dream trip is just fooling yourself - may as well just go on that cross-country road trip without wasting the time and effort, and enjoy yourself without distractions

Thanks, yes, I entirely agree that OP should just enjoy their vacay instead of wasting time trying to arrange interviews en route.

[Wubbles]

Are you competitive for these jobs to begin with? It sounds like you're an unemployed graduate who is not already in BigLaw looking for biglaw or midlaw

[rcharter1978]

Anon because of the possibility of this being an extremely embarrassing idea.

Anyway, for personal reasons, I can't look for jobs at law firms until December of this year. Currently not working as a lawyer. I would ideally like something in big law or midlaw

I have a UBE score that qualifies me to practice in any jurisdiction.

Here's what I'm thinking: I've always wanted to travel around the U.S., so I was thinking I'd buy a van and drive across the country to different UBE jurisdictions, letting firms know that I'll be in the area. I remember during law school I'd get lots of interviews by telling firms I'd be in the area. I don't have any geographic preferences.

Dumb idea?

Let me start by saying that I work in fedgov, so I suspect my view is mostly as an outsider looking in.

If you start this in April or May but can't work until December it seems like a pretty long runway.

If you want to do the trip, maybe you can do a little planning ahead of time. Talk to you alumni office and see if they have different connections in different cities you might drive through. Meeting people will give you a greater insight into where you may want to live what the scene is in that area. They may also give you some ideas about good firms in the area and what makes them unique when you go to send out a resume/cover letter.

As an employer with my own shit to do I might be a little put off if someone suggested I take time out of my day just because they were driving through? It seems a little disrespectful of someone else's time. Particularly if you really have no idea if you're interested in working in that area, much less working that job. It would suck if I took time out of my day to interview someone, really liked them, offered them a job and then was informed that they are heading to another city so maybe they will get back to me before December?

Overall, I think it's good and smart to explore your geographic options. But I think you'd get more bang for your buck by meeting with alumni and checking out the area. Maybe you can plan to find some legal meetups or see if there are any networking events you can attend that allow you to meet people without asking them to carve time out of their day to interview you on a whim.

[Anonymous User]

Anon because of the possibility of this being an extremely embarrassing idea.

Anyway, for personal reasons, I can't look for jobs at law firms until December of this year. Currently not working as a lawyer. I would ideally like something in big law or midlaw

I have a UBE score that qualifies me to practice in any jurisdiction.

Here's what I'm thinking: I've always wanted to travel around the U.S., so I was thinking I'd buy a van and drive across the country to different UBE jurisdictions, letting firms know that I'll be in the area. I remember during law school I'd get lots of interviews by telling firms I'd be in the area. I don't have any geographic preferences.

Dumb idea?

Let me start by saying that I work in fedgov, so I suspect my view is mostly as an outsider looking in.

If you start this in April or May but can't work until December it seems like a pretty long runway.

If you want to do the trip, maybe you can do a little planning ahead of time. Talk to you alumni office and see if they have different connections in different cities you might drive through. Meeting people will give you a greater insight into where you may want to live what the scene is in that area. They may also give you some ideas about good firms in the area and what makes them unique when you go to send out a resume/cover letter.

As an employer with my own shit to do I might be a little put off if someone suggested I take time out of my day just because they were driving through? It seems a little disrespectful of someone else's time. Particularly if you really have no idea if you're interested in working in that area, much less working that job. It would suck if I took time out of my day to interview someone, really liked them, offered them a job and then was informed that they are heading to another city so maybe they will get back to me before December?

Overall, I think it's good and smart to explore your geographic options. But I think you'd get more bang for your buck by meeting with alumni and checking out the area. Maybe you can plan to find some legal meetups or see if there are any networking events you can attend that allow you to meet people without asking them to carve time out of their day to interview you on a whim.

Thanks for taking me seriously and for the ideas.

To clarify, I would start the road trip in/around December. Then, if I received a job offer along the way, I would cut the road trip short and be available to start immediately.

I wouldn't suggest to firms/partners to take time out of their day just because I'm driving through - I would frame it in the sense of, I applied to your law firm and I'll happen to be in the area in case you're interested, along with all the reasons that I'm interested in the area and firm.

[nixy]

My concern is mostly the logistical one already noted - I'm not sure how successfully you'd be able to plot out your route and time your travels for this to work. The post-grad hiring schedule isn't quite the same as OCI hiring (where you could say "I'm going to be in your city June 25-30" and know the firm was looking to fill their class for the next summer so the timing would work). It doubtless wouldn't hurt to try, but if you want to road trip I'd make the road trip the priority - don't organize it around firms or anything.

[rcharter1978]

Anon because of the possibility of this being an extremely embarrassing idea.

Anyway, for personal reasons, I can't look for jobs at law firms until December of this year. Currently not working as a lawyer. I would ideally like something in big law or midlaw

I have a UBE score that qualifies me to practice in any jurisdiction.

Here's what I'm thinking: I've always wanted to travel around the U.S., so I was thinking I'd buy a van and drive across the country to different UBE jurisdictions, letting firms know that I'll be in the area. I remember during law school I'd get lots of interviews by telling firms I'd be in the area. I don't have any geographic preferences.

Dumb idea?

Let me start by saying that I work in fedgov, so I suspect my view is mostly as an outsider looking in.

If you start this in April or May but can't work until December it seems like a pretty long runway.

If you want to do the trip, maybe you can do a little planning ahead of time. Talk to you alumni office and see if they have different connections in different cities you might drive through. Meeting people will give you a greater insight into where you may want to live what the scene is in that area. They may also give you some ideas about good firms in the area and what makes them unique when you go to send out a resume/cover letter.

As an employer with my own shit to do I might be a little put off if someone suggested I take time out of my day just because they were driving through? It seems a little disrespectful of someone else's time. Particularly if you really have no idea if you're interested in working in that area, much less working that job. It would suck if I took time out of my day to interview someone, really liked them, offered them a job and then was informed that they are heading to another city so maybe they will get back to me before December?

Overall, I think it's good and smart to explore your geographic options. But I think you'd get more bang for your buck by meeting with alumni and checking out the area. Maybe you can plan to find some legal meetups or see if there are any networking events you can attend that allow you to meet people without asking them to carve time out of their day to interview you on a whim.

Thanks for taking me seriously and for the ideas.

To clarify, I would start the road trip in/around December. Then, if I received a job offer along the way, I would cut the road trip short and be available to start immediately.

I wouldn't suggest to firms/partners to take time out of their day just because I'm driving through - I would frame it in the sense of, I applied to your law firm and I'll happen to be in the area in case you're interested, along with all the reasons that I'm interested in the area and firm.

See, to me, the road trip idea makes sense in order to get a good idea of the regions you like. Because I think that your first job out is probably going to define the region you work in for the majority of your career. It's where you will make ties, maybe raise your future family, meet your future friends, etc, etc.

So to me, it makes some sense to do a full road trip to gain that knowledge. Visiting an area will give you the best idea of just how much you like it. And if you jump at the first job offer you get in an area you kinda like, then you may have missed out on discovering an area you would LOVE.

Having said all that, as a total outsider looking in, to me it seems like it would be better to do your full road trip (as it's also a dream of yours) and meet up with alumni along the way or attend legal networking events in cities that interest you. Not only will you get a more complete picture of the area, but you'll make connections that you can tap into later.

But either way, good luck! I don't think I could do that much driving, but there are beautiful parts of the US that you can see and experiencen on a roadtrip