Too Qualified, But Not Qualified Enough

Let's face it, job interviews can be hard to come by these days.  I apply for many jobs every week and rarely hear back from any of them.  An acquaintance of mine recently posted a anonymous Craigslist job posting for an entry-level attorney in order to find out what his competition was.  Within 48 hours he received over 600 job applications.  Talk about a disheartening experience.

Given this information I felt very lucky when I was called in for an interview based on a job posting that seemed by all appearances to be the perfect fit for me.  Obviously, I scheduled the interview right away and then began researching the firm.  One of the most frustrating parts of doing a job search these days is that employers often will not post any identifying information about themselves in the advertisement.  They know that they have the market cornered and thus the desperation of applicants is bound to lead to many applications for the mystery position.  I was immediately let down to find out the posting was for a extremely small firm, in the middle of nowhere, the lead attorney of which went to a fifth tier law school (as did his associates).  I thought, okay... maybe it's not as bad as it seems.  After all it is a possible job and maybe the attorney really made a great career for himself and would be an enthusiastic mentor. So I psyche myself up for the interview... 

Interview Day:  I arrive at the firm which is an hour away from civilization.  The office is in a very commercial area.  I go into the law office and it looks professional enough.  The staff is really nice and proceeds to chit chat with me.  I start feeling a bit better about the situation.  Then I'm told the lead attorney hasn't returned from a meeting and they don't know when he will be back.  I proceed to wait for an hour and forty minutes... During this time another attorney who works there calls me into his office to talk to me.  They look at my resume and proceed to tell me that the job is beneath me and am I sure I would want to do this to my career?  "Wow, that's a great law school.. and you went to [Ivy League] undergrad?  Why are you here?" 

What can I say to this?  Yes, my dream was to work at a no-name law firm with attorneys who went to fifth tier schools?  Obviously not.  However, there aren't a whole lot of other options out there. Then the hiring attorney finally shows up and his tune is completely different than that of his associate.  He says: "I've had hundreds of applications for the position, why should I give the job to you."  Fun times.

The most frustrating part:  Because I wasn't a straight A student in law school and was not on a law journal I am frequently told I will have no chance at getting a job at a reputable firm.  However, those same people will also tell me that I would be ruining my career by working anywhere besides a reputable law firm for my first job.

Should I hold out for a better job?  Is there a better job?  Will the months of unemployment eventually add up to complete unemployability?  Is it worse or better to take a first job with a no-name firm?  I certainly do not know the answers to any of these questions...  Do you?

Federal Jobs - The Illusive Unicorn

Given the market, federal jobs are particularly desirable for new attorneys.  If you can manage to get into a federal agency you will be guaranteed job stability, great benefits, potential for advancement, and total federal student loan forgiveness after only 10 years of civil service.  Many agencies also offer student loan repayment assistance.  The problem is that acquiring one of these jobs can be downright impossible unless you have inside connections or have veteran's status.  In addition, www.usajobs.gov can be a job application black hole unless you are familiar with the unique formatting and keyword loading requirements.

I have gone through the www.usajobs.gov application process several times and have only applied for jobs which I had strong qualifications for.  However, each time I was told that I was not eligible for an interview because veteran applicants had applied and their veteran status enables them to be qualified at 110% (non-veterans can only earn up to 100% if they have all desired qualifications).

That said, I know of a handful of people who were not veterans and have earned interviews through this online application process.  The trick to getting through federal resume screening personnel appears to be twofold - incorporating as many keywords from the job posting as possible into your resume AND going into much more detail about your qualifications than you would in a civilian resume.

Although most federal jobs are posted on www.usajobs.gov not all of them are.  Many jobs are also posted on the websites of specific federal agencies.  In addition, many positions in the federal government that are not posted on www.usajobs.gov are actually contractor roles.  This means that recruiting/contracting firms will pitch specific candidates to the agency and then bid against each other.  The agency will often then hire the best value for the money candidate.  Many of these contracting firms rarely advertise for candidates but instead get them through word of mouth in the community (this appears to be especially true of contracting firms in D.C.).  Thus, if you are interested in working with one of these contracting firms your best shot is networking with people who you know in the industry and asking them how they would recommend that you get into the agency you are interested in.

Caveat:  Although working as a contractor will not award you the same benefits and loan forgiveness that a permanent position with the federal government will these positions can become permanent.  In addition, you will have the chance to network within the agency and learn about new roles before they become advertised.

Job Search Tips of the Week

All of the following job search tips have been collected from attorneys I met at networking events this week.  Some of them have been attorneys for many years and others have recently been promoted to positions which require them to make hiring decisions.  Remember these are their opinions only so still use your own common sense when applying these tips to your search. 

#1. Your address matters. It is the first thing hiring attorneys see when reviewing your resume and they will disregard your application entirely if they feel that you live too far.  "Too far" also may be a relative term.  Even if you live in a large metropolitan area where commuting is customary you may want to consider using the address of a friend who lives near the firm.  Additionally, if you are targeting a particular city that is far from where you live consider getting a PO Box and put that address on your resume instead.  PO Boxes can have addresses that are identical to a residential address.

#2.  Don't wait for an opening to become available.  If you are interested in a particular firm contact an attorney who works there directly!  The attorney you contact should be someone with adequate seniority to have influence over hiring decisions.  It also may be wise to target attorneys who attended the same law school or undergraduate school as you.  Nepotism is still rife within the profession so if at possible exploit it!  Your email to the attorney should include a letter of interest as well as a resume.  If they don't have any openings ask them to keep you in mind in the future.  Keep a spreadsheet of every firm you have contacted to prevent duplicate emails.  You may send a second letter of interest if you do not hear from then within a month. 

#3. Make sure your resume is no more than ONE PAGE.  It may seem like it is impossible to fit everything you think is relevant about your work life on to one page.  That is the case because not everything is relevant.  Cut extraneous information out!  If you find that your resume keeps spilling over no matter how finely tuned it has become try one of the following tricks.  Use a space efficient font such as: Cochin, Hoefler Text, or Bell MT.  Reduce your margins to 3/4 of an inch.  For job descriptions use paragraphs NOT bullet points.  Stop putting two spaces after every period.  Also consider being flexible about using word processing programs other than Word.  Try Open Office (free at www.openoffice.com) or Pages (an application for macs and iphones).  Each of these programs may use space more efficiently depending on the format of your resume.

#4. Volunteer at a local legal clinic.  Although it may seem like a raw deal having to work for free  do not discount the value of volunteer opportunities.  Many of the lawyers who give their time to these organizations are working at private firms themselves.  Give them a chance to see your work first hand.  They may see find that you are of value and offer you employment. You'll also have the advantage of continuing to get more experience and having something current to put on your resume.  Once the staff attorneys at the clinic gets to know you they may be flexible about allowing you to come up with your own title.  You will also be able to rely on them for a stellar recommendation!

Job Search Strategies - Organic Networking

Almost everyone I have spoken to over the past several months has said that applying to job postings is virtually futile because employers are receiving hundreds of applications for every entry level attorney position that is advertised.  Unless you are able to apply the moment something is posted your odds of being called in for an interview are small.  This leads me to believe that those hours I was going to spend drafting the perfect cover letter and revising my resume would be better spent in other ways.  Now this isn't to say I have abandoned job applications all together.  For instance, yesterday I spent several hours applying to two jobs that I felt would be a fabulous fit for me.  However, I am quickly realizing that this probably will not be the way I will find my first legal job.

In the past week I have started a more hands on and aggressive legal job search strategy that I am calling "organic networking."  Now, this doesn't mean that I am running around in a slick suit forcing my business cards on random people while asking them for work.  Instead, I am trying to involve myself in the local legal community as much as I can.  For example, this "work week" I spent attending three networking events for two different local bar associations.  At each event I attempted to befriend (NOT IMPRESS) as many attorneys as possible.  Try to remember that attorneys, no matter what their age or seniority, are people who want to be liked.  Ask them about their interests and talk to them about normal daily life activities in addition to professional topics. The people I met ran the gamut from newly admitted attorneys, to partners at firms, retired court administrators who were able to give me dirt on local firms and judges, and even a well known local judge.  I told everyone I met about my interests and that I was looking for work.  Although I did not find out about any openings this week I did get a lunch invitation from a judge, a lead on part time work while walking to my car in a parking lot, and a budding friendship with a young lawyer who shares my interests and may be in a position to hire me in the future. 

In addition to attending local bar association "networking" events I attended a CLE training hosted by a local non-profit where I plan to volunteer some time.  During the training I made sure to ask a lot of questions of the panel so that the judges and attorneys who were hosting the event would remember me next time I saw them.  I have also joined a few social groups for young professionals that are not law specific (checkout www.meetup.com) including the local chapter of my undergraduate school's alumni network.  Since I never know where my next legal job lead will come from I am always trying to keep a pulse on what is going on in my community.

After every single networking event I make sure to sit down at my computer with all the business cards I have collected.  I then add them into my contacts database, along with notes that state which event I met them at and what we talked about.  If applicable I also follow up with some of my new contacts by email and add them on LinkedIn.  In the past week alone I have added over 5000 people to my LinkedIn network.  This, in turn, has allowed me to access more information about attorneys at local firms who I may want to contact to ask about opportunities.  

Now this might seem like a lot of work considering it did not directly and immediately lead to information about a specific job.  However, I had a great time meeting people and learning about the local legal community and I am sure these contacts will become useful down the line.  Plus, I learned a ton of inside information about how resumes are screened, how senior attorneys want to be contacted, and what changes to make to my resume.  I plan to share the tips I have learned from local attorneys in my next job post. Stay tuned!

Crossing Over and the Crash

Navigating the post-crash legal field can be depressing for recent law school graduates.  There are virtually no jobs for newly admitted attorneys.  I know this to be true because I graduated from a top law school in 2011 and have had no luck finding any work in the legal field since.  I'm not alone.  Virtually all of my classmates are still unemployed or have left the legal field entirely.  Some opted for any government job they could get just so that they would qualify for loan forgiveness in 10 years time.  Others went into consulting.  I do know a handful of people who did get work as attorneys but most of them have in-demand specializations like IP (had engineering or science backgrounds) or were at the very top of our class and also had a military background.

Though I was not in the top 10% of my class I should be a competitive candidate for an entry level attorney position with a mid-sized or small firm.  I went to a top law school.  My grades were solid and I got a great deal of hands on experience through my summer jobs.  I also participated in a school clinic which allowed me to appear in court and represent actual clients.  My background before law school is also desirable -- I attended an Ivy League university and I worked for a highly regarded corporation before I attended graduate school.  Despite the many years of hard work it took for me to become an attorney it has not led to my being able to support myself or have a career.  In fact I am way worse off financially now than I was before I went to law school.

The question all of us unemployed recent grads are now asking ourselves is whether it is even worth trying to be an attorney any more.  Many of us feel hard pressed to continue our job search because of the massive student loans that are hanging over us (usually around $200K) and are accruing interest every day.  If we could just find that one legal job we need to get started maybe we would still have a chance at financial recovery.  On the flip side, many employers are hesitant to hire law graduates for non-legal positions.  The public still has the illusion that being an attorney guarantees a person a high salary.  They don't understand that this is simply no longer the case.

Although it has been a full year since I've graduated from law school I still haven't given up hope that a job may come my way one of these days.  However, my expectations for that job have fallen dramatically since I've graduated.  At best I hope to be able to find some contract work so that I can get some additional experience and *maybe* open my own office one day.

As far as I can tell traditional job search methods just do not work for new attorneys any more.  There are no job postings for us to apply to.  Every post I've seen in the past six months requires at minimum 2 years of experience with a large to mid sized firm.  Because of this I am relying on networking and cold calling to try and find some part time or temporary opportunities.  I intend to continue blogging about my search and will let you know what seems to work and what doesn't.

This week I'm attending several networking events in an attempt to get some leads.  A couple of them are being hosted by local bar associations and one of those is focused on mentoring new attorneys.  I am also trying to tap into my undergraduate school network and am attending a CLE on a topic of interest.

I am eager to hear about your success stories and any words of caution you might have to share. Please feel free to comment if you do!