mpolans Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 4 years at a top undergrad, about 1.5 years of decent job experience, and now 2.5 years of law school and I can't find a summer job. Seems all the law firms I've talked to have hired all their summer interns already or are employing family members. Even all the retail positions seem full. ...and WTF does "over-qualified" mean??? If I'm applying for the job, I clearly don't feel over-qualified!!! Aaarrggh....this sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BismarckC Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Thread Drift-- Do you need a summer job for money, or legal experience? If you are just looking for legal experience volunteer your time. Try the public defender's office or legal aid. Also some charities have in-house counsel that need help with research or leg work. While I was not a top undergrad I know the problems of finding a summer legal clerkship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 If you're getting the "over qualified" routine, it might help to be selective about what you include on, and what you omit from your resume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeper Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Most big firms hired in september or early october for this summers jobs. you are a little late. I know the problem. I am a 2L also. luckily I found something a few months back. Hell I had 5 years of engineering and other IT experience and I barley found one. Sumer job hiring is grades only and around here unless you are top 10% then it sucks. It really pisses me off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I feel your pain, but learn the lesson now and get used to it. The job market in the US will never be like it was in the Go Go years. Once you get a job, plan on staying no longer than 5 years. About year 3.5, you'd better be looking hard at having your own gig. It's the only security there is anymore. Maybe this summer you need to invent a job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I hate to disagree with Eric, but you probably should have looked sooner. The market is ridiculously busy and there is zero indication of it slowing down (barring another terrorist action on the US). We've created 1,000,000 jobs in the last 3 months and in my profession (architecture) I'm designing and building more than I ever have. It's really affecting my golf game! My suggestion is look in the public sector as it is the most stable and seemingly always hiring. If nothing else, it'll keep the lights on until you find a better gig. Good luck, Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpolans Posted June 18, 2004 Author Share Posted June 18, 2004 While I wish I could volunteer just for the legal experience, I kind of need to make some money. With my roommate having moved out part way into the summer and me not being able to get more loan money until classes start again in the fall, things might get a little tight. Right now, I've been selling darn near everything that isn't nailed down...love that ebay. I'm definitely behind the curve on getting summer jobs in the legal sector, but I never thought it be that tough to get something at the mall or even something like Burger King for pete's sake... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 The top 5% at my law school scoffed at my volunteer job with DOJ. They would initially show some interest in DOJ but the second I revealed I was not working for the USA's office, they turned up their noses. They could barely keep in a sneer when I told them I worked on immigration cases ("Isn't that public interest law??!?" It was so much more than that). They bragged about $10 and $15 an hour positions as summer law student associates with big firms & having their own offices. When it came time to interview with the DOJ Honors Program, few of them were interviewed. None were hired. They were incensed that DOJ hired me (at a GS-11/ $34K per year to start). That was 7 years ago. My work as a volunteer payed off. While its preferable to work for compensation, if you can not find the job you want, don't go retail; rather, volunteer at the office where you want to eventually earn a salary. You may need to take on more debt in the interim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeper Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 They bragged about $10 and $15 an hour positions as summer law student associates with big firms & having their own offices. Those positions now are 2-3K per WEEK!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I need to go to law school! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 Try looking for work ever since 1991 (when I graduated from college) and not finding anything decent YET!!! I've given up. Hell, I even offered to work for several employers for free on a trial basis and never even heard from them!! What more do they want??!! When the employer won't even bite on a 'volunteer' offer, what else IS there...??!! My recent foray into computer technology study is terrific but nearly overwhelming at this late date in matters of 'vocational training'. I have NO idea who'll take me on as a technical understudy or where I'll get the experience (in this small town) in techhie stuff in order to ramp up the courage and the knowledge just to take the entry-level exams....... I've 'started over' so many times it's embarrassing. The only thing that seems to work for me is creative entrepreneurial efforts--sole proprietorship stuff and free lancing, though distinctly limited in some ways. Law offices? I was trained in fundamental legal office stuff in business school and yet no one would touch me. Moreover, law offices were usually offering clerical staff minimum wage and using antiquated office software!! Positions in these places would NOT have advanced my interests in the least. Which is why I changed directions some years ago and gave up on the 'law office' thing. 'Summer Job'...? Screw it. I've finally resigned myself to taking this summer OFF, doing extensive technical data research, keeping my photo-and-graphics business afloat, shooting a little at the range and accepting the fact that I'll probably never have a decent conventional gig. I've spent more money LOOKING for work (and training) than I ever have ON the job--ANY job. Truly, the marketplace atmosphere and industries are based on totally different ideas than 50 years ago. Or even 30 years ago. Hmmm.... Should this have gone into the Friday Flamer........?........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 1991? Sig Lady, to borrow a line from Willy Clinton's new book, "I feel your pain"; I graduated from American U. in 1991 & part-time, seasonal work (right along side college students) was the best I could do with my liberal arts degree that year; man, was I thrilled when it turned into a $19/k year full-time position in 1992! Hello big money! (I thought). It took until 1997 & 3 years of hell to land a decent paying job - though that is nothing compared to your search. I agree w/ you 100%: "Truly, the marketplace atmosphere and industries are based on totally different ideas than 50 years ago. Or even 30 years ago" Hang in there Sig Lady & Mark! Good people usually land on their feet & you two deserve something great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 It's not what you know, it's who you know. The best way to find a decent job is use your network to find people you know, or friends/relatives of people you know who work in places you want to work. It's how most people find decent jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 rtr-- You got THAT right. Trouble with Eugene, Oregon is they don't like 'outsiders'. They'll let you live here but won't GIVE you anything even if you PAY for it. It's weird here politically, and nearly impossible to fathom. And pleez don't laugh (or argue the fact) when I say being female has been a distinct marketplace disadvantage. As well as a kick in the teeth with regard to pay. I know about these things. I've had to really over-compensate at times. It's real. About 75% of most everyone else's pay. Do employers think our cars only roll on three wheels...? That we eat only two meals a day (instead of, say, three)...? [well, some of us did, when the money got tight.] That we get medical attention only every fourth year as affordable...? That we use less toilet paper, or what...?? Go figure. I've often had to 'invent' my own jobs along the way. This is clever and resourceful up to a point... until you DO land an interview with a conventional employer and the shielded-from-the-outside-world's-struggles interviewer (who already has a secure job, obviously) wants to know why I wasn't 'working' during this or that period. It's all I can do to keep from throttling them on the spot. (I was trying to run a business, you idiot!!) What it takes (in terms of time/energy/materials/costs) to run even a modest sole proprietorship business (as many of you SURELY know) is rather awesome at times and time-consuming. I frequently run up against the wall of sheer lack of time to accomplish what it takes to move ahead beyond the first or second plateau of productivity. time. But many of you likely already know all this. *Sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Sig Lady wrote: "Trouble with Eugene, Oregon is they don't like 'outsiders'. They'll let you live here but won't GIVE you anything even if you PAY for it. It's weird here politically, and nearly impossible to fathom" I agree. I sensed this too during my 2 years at U of O as an undergrad (before I transferred). It was why I left. Hang in there Sig Lady! Best of luck w/ the search, Regards, C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidwiz Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 I'm a practicing attorney in NJ. When I was in school in 99 - 01, there were very few jobs available, even for the Top 10%. Sure, a lot of the big NYC and Phila firms did the on-campus interview thing, but they did that at like 15 different schools and hired maybe 10-15 people for each summer total. A lot of firms have really really cut back on their summer associate programs or doing away with them altogether (no Airplane! jokes pls) and doing just lateral hiring. None of the 40 or so people that I knew had a job lined up when they graduated. Anywho, the best advice that I can offer is to find some law related summer work. If you're close to a big city, there are usually a lot of charities that could use help or pro-bono places. Make sure you put in for judicial clerkships, federal and state. Firms *love* attys w/ judical clerkship experience. Another idea is to get a list of all the firms near you, big and small and visit them one week, seeing if they have any part-time work that you can do. There are quite a few firms (mostly smaller or sole-practicioners) that don't advertise but need help. That was how I got my first job. You might want to check out the legal placement firms like Hudson, JuriStaff, etc and see if they have any temp work available. In the end, its mostly about networking, getting your name out there. Join the local county and/or state bar association near you. Most of them have free or heavily discounted memberships for law students. Got to the bar association events, join a committee and get your name out there. -David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasag93 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Try four years of college with a BS and being over or under qualified for everything I applied for! WTF? I tried for two years and finally gave up. I am now a licened electrician and make $5000/yr more than any of my college buddies who stuck it out and found a job in our field. College was the best wasted money I ever spent. TXAG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Right on. This is one reason I'm backing up, preparing to punt, and digging into the eventuality of certification within the computer technology trade. I figure there are at least a few kinds of people who will survive well in the world for a while longer: Those who can fix cars (mechanics), those who can fix bodies (medical folks) and those who can fix computers (techhies). I should've done this 'computer tech' thing YEARS ago but there was no opportunity. Better late than never. As long as we're breathing we each have a future. Fill it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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