STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Kari · Dooney & Bourke

Seeking a legal job....advice...

LA Gal · Kenneth Cole

kari, there are lots of approaches you can take - if i was in your shoes, i'd probably do a bunch of different things - find a listing of all of the firms in your city that do what you want to do (litigation? corporate? family? etc) and send them your resume with a cover letter that is tailored to each of them. at the same time, i'd also talk to a headhunter - i know they can't help until you have some work experience, but they're a really good resource to learn about firms and know who's looking.

are you only interested in working for a law firm? there are lots of other organizations out there that hire lawyers - the government, non-profits, etc. - and each of them recruit and hire in very different ways.

feel free to pm me if you have questions - i'm happy to help!

Kari · Dooney & Bourke

LA Gal wrote:

are you only interested in working for a law firm

Not necessarily...I am open to anything right now. I haven't seemed to find my "niche" yet. I don't exactly love the place I work now, but it would be okay to gain some experience and pay the bills until I found something else.

I think I might like government work, I am currently externing with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and I really like it. (I know - working at a firm and here...super busy).

I've been kind of spoiled when it comes to jobs...every job/position I ever had was kind of just handed to me. I need all the help I can get.

LA Gal · Kenneth Cole

i think for your first job out of law school, you should be looking for a place that gives you experience over anything else (and also pays decent, of course). i'm on my 3rd job out of law school and this is the closest i have come to doing something that i really like and that i can see doing for a long time (i was at a large law firm first, then in-house. i just left to start my own thing).

can you try to pursue a full-time job with both the OCC and with the law firm you're interning at? i don't know a lot about finding govt positions, but i would think that your law school career center might be able to help (i know they suck, but this could be something that they'd have listings for). or try looking on the state's website. if you're not interested in staying with the OCC, how about talking to people that you work with there to see if they know of openings at other agencies or divisions?

as for the law firm you're working at, that's probably your best bet - are you close to someone there that you can talk to and express an interest? do you know the hr person well? it doesn't hurt to ask!

Bastet · Kate Spade

I work for the federal gov't, so I know very little about law firms. When I got out of school, the market really sucked. IMO, if you think you might have a future with the firm you currently intern at, I definitely think you should pursue it while you look for other jobs, just so you can have a job. I don't have any advice on how to figure out if they want you, though.

If you're interested in working for the federal gov't, have you looked at usajobs.com? You can search for only attorney jobs, and you can search by location if you don't want to come to DC. Though, most of the federal attorney jobs are in DC. Apply for as many gov't jobs as you can. A lot of times, they take $&(@#&* forever to process applications, and even longer to actually pick someone. Agencies that have lots of lawyers: SEC, Social Security Administration, Dept of Labor, National Labor Relations Board (part of Dep't of Labor, but it's a huge sub agency), FCC (if you can live with yourself for working for them! They're evil.), FTC (very competitive), and most cabinet level agencies have a General Counsel's office.

If you decide you want to apply for a federal job and have questions about the paper work, PM me.

HTH!

blubirde · Chanel

I did a job search after law school also and I found my job (I work for state government) through the governor's job bank. If you want to work in OK, I'd suggest going to their government websites. I'm sure there's a state job bank that you can search. In TX, they have a job bank for attorneys where you can put in your requirements (salary, hours, travel, etc.) and they email you jobs when ones that meet your requirements come open.

HTHs!!