The job search is a full time commitment. They don’t tell you that at orientation, nor do they tell you how all consuming it is at the worst possible junction of your academic career. The 2L semester (part one) houses the appellate and oral advocacy requirement. There you are worked nearly to death and left with just enough air in your lungs to get you through the last month of classes that you barely remember you signed up for. If you failed to read a book on how to get through law school, this is the time when that stings and burns. If you have read “1L” or “Law School Confidential” you will have set up your resume and cover letter templates in the previous year and be left with the daunting task of scouring the planet for jobs that seem do-able.

Ha, ha, that isn’t an accomplishment, because you don’t know what you want to do, or if you could do it. No matter how much pre-law school experience one has, the process of law school education takes its toll on you. You are a new creature, akin to a baby, who has notions and feelings but isn’t quite qualified. You need a job, to be able to know what to do. If you are also an MSEL that is fact that looms over your entire 1L summer, because you were studying when your classmates were trying out practical skills under the tutelage of some officer of the law.

The job search hits each of us in that secret place in your mind where you store images of previous challenges, it tests your mettle and tempers your ego. If you have had success in the past it may push you to apply, revise and apply some more. If you have had poor or worse–no experience, be prepared to wade into the wealth of knowledge available through professors, upper class men and and career advice personnel.

If you find yourself in the office of career services, go into the office prepared. God helps those who help themselves, and it wouldn’t be prudent to assume that they can do any more than God. If you don’t know who you are, don’t ask them. If you’re not sure where you wanna go… think about it. If you find that you cannot quite determine your interests, read a book on careers or cruise the web but do not go in to the office hoping to be sprinkled with that knowledge because the job search is a DIY proposition. They can do alot but you must do the legwork.

A basic job application package contains:

A writing sample

Resume w/ cover letter

References

However, a job interview is anything but basic. It may involve a small measure of luck and chemistry, which cannot be practiced. The tension can make it feel like it lasts forever. It doesn’t. The initial interview can take 30 minutes and subsequent interviews vary. You can do it, I know that and I don’t even know you.

Finally, some parting suggestions from a quasi credible source… don’t take advice from your competition. Block out the bad vibes and you will find a job somewhere.

TDT