Lost & Found

Round two of Lost & Found – here are the job postings I’ve dug up this week:

Internships

• Health & Human Services (DC & NY – Summer – Unpaid) 
• World Justice Project (DC – Summer – Unpaid)
• National Renewable Energy Project (Colorado – Summer – Unpaid)
• Long Island Rail Road (NY – Summer – Unpaid)
• Geico [2L+ preferred] (MD – Summer – Unpaid)
• Twitter (San Francisco – Summer – Unpaid)
• Princess Cruises (Santa Clarita – Summer – Unpaid)

Lateral Positions (Various Levels of Experience)

• Various Lateral Positions – Perkins Coie
  
• Various Lateral Positions – Holland & Knight

Entry Level (0-1)

• Political Law Associate (DC – Private – Open Until Filled) 
• 1 Year Fellowship (DC – Government) [Expired]
• Pathways Term Paid Internship [Economist/Non-Legal] (DC – Dept of Interior – Closes 4/12)

Junior (1-3)

• Discovery Attorney (Seattle – Contract – Open Immediately)
• Capitol Markets Associate (London – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• Business Associate (NY – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• Patent Associate (DC – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• Consumer Finance (Philly – Firm – Open Until Filled)

Mid-Level Lateral (3-5)

• Assorted Lateral Positions – Perkins Coie 
• Copywrite/Trademark/Entertainment Associate (DC – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• Litigator (LA – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• FDA Regulatory Associate (Chicago – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• Corporate Associate (DC – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• Tax Associate (LA & NY – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• Consumer Litigation Associate (Cincinnati – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• Real Estate Associate (NY – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• Consumer Finance Associate (Tampa – Firm – Open Until Filed)

Senior (5+)

• ACLU – Director (DC – Non Profit – Open Until Filled)
• Partner [Entertainment/Corporate/Transactional] (LA – Firm – Open Until Filled)
• Litigation Associate [Bankruptcy/Creditors Rights] (LA – Firm – Open Until Filled)

What Does it Mean to be “Entry-Level?”

I’ve been combing job boards all week, trying to scrounge up more positions to apply to. Whenever I see the words “entry-level” or “recent grad” I get ridiculous amounts of excited. And then it happens. I’ve clicked on the posting, begun to scroll down, and *POOF* all of my excitement evaporates into a cloud of disgruntled bitterness. I’ve reached something that says “requires bar passage” or “bar passage required at the time of application” or “requires proof of bar license.”

I have exactly none of these things. Why? Because I haven’t graduated from law school yet. I haven’t taken the bar yet. I will be taking the bar this July and I certainly hope I obtain bar passage when the results come out later in the fall.

Why does this embitter me so? Well, quite frankly it’s because legal employers aren’t stupid. They know darn well that there are exactly two times a year that someone may sit for a state bar exam. They also know that, with a few exceptions, you can only sit for one state at a time. And furthermore, they know that by April you’ve already financially committed to which state you’ll be sitting for and won’t be able to add an additional state until February, when you can sit for the next bar exam.

So, when I read through these positions I can’t help but think “do they really want someone who is “entry-level?” And, the answer I’ve come up with is a bit disheartening. In today’s economy entry-level isn’t usually a new grad. Rather, it’s someone who is still job hunting from the prior year’s graduating class. Or someone who has been clerking. Or someone who has been taking contract work.

No one wants to take the time to train the fresh meat. No one wants to risk employing someone who might not pass the bar their first time out of the gate. Everyone wants a sure bet.

So, as a soon-to-be new grad, how do I market myself? How do I let an employer know that I’m not the fresh meat they fear me to be? My resume is chock-full of clinic and internships and my work experience prior to law school. My cover letter clearly literates my skill sets. But, I know that when a recruiter is faced with 600+ candidates (common in the age of internet applications) that we’re lucky if half of our applications get face time. Getting off that pile in the first place is really the whole battle.

50 State Bar Associations

My least favorite part of the 10th Amendment is that there are 50 different bar exams. Unlike Pokémon, you don’t want to pass them all. But, for job searchers, this means there are 50 different state bar associations that might just be able to help you out. Some states have publicly accessible career centers, others job boards, and others yet classified ads. I linked to career oriented pages when I was able to, otherwise you should land on the homepage.

Alphabetically:

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Lost & Found

One of the side effects of constantly searching for jobs to apply to is that I often come across really awesome jobs that I’m simply unqualified for. I’ve decided to share them with you all. Hopefully this will be come a regular Monday thing.

This week’s job postings:

Entry Level (0-2 years)

• Civil Litigation (DC – CIA – Open Until Filled)

Junior (1-3 years)

• Antitrust Associate (Region Unclear – Private – Open Until Filled)
• Associate Positions (Multiple Regions – Private – Open Until Filled)
• Civil Litigation (DC – CIA – Open Until Filled)
• Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering (DC – DOJ – Closes April 9th)

Mid-Level (3+ years)

• Federal Policy Counsel – Reproductive Rights (DC – Policy – Open Until Filled

Advanced (5+ years)

• IP/Patent Atty (Patent Bar Req) (DC – Private – Open Until Filled)

Internships

• Corporate/Compliance/Leal Affairs (DC – 1L – Open Until Filled) 
• Corporate Governance/FDA/Health Law (San Diego – 2L, LLM – Open Until Filled)
• FCC Regulation/Legislation/Patent & Copywrite (Colorado – 1L, 2L – Open Until Filled)
• Corporate Legal (Connecticut – 1L, 2L – Open Until Filled)
• PAID – Municipal (Maryland – 1L, 2L – Open Until Filled)

Unemployment, Revisited

In less than 60 days, I graduate from [not Georgetown Law]. Bar study class starts the morning after. I have not (yet) acquired post-graduation employment, gainful or otherwise.  The fact that I haven’t collapsed from a panic attack is a small miracle, but I suppose the (seemingly) never ending job search keeps me going. That and the ever-present cup of coffee in my hand. To be fair, sometimes it’s herbal tea.

For the second time in my relatively short adult life, I’m about to graduate into a shaky economy with few full time employment prospects. It’s daunting, but familiar. So, I’m doing what I do best – diffusing stress with the occasional bit of dark humor, a stab at creative writing, and spending all my spare time alternating frantically applying to jobs with staring into my laptop screen like a zombie as streaming video auto-plays.

I’m pretty sure my post-bar employment plans consist of gathering as many cardboard boxes as I can and making a box fort on the national mall. I have a few law school cohorts who might join me, which would be awesome because it means I wouldn’t have to collect quite so many boxes on my own. I’ve always been a fan of pooling resources whenever possible. I would make a very bad contestant on survivor because my desire to win would constantly be at war with my desire to make logical choices that not only benefit me, but the person sleeping on the tropical beach next to me. It really is too bad that DC has a northern climate, as that’s less than optimal for a box fort. I suppose we could work on various DIY water-proofing and insulation tactics. Then we can have our very own tent city. We might even hang our very own shingle and start a cardboard legal clinic – like Lucy in Peanuts. Once we get our bar passage results, we’ll have a wide variety of jurisdictions represented. Good thing the new law school building is supposed to have showers – it really should have a gym, though. Wouldn’t want to get out of shape.