Be 'discriminating' yourself: Taking control over interviews
Uncomfortable situations, even if not technically “discriminatory,” can occur even before you land your new job. Make your best defense a strong offense.
Category: Jobs
The realities of the 2019 legal job search
How do today’s law students (yes,we’re talking about students like you) stack up when it comes to making smart job-search moves?
Your financial future has already begun, law students
The money-related decisions you make in law school could shape your life for decades. Lucky for you, we’ve got information to help you make wise moves.
Ask the Hiring Attorney: Can I put my photo on my resume?
Under international resume standards, photos are fine. Those international resumes (usually we call them CVs) also might include other personal information like marital status, number of children, age, nationality, and citizenship status. In the U.S., however, we don’t include any of that information on resumes.
Ask The Hiring Attorney: Do I have to sign a cover letter that’s electronically delivered?
Today, most employers are allowing job candidates to submit their resumes electronically—whether by email or by uploading their application package into an online database. In many cases, employers require the candidate’s resume to be uploaded, but also allow candidates to attach other documents like a cover letter. So job candidates are asking themselves whether a cover letter that’s electronically delivered needs to be signed, just like a cover letter that’s mailed.
Want employment and career advancement? Write down your road map
You want meaningful employment and career advancement. The question is how to use your time in law school most effectively to achieve your goals. In the current period of challenging market changes, law students secure meaningful employment by differentiating themselves from other law students. The problem, Indiana law professor Bill Henderson
10 things I’ve learned in a year of job searching
The job market is still tough. It has been a little over a year since I got my pass results, and I am still job hunting. As such, I wanted to share with you some tips I have for bar takers while on the hunt for work. I spent the first three months
The top five lifestyle choices to consider for after law school
How do you see your life after graduating law school? All work, no play? Little bit of both? If you think you have no control over this outcome, you’re wrong. You absolutely do. So take steps while you’re in law school to impact your lifestyle after. Your quality of life after
Pack a Professional Punch with Your “Thank-Yous”
Embrace opportunities to write and send thank-you letters that are spot-on in terms of tone, context, and substance.
Look smart this summer
Well, anytime, really—but these tips might especially help you if you’re headed off to a summer associate position or your first “real job.” What behaviors help you seem smart—and which ones will sabotage your efforts to
How to Survive Your First Year on the Job
You’ve landed your first job out of law school . . . congratulations! Now you’re all set to start working, but you may be a bit nervous about making a good impression as you launch your legal career. What can you do to start off on the right foot and
Live in X but Want to Work in Y? Here’s How to Make the Leap
So you have decided to look for opportunities beyond your current law school’s typical geographic footprint. Or you’ve become so passionate about a practice focus that you are willing to go anywhere to practice. Here’s some practical tips for helping you figure that out. The first thing you need to do
Where Is Your Advice Coming From? The Wisdom of Seeking Career Advice from Multiple Sources
A good number of law students enter law school without a specific career goal in mind. Many more find their interests change during their law school career or even after they enter the post-graduation workforce. Knowing what career path to choose takes time, effort, and a lot of soul searching.
10 Job Search Tips for Law Students and New Graduates
First, let’s recognize that all job searches are stressful. The closer you are to graduation, the more pressure you likely feel. Along with pressure, you will probably experience a range of emotions including nervousness, intimidation, being overwhelmed, frustation, and—hopefully—elation at the end. Here are some tips to help you through
In-House Law: Do They Even Hire Students?
The stereotypical career trajectory for an in-house lawyer begins at a midsize to large law firm. As corporate legal departments have not traditionally been equipped to tackle the intensive training and development that new attorneys require, many are happy to leave associate training to the firms. The corporations underwrite the
How to Make Your Job Search Fit Your Schedule
Get Focused In a tight job market, law students in need of experience will often say, “I will take any job anywhere.” While flexibility and adaptability are critical qualities, casting your net too wide results in an unfocused job search taking an incredible amount of time and that is ultimately less
Salary Negotiations 101
Rule #1: Know Why You Are Negotiating Engaging in salary negotiations simply to conform to preconceived salary expectations or to gain a slight salary increase is needless and may jeopardize an offer of employment. Knowing whether negotiations are warranted takes factual investigation and self-awareness. Some of the right reasons to engage
Do You Have Any Questions for Me?
Pop quiz time! This is: (a) a polite, rhetorical question casually offered as a wrap-up to the interview or (b) a make-or-break moment in which you have a final chance to show that you are the best candidate for the job? If you answered “a,” you have undoubtedly passed up
Mind Your Mannerisms: It's Not Just What You Say But How You Say It
You’ve pressed your interview suit, printed extra copies of your résumé and writing samples, and researched your interviewer and potential employer. You have gone over your answers to potential interview questions in your head a million times. You are ready to enter that interview
The Other Legal Jobs
Although the employment market remains soft, there are opportunities for those who pay attention to the businesses and industries that are weathering the recession—particularly those that might be expected to show growth in the near future and those that value a legal background. Many of these opportunities lie outside the traditional
Legal Recruiters: Fact vs. Fiction
In an effort to lighten the load and get some help on the job hunt, both law students and new lawyers reviewing the resources available to them often wonder about recruiters. Do recruiters work with law students? Who are they and what do they really do? Are they worth it?
Election Law: Careers at the Intersection of Law and Politics
Election law is not just practiced by government employees. The public interest world also provides opportunities for lawyers who are interested in the electoral process.
The Performance Review
The performance review. In concept, it sounds like a good idea: An employer regularly takes time to review the work of the employee in order to evaluate progress on such areas as professional goals, quality of work, job knowledge, potential, and interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Once reviewed, the employer
Starting a Career in Public Interest Law: Passion, Commitment and a Desire to Serve
“So, why’d you go to law school?” Oftentimes, the answer to this question is “to make a difference” or “to promote justice.” Every year, scores of people are led to law school by a desire to make a difference in the world and to give back to their communities. However,
Where are the jobs?
It's not news that for grads leaving law school, competition for entry-level positions is stiff and jobs are difficult to come by. But this doesn’t mean they are impossible to find—it just means applying a little more time and creativity to your search.
