Some of the greatest hindrances to a successful job search are fear, avoidance, and taking short cuts! A successful search takes adequate preparation, planning, multiple approaches, and a good follow-through system.
Assess Your Job Search Arsenal
Time – How much time can you spend on the search?
Required materials – Well-prepared resume(s), personalized cover letter(s), writing sample(s), notebook/system to keep lists of contacts, dates of interviews, and follow-up actions
References – Faculty (law school and undergraduate), administrators, employers (legal and nonlegal)
Contact lists – Compile from friends, faculty, mentors, bar members, professional meetings, educational forums/CLE’s, social events, Career Services, reciprocity contacts, family, and potential employers. Your goal should be at least 50 – 100 contacts.
Encouragement – Friends, family, and Career Services can keep you encouraged.
Financial resources – The job search will require money. Some expenses are a phone, answering service/machine, transportation, interviewing clothes, postage, and printing.
Develop Your List of Potential Employers.
Required usernames and passwords can be obtained from your Symplicity homepage. Resources found there include:
- Bowen Job Announcements (Career Services Manager – CSM). On your Symplicity home page, click the Jobs and Resume Collection tab. Employer job announcements sent directly to Bowen are listed here.
- Martindale-Hubbell
- PSLawNet, the Public Service Law Network Worldwide -an online clearinghouse for connecting with public interest opportunities and information on public interest careers. Contains information on public interest jobs and employer profiles.
- NALP Directory of Legal Employers – NALP Directory is the most trusted legal career resource available today, with comprehensive information on hundreds of private practice and public service employers. The Directory is fully searchable and free to you. Site includes a mail merge function available to students and registered alumni. See FAQs on the site for more information.
- Government Honors & Internship Handbook- A compilation of opportunities that provide entry to various government agencies across the nation. Many deadlines are early fall, around mid-September/October, like the HUD, and the Department of Justice Honors Programs and Presidential Fellowship Management Program. However, many opportunities, including those for 1Ls will have later deadline dates, usually on or around December 1 or early spring.
- EqualJusticeWorks – EJW offers several fellowship opportunities nationwide. Legal Services of Arkansas might sponsor the right applicant interested in applying for the EJW Fellowship Program. Contact Career Services for more specific information.
- This site also is a great source on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, including the Loan Repayment Assistance Program and the Income Based Repayment Program.
- Arkansas Legal Directory – complimentary copies are sometimes available from the Career Services Office.
- OSCAR, the Online System for Clerkship Applications and Review, lists many federal chambers indicating ones which have actual openings and how to apply. Other federal court positions (legal and nonlegal) across the country, from probation officer to judges, are found online also.
- Directory of Corporate Counsels. Latest edition available in UALR/Pulaski County Law Library.
- Phone directory (local)
- Emplawyernet
The greater the number of contacts and interviews, the greater the number of job offers…
Decide Which Strategies to Use
Networking/Referral campaign – Research and actual results continue to support networking as the #1 search strategies. It is most effective because it enables the job seeker to uncover positions not posted to-date or even widely known. Even so, remember, the job search IS still a numbers game.
Internal campaign – Self-marketing, volunteer positions, volunteering for positions, internships and externships: Remember here, after you find the job, “to be successful, look for work after you get the job!â€
Job lists – Additionally, alumni job bulletins from law schools across the nation are available on the Intercollegiate Job Bank in Symplicity. Employer web sites. Newspaper ads and professional newsletters
Direct mailing – See NALP Directory of Legal Employers. Rule of thumb:Â 100 letters = 5 interviews. Best used for long distance searches in conjunction with a strategic plan. Targeted mailings with customized cover letters are more effective, but also require more effort.
Cold calls/walk-ins – Can be effective for small firms and solo practitioners in smaller, less formal markets including Arkansas.
Head hunters – Many new and recent graduates in larger cities have had success using professional legal job search agencies. These agencies are fewer or non- existent in smaller markets like Arkansas.
Telemarketing – Can be effective for small firms and solo practitioners
Contract work – Offering freelance legal services will allow you to keep your skills sharpened. Contract work also enables you to experience employers who may be of interest to you for a more permanent commitment.
Long distance searches
Many strategies above can be used – Must convince potential employer you are serious about relocation.
Bowen will send a letter of introduction from the dean. You must provide information to CSO in an EXCEL database. Include firm name, recruiting manager’s name, exact title and mailing address.
Join the state and local bar associations in your target state or local community and start becoming familiar with available resources and the market itself.
Visit local area during summer and winter breaks; develop network. If you are going back home, it is important to get introduced and involved in the legal community as soon as you can. The development of your network is very important for your search.
Subscribe to major city newspaper.
Research legal directories for states of interest are accessible online.
Network through professional and fraternal associations, religious affiliates, as well as family and friends in the area.
Attend job fairs and interviewing programs. Specific agencies and large private employers in some markets can only be penetrated via job fairs. Survey results in fall 2009 report efforts to diversify the profession in the last five years have resulted in a 2 percent increase in minorities and women in larger law firms, a somewhat disappointing result.
Don’t retreat!
Try to identify a strategy not used before.
Network old contacts 3-4 weeks after last contact with them.
Review your resume; it may need revising (network contacts may provide helpful input).
Analyze competition: What methods are they using?
Ask for the job.
Avoid taking long breaks. Anxiety builds, and it takes longer to restart.
