For law students who contemplated doc review/when the rainbow was enuf*. (*With apologies to Ntozake Shange.)
For many law school graduates, this is a confusing time. Well, confusing and scary.
Last week, all across these United States, law school grads took the bar exam. Now, whatever happens, it’s over. That’s what you have to seize on, young people: the bar exam is over.
Whether or not you pass it, yeah, that’s a whole ‘nother ball of wax, that we’re not even going to contemplate. Today, dear beloved, we’re talking about employment. As that song went back in the ‘80s, you got to have a j-o-b/if you want to be with me. “Me” here referring to your self-esteem, self-respect, will to live, checking account, sex drive, you name it.
Therefore, if as I type these words, you’ve graduated law school, taken the bar exam, and yet do not have a job, I’d urge you today, put down that wine glass, take a cold shower, and get yourself some kind of legal-themed volunteer position. I know you’re depressed, I know your Netflix queue is singing a siren song, and I know the chilled white wine in your freezer looks, and tastes great, but seriously.
As a law school graduate, in a very real sense, you have an expiration date. You have a rapidly-closing window within which to position yourself to get a job, that will, eventually, result in your having a career. And, alas, drinking and watching Adultswim, which glorious, do not a career make. (I tried it. Didn’t work. I blame the patriarchy.)
The legal field, whilst saturated, is still reliably snobby. Besides which, there is rampant antagonism towards millennials (i.e. people who remind old people that they will never be 29 again, with great hair, and some ability to enjoy life), which results in a fairly prevalent belief that young law grads without jobs are somehow deserving of their fate. That attitude isn’t helpful, but such is life. Thus, young people, if you’re reading this, under the covers, feeling sorry for yourself, trust that I feel your pain, but you must get out of bed today, now, and take action.
Volunteer. Volunteering is a powerful way to demonstrate your passion for the law. That passion is what will both attract the right people to your orbit, and, even more importantly, give you the belief that you have something to important to contribute. Volunteering is a great way to flip the script when you feel as if your life is headed straight to video.
Ideally, you want a volunteer position that will give you responsibility, since that will sharpen your skills, not to mention confidence. Volunteering is a great way to not only change the world, but to positively position yourself in front of people who know of paying jobs. (Changing the world is great, but eating every day is also fun.)
Volunteering is also useful in figuring out what aspects of the law you might actually be interested in, and engaging in an organized strategy to achieve your goals, as opposed to stalking your fellow law school grads on Facebook at 3am, seeing who’s working at White and Case, and screaming into your pillow. Don’t do it. Put all of that nervous energy to work.
Volunteering is also a great way to get out of the house, and away from parents and family who mean well, but are making you contemplate murder, every time they chirp, “Are you still in bed? Get a job! What are you doing with your life? I see that lovely girl, Missy, is working for a federal judge, isn’t that nice? Her parents must be so proud!” (Don’t kill them. They mean well. Plus, the only wine delivery service in our correctional facilities involves toilet wine, and I assume, parts of your anatomy, so there’s that.)
Join your alumni association. Before you tell me how much you hate your law school, yeah I don’t care, nor am I listening. You need a job. Join your alumni association today, and also, today, sign up for at least two upcoming (networking) events. I put networking in parenthesis because any event can be a networking event if you do the right things, and considering that you need a job, I guess you’re going to have to do all the right things. Do you have business cards? Do you have a pitch, introducing yourself, why you went to law school, what sort of firms you’re interested in, and what you bring to the table? Have you gone through the guest list of these upcoming networking events, and seen who on the list is working for firms you’re interested in?
Exactly.
Join your alumni association, so you have access to their database of active alumni. Active alumni means alumni presently working in your field, which means networking opportunities for you, which means, eventually, a job, which means, I told you so. (Well, it is National Orgasm Day. Cut me some slack.)
Not to give you too much sh*t tough love, but if you graduated without a job, you’re going to have to get over your fear and loathing of networking: you have no choice. You need a job. Networking is what will get you a job. You can access your law school institution’s data base, and do a search by companies, and/or by industries. If these people are listed publicly in your alumni association, it usually means they have fond feelings for their school, so they are more likely to help you.
Before you contact anyone, I know you’re going to tweak your LinkedIn profile, and clean up your social media and generally allow the universe to help you. The legal industry is still very conservative. If you have graduated without a job, it’s doubly conservative. You are going to have to prove yourself. (Listen: I don’t make the rules, nor do I rule the world. My familiars and I are working on that. #eyeofnewt Until that happens...*shrugs.*)
Have you gone through your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter connections, looking for people working in your field, whom you can reach out to, for their “advice?” If asked correctly, many people will be flattered to give you their advice. They will be flattered that someone is interested in their life. Trust that people have married other people who showed even mild interest in their lives, so yes, you can use these feelings to get you a job.
Some people still get confused as to the difference between an informational interview and a (cough cough) “real” interview, but honestly, the only difference is how you behave. An informational interview can easily become a “real” interview if you’re prepared, focused and dynamic. (Conversely, a real interview can easily become informational if you show up unprepared.) You’re going to have to give yourself permission to do whatever it takes to get a job.
This is, IMO, especially important for law school grads, since law school is where your confidence goes to die. And yet you desperately need that confidence if you’re ever to be the person your dog thinks you are. You desperately need to summon and nurture that confidence. You need to fight for that confidence.
Some of you are thinking, “Ugh, that sounds like too much work...I’m just going to sign up for doc review tomorrow, I’ll be fine. Things will work out.” Insert here the sound of tears falling into red wine.
Remember my earlier rant about confidence, Boo? It’s your lack of confidence which will make you think doc review is a good idea. Your lack of confidence is wrong, as evidenced by those Tindr dates you went on.
In an industry obsessed with prestige, doc review is never a good idea. Prospective employers need to see you as a budding attorney, not as budding disposable labor.
Better to volunteer at something that excites you—which will, over time, reveal to you, your talents, and fuel your drive and determination—and work nights as a bartender, or write code, or become Trump’s latest press secretary—Oh, why the hell not? You went to law school, you’re as qualified as anyone else whose done it!—and over time, you will create the opportunities you allow yourself. Sound corny? Too bad, young people. Such is life: corny, and tedious, with too little sex, and too much drama, and over much too soon.
All the more reason, that you can’t let the bastards win. There’s only one person who gets to win at your life: you.
In a sense, you’re in an enviable position: all you’ve got left to lose is your fear. You made it through the bar exam, right? You might not be sure, but I am; you made it through the bar exam. Now, you’re going to get a job. You’re going to volunteer, you’re going to network, you’re going to challenge yourself, and time will pass, you will get a job, and that will, eventually, lead you to a better job.
And so it goes.
You may feel frightened, and alone, and hopeless...and so have many of us. But you’re much tougher than you know. (You made it through civ pro, FFS.)
The bar exam is over. Now, here comes the rest of your life. Wave bye-bye to fear. #getit