How About a Raincheck on that No-Offer?
Commentators have been asking for a thread for 3L's who left their summer internship without an offer. It seemed like a good idea the first time it was suggested, and it still does.
Problem is, I'm not quite certain how to broach the subject. Some things are personal and therefore private, and some things only feel personal and in fact need not be private at all. I'm confident that a 3L job search is an example of the latter - I have no idea what the numbers are, but I do know there are a lot more Boalt 3L's on the market this fall than last. We all know that is because of the market, not because the class of 2009 was more qualified than ours. To put it bluntly, the collective response to a no-offer this year is "dude, that sucks," not "dude, you suck." That's how everyone I know at Boalt feels about it. And I know pretty much everyone.
Coming at this from a more constructive angle, well, it's hard to know what to say without reciting an email from the CDO. As a person who switched careers to come to law school, I feel comfortable saying that that opportunities really are myriad, even within the law: there are many open jobs in public service, there may still be networking opportunities with large private sector employers, and this country is full of small law firms that most of us have not even bothered to learn about. But most of all, there is a whole community of peers here at Boalt who are pulling for you, and who only wish we knew how to help. Maybe a thread is a good place to start.
Problem is, I'm not quite certain how to broach the subject. Some things are personal and therefore private, and some things only feel personal and in fact need not be private at all. I'm confident that a 3L job search is an example of the latter - I have no idea what the numbers are, but I do know there are a lot more Boalt 3L's on the market this fall than last. We all know that is because of the market, not because the class of 2009 was more qualified than ours. To put it bluntly, the collective response to a no-offer this year is "dude, that sucks," not "dude, you suck." That's how everyone I know at Boalt feels about it. And I know pretty much everyone.
Coming at this from a more constructive angle, well, it's hard to know what to say without reciting an email from the CDO. As a person who switched careers to come to law school, I feel comfortable saying that that opportunities really are myriad, even within the law: there are many open jobs in public service, there may still be networking opportunities with large private sector employers, and this country is full of small law firms that most of us have not even bothered to learn about. But most of all, there is a whole community of peers here at Boalt who are pulling for you, and who only wish we knew how to help. Maybe a thread is a good place to start.
Labels: OCIP/Employment
posted by Patrick Bageant at 2:39 PM
14 Comments:
I still haven't heard and am scared about it, and I wonder how alone I am. Have most 3Ls heard, one way or the other?
I haven't heard, but my firm told me that the earliest that I'd hear would be at the end of the month. It is also possible I won't hear until sometime in Sept.
Many of my friends haven't heard either. So I wouldn't be worried.
Do you have to have a receipt to return a book to the law bookstore?
If the firm gave you no timeline when you left, it seems perfectly appropriate to call and ask (I wouldn't make them commit to writing an email), so long as you approach the subject properly. E.g., approach someone you think is a straight shooter and with whom you can be candid. If you don't have that kind of relationship with the hiring partner(s) you might talk to the recruiter.
I tend to be fairly comfortable being direct about this sort of thing, though, so I wonder what other people think.
@ 6:11, ugh. Yes. Don't even get me started on the bookstore.
I agree with Patrick - give the recruiting department a call, or secondly, get in touch with an associate that you got along well with and have them do a little research for you. I would only get in touch with the hiring partner as a last resort. This sort of thing bugs people with way too much on their plate already, and if they haven't made any final decisions (likely if they haven't called you yet!), this may be something that they (subconsciously) against you. And if it's close, you don't want to break the tie for the other person.
If you lost your receipt and paid with credit (i.e. credit card or chose credit on your debit card) the bookstore will be able to pull up your receipt. If, however, you paid in cash or with debit, you're screwed, sorry to say.
As for offers, my firm said late august, early Sept. Should be a fun labor day weekend....NOT.
Anybody know the last day to return books?
My no-offer just came. Dan, I'm going to need an invite to that party.
how about a list of firms who no-offered people?
A list of no-offering firms would be really helpful for 2Ls.
I know a lot of people who haven't heard yet, 4:33. And, I don't want to freak anyone out, but my impression is that the firms that are telling people later have been offering at a lower rate than those who let us know early.
That's totally anecdotal, and you are (probably) better off relying on whatever your firm told you in the meantime, but there you go.
Thanks for the words of encouragement, Patrick. At least there seems to be a lot of good people in this boat. Maybe we should start our own firm?
From what I'm hearing, there appears to be a correlation between clerking/applying for clerking/otherwise self-deferring for a year and offers at my firm. That, or they made hiring decisions by throwing darts at a board. For whatever that's worth.
Oh, and they didn't have very many darts. At all.
Post a Comment
<< Home