by Jacqueline Oh (GGU JD 12)
Relationship Building. I started working as an associate attorney at Phillips, Spallas & Angstadt (“PSA”) in January 2013. However, this was not the first time that I’d worked for this firm. After graduating from UC Irvine, I worked at PSA as a legal assistant for two years before teaching abroad in South Korea. Thereafter, I consistently sent emails, postcards of my travels, and met up with previous co-workers while I was in law school; I grew closer to the firm personally and professionally by keeping in touch with the partner, my supervising attorneys and previous co-workers. I would encourage everyone to build relationships with the people you work with during internships, clerkships and contract work. Even if the firm doesn’t have an opening, if you have a positive and professional attitude, others will vouch for you, and this can lead to other opportunities.
Mentors. I have had several mentors for different aspects of my life. I believe mentorship is important in furthering your legal career. I utilized my peer mentor for any school advice, what classes to take, what type of internships I should be looking for, etc. I sought professional advice from attorneys and judges from my prior internships relating to job prospects and general career advice. I would not have been able to get the job I have today without mentors. The attorneys at my firm supported me when I was applying for jobs and my firm mentor encouraged me to state my interest in working at the firm. Even if your attorney mentors are busy, they read their emails and mail every day. If you send a note appreciating the time they spent helping you, send follow up emails about what’s going on with you, and seek their advice about something, they will make the time to respond. It may be a short email, but a response nonetheless. Mentors are beneficial during the job search and throughout your legal career. I'm sure I'll have many more mentors in my life.
Persistence. This has been mentioned previously in blog articles, but it is totally true. You have to be persistent to get the employer’s attention. I would send an email to an attorney and if I didn’t get a response, I would assume they didn’t want to talk to me. This is not true! Attorneys are extremely busy at work and get a million emails a day. Don’t take it personal if you don’t get a response; the recipient may be too busy to shoot back a reply. Upon the suggestion of a mentor, I sent status emails to my current law firm. I made sure PSA knew I wanted to come back as an associate attorney. I sent emails every month about what was happening with my career: studying for the bar, taking the bar, my post-bar trip, my graduate recruiting position, my bar passage and interest in working at PSA. I sent these emails hoping for responses, but if I didn’t get one, I treated it as a status update on my life - I was just checking in to let them know what I was doing. By sending an email, you let the firm know you are still interested in a job and that they are your top choice. In my last email to PSA I stated I passed the Bar exam and planned to swear in December. The partner called and offered me an associate position. My persistence paid off!
