By Tammy Dawson
Law Career Counselor
Law Career Development
You have made it to your final year of law school! You have worked hard, made new professional contacts (and some life-long friends), and learned a lot. Congratulations on all you have achieved to date!
This year is the beginning of your transition from student to professional. After graduation and the Bar, what comes next? If you do not have something lined up, you are not alone! But don’t worry – there are things you can do now to put yourself in the best position to find a permanent position for next fall.
1. Identify your target organizations.
Employers like to hire people who are specifically interested in working for them. It means that the person is more likely to be engaged and to stay for a longer period of time. What are the organizations for whom you are passionate about working? What appeals to you about working for each? If you were an employer, would those reasons appeal to you? Are your reasons vague or generic, or do they show a passion for the organization and what they do? To learn more about the organization’s projects and what it is like to work there, reach out to a current or former employee for an informational interview. GGU alumni are great resources for this information as are your LinkedIn connections. Start making these connections within your target organizations now.
2. Network
The San Francisco legal community is small. Get to know the people who work in the field in which you would like to work. Expand your network. Your friends and family generally know the same people you know. Acquaintances, on the other hand, likely occupy a different space than you and your friends and consequently are likely to have different information and knowledge. This can be exponentially valuable if your acquaintance is a connector. Connectors are the people who seem to know just everyone. They can introduce you to a wide variety of new people, providing a gateway to whole worlds you don’t have access to now. Your professors and local bar association leaders may either be connectors themselves or they may be able to put you in touch with connectors.
3. Get more experience
Research shows that the single thing most employers (other than BigLaw and judicial clerkships) are looking for is your legal experience. Many employers in the Bay Area love hiring GGU students and grads because, having received a practical education, they leave law school understanding how to do junior-level tasks. That is GGU’s brand. For you to best take advantage of that brand, LCD recommends you aim to have 3-5 legal experiences on your resume by the time you graduate. If you are shy of this number, now is the time to sign up for a clinic, volunteer in the community, or secure an internship or externship. You may be able to leverage your work into a permanent offer. Even if you don’t, you will nonetheless make more contacts in the field, secure another reference, and generally, make yourself more attractive to other employers.
4. Participate in a GGU job fair program
Many of you are already participating in the Summer Job Fair, already underway. For those of you still in the market for post-bar jobs, mark your calendars for the Spring Job Fair coming up in February. Employers who participate in our job fairs are interested in hiring GGU students – take advantage of the opportunity to interview with them. Work with LCD Counselors to prepare persuasive resumes and cover letter, and practice your interviewing skills.
5. Have a plan for after the Bar
Do not – I repeat, DO NOT, plan to postpone your job search until after you have passed the Bar. Employers do hire law clerks awaiting Bar results. Further, employers who are hiring in December, January, and February are more interested in applicants who have continued to get experience after the Bar, people who have been hustling. So take a couple of weeks after the Bar to recover and relax, then get back out there. You put yourself in a much better position to find a job post-Bar if you have been working during this period. It does not have to be paid or permanent. Volunteering is a great way to get substantive experience and is just as valuable on your resume. If you volunteer at least 20 hours a week in public interest or public sector jobs, you can apply for a
Bridge Fellowship from GGU which will pay you a small stipend.
Of course, some of you may still not be sure what you want to do with your law degree, either because it has never been clear or because the legal experience you have had caused you to rethink your original plans. The best place to start is where you’re at! Come to LCD and talk with any LCD counselor. We can direct you to resources, help you with self-assessment, and connect you to practicing attorneys who would be happy to share their career path and day-to-day experiences with you. Make an appointment
TODAY!
