Job Search Advice for Recent Law School Graduates

Law Job Search Recent GradYou’ve graduated law school, passed the bar, and you’re ready to find a job. Here are our top tips for your job search and links to some other resources.

  • Will a recruiter be able to help you? Recruiters are hired by companies and firms to find candidates with specific credentials and skill sets, and those companies usually won’t pay recruiter fees for someone with less than two years of experience. Big firms rarely bring on junior associates who haven’t come through their summer associate program and, because recruiters also make candidates more expensive, smaller firms likely won’t accept submissions from recruiters. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have options – it just means a recruiter probably isn’t the solution for you.
  • Informational Interviews. Reach out to people who work in an area of interest and find out about their work. This networking will give you insight into these jobs and may give you access to positions that never go on the open market.
  • Volunteer on a committee. Simply attending networking events doesn’t give attorneys any insight into your skills or work ethic. If you join an organization and volunteer to help on events, the attorneys will see that you work hard and are reliable. They will get to know you and want to vouch for your candidacy.
  • Focus your resume. It’s tempting to try to put every bit of experience on your resume, but a “kitchen sink” resume doesn’t make you look like the right candidate. You should tailor your resume to that particular job opening. To the extent it accurately reflects your experience, use language from the job posting in your work description.
  • Proofread your resume. Be sure to have at least three reliable people review your resume for typos or other errors. Don’t send out a resume in a rush because it will likely have a mistake!
  • Search job postings – good sites to start with include indeed.com, simplyhired.com, linkedin.com, your law school career page, and even craigslist.com.
  • Apply Through An Employee. When you find job openings, try to submit your resume through someone who works at that firm or company. It greatly increases your chance of getting an interview.