Getting into law school and then getting a job is all about building your resume. What you do as a 1L will eventually snow ball into your second and third year, and finally your first real job. The basic progression of getting a job out of law school, going backwards in time, goes as follows:
Employers of law school graduates look to see (along with grades) what the applicant did his summer after his second year of law school; and the employer of the second year summer associate looks to see what the applicant did his summer after the first year; employers of first year law students will basically consider grades and the school you are attending.
Needles to say, those who obtain some kind of legal job or internship the summer after their first year increase their chances tremendously in getting a legal job the summer after and so forth.
It is recommended to students that in order to get a good head start, your job search should begin right after midterms. I, being the go getter that I am, listened somewhat to this advice, and begin my job search during the winter break after midterms. Despite my eagerness to get a job, my approach was somewhat lackadaisical. Prior to law school, I had developed a small group of contacts consisting of family friends, alumni from my fraternity, and past internships that I had participated in while enrolled at SUNY Potsdam. I thought my networking abilities would pay off, but after a number of emails and desperate phone calls, it was a couple of weeks before finals and I still did not have a job for the summer.
The hardest part for me was that I was going to law school in Boston, which has a great legal community, but I was trying to get a job at home, in upstate New York, which does not have the opportunities that a big city like New York or Boston has to offer. So, in desperation I turned to the phone book. I got the address of every law firm I could find in the Capital District (Albany, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Glens Falls, etc…), and mailed out my resume and a generic cover letter to every one (over 75 firms received my resume). It wasn’t until the day of my last final, and after at least 20 rejection letters, that I finally received an email from an attorney in Glens Falls that said he was interested in my resume and would like to offer me an interview. I immediately emailed him back accepting the interview and thanking him for his consideration.
The interview went as well as expected. He asked me about my time in law school, we went over my resume, and then vaguely talked about what the firm was looking for in a legal intern and how I could fulfill their expectations. This was very vague however, I was their first legal intern and they were not sure on what they needed, what I could do, or if they could pay me. (Just a heads up, most jobs that law students get the summer after their first year are not paying jobs, and depending on the firm you could be working part-time or overtime.)
A week later I was offered the job. I was not promised any compensation. However, I was told that depending on my work product they would consider a stipend. I was more than grateful. Going into this process I knew the chances of getting paid were very slim and I was just happy to have finally been offered a job. The stress of having to find a job for the summer was finally lifted, now all I had to do was get through it.
Lessons learned:
1) There is no such thing as a free lunch; anything that is worth something (in your professional life and more) is going to take some hard work. If I was going to get a good job after law school I was going to have to work very hard to get job while still in law school.
2) No matter how many rejection letters you receive or how many firms ignore you completely, if you are persistent, you will eventually find something.