3L Job Search StrategiesOctober 2014

University of Wisconsin Law SchoolOffice of Career and Professional Development (OCPD)

Four Components

•Clarify your Objectives

•Look for Job Postings

•How to Network

•Keeping your materials updated and ready to go

Clarifying your Objectives

“I just want a legal job, any legal job,” is not an objective that will inspire others to help you. Identify the one or two geographic markets, and one or two practice areas, in which you’d like to work. More than that will dilute your efforts, and make it hard to tell a convincing story when you are interviewing.•- Katherine Erwin, Beyond on Campus Interviews.

How to Clarify your Objectives• Make an appointment with us!

• Take online personality tests and learn about your strengths and weaknesses • http://www.quistic.com/personality-type/test - Myers Briggs

• Think about your values. Look at Major, Lindsay, and Africa’s Ten Questions: http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/CDO_Public/10_Questions_Yale_2013_-_FINAL.pdf

Clarifying Objectives: Geography• Think about your geographic area• Where do you want to live and why?• Where are your family, friend connections?• Do you have to be in a geographic area? If so, why? TELL PEOPLE

THAT!• What things are important to you? Do you want a car? Do you

want to be able to own a house? • Cost of living calculator: http

://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator/

Thinking about rural practice? • ABA Article:

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/too_many_lawyers_not_here._in_rural_america_lawyers_are_few_and_far_between/?utm_source=maestro&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly_email

• Nearly 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas, but the New York Times says just 2 percent of small law practices are in those areas.

• South Dakota Rural Attorney Recruitment Program: http://ujs.sd.gov/Information/rarprogram.aspx

Other rural opportunities • Solo Succession opportunities• Small firms• http://www.wssfc.org/• $20 for law students!

Job Postings• Symplicity• Check often!

• USA Jobs• Indeed• PSJD.org• Governmentjobs.org• www.law.arizona.edu/career/honorshandbook.cfm • OCPD has the username and password!

• http://law.wisc.edu/career/draft/jobpostings-research.html

Do not rely too heavily on postings! 70-80% positions not formally advertised – they are uncovered through networking!

How to Network as a Job Searching 3L

• UW LAW ALUMS!• Martindale: http://www.martindale.com/• Westlaw and Lexis

• West Legal Directory

• WisBar: http://www.wisbar.org/Pages/default.aspx• Symplicity Reciprocity• LinkedIn

Who else is in your Network?

FamilyFriends

Classmates

Faculty

Neighbors

UndergraduateAlumni

Professional Affiliations

Social Affiliations

Co-workers

OCPD

Alumni/Advancement Office

So you’ve found people you want to meet, now what?

Reach out!

How to follow up…• If you have not heard from the person to whom you sent an

email, follow up either right before you leave for the location or when you get there.

• Forward the last email and confirm he or she received it.

So you’ve scheduled an informational coffee, now what?

• Be prepared! • Look professional (business casual).• Show up with targeted questions.• Ask for a business card and FOLLOW UP.• Remember to ask if there is anyone else they would

recommend you meet.

Networking success stories• An alum on our transactional Pizza with Professionals panel

told us that he met with alums after moving to L.A. without a job. Once such meeting led him to consider a state court clerkship, which he later secured

• An alum recently told us at an event that she found out about a job without a posting through an informational interview. She later got the job.

• Personal List Servs • You don’t have to be a natural from the start • 1996. This was the last time Dean Keller received a position

that was not the result of networking. He has had four positions since 1996.

Keeping your materials updated and ready to go

• Frequently review your resume and cover letters• Have multiple cover letters ready to go• Make sure you target your cover letter to the specific

job/geographic area/both• MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH US TO REVIEW YOUR

MATERIALS!

Remember….• First jobs are often a stepping stone

• The average worker today stays at each of his or her jobs for 4.4 years, according to the most recent available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the expected tenure of the workforce’s youngest employees is about half that.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2012/08/14/job-hopping-is-the-new-normal-for-millennials-three-ways-to-prevent-a-human-resource-nightmare/

Conclusion• Do your research and pay

attention to application deadlines.• Have materials reviewed by

OCPD / come talk to an advisor.• Reach out to contacts and

continue building your network.