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You’re Hired! Job Hunting Advice For Law Students and Young Lawyers
Common Job Search Mistakes
Landing the right job starts with avoiding common mistakes. What follows are common job search mistakes and how to avoid them.
Applying to Every Firm
It’s tempting to apply to every job opening. It’s tempting to send out dozens, even hundreds of e-mails with your resume. This shotgun approach does not work. It requires a lot of time and effort for little if any payoff. First, firms can smell generic e-mails and letters from job hunters
a mile away, and they typically are deleted or tossed. Second, landing a job at the wrong firm is potentially worse than not landing a job at all. Don’t take a shotgun approach to job hunting. Use a rifle instead and shoot for the firms that are a good fit for you and for your wants and needs.
Applying to the Wrong Firm
Some candidates apply to the wrong firms. What are the “wrong firms?”
SECTION 034 JOB SEARCH MISTAKES
◗ Firms that have an unethical reputation
◗ Firms where the principals have been
disciplined by the state bar
◗ Firms with excessive turnover among their associate ranks
◗ Firms that have a reputation for acting unprofessionally
◗ Firms that treat their associates as cogs ◗ Firms that don’t mentor, teach and
instruct their associates
How do you discover if a firm you’re applying to fits one of these categories? Read everything you can about the firm online. Some firm’s reputations precede them and their true colors are splashed on chat boards, message boards and the like on the internet. Also, check with your network. Having a wide and deep network enables you to conduct the due diligence you need about a firm before taking the plunge with them.
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