My revived job search is officially underway, which is partially why I haven't had much time to blog recently. There's not really much to report so far, but here's how things are progressing:
1) I've sent my updated resume to just about everyone I know. I'm pretty sure this isn't going to accomplish anything, but you never know.
2) The new lawyer at my current firm is going to give me an updated copy of the Chicago four or more list. Apparently, he had a lot of luck with a mass mailing and that's how he landed this job. He says he sent out 600 resumes, so I've got some work to do.
3) I've all but given up on the idea that I'm going to find a job in an area that I really want to be in (namely, health-care). Instead, I'm tailoring my search to areas where I can actually pretend to have marketable experience. This pretty much narrows things down to real-estate and litigation. I really dislike litigation, so I'm hoping something in real-estate pulls through.
4) I'm trying to develop some sort of sales pitch to Attorney 2 regarding why he should hire me as an attorney. There are a lot of things in our practice that I do better than anyone else, which is one reason why they want me around right now. I'm just trying to figure out if I can finagle my way into an attorney position even though he knows that I only see it as a stepping stone. Yes, this is a long-shot.
5) The process of looking for jobs and the subsequent rejection is a big part of why I was so depressed several months ago. I'm resisting the urge to toss that depression scale back up on the blog.
The cost of hiring someone and having them screw up all the time, added to the cost of having to pay someone to train them (effectively having two employees do the work of one) is a big deal. Make sure they think about that.
ReplyDeleteDon't be shy in emphasizing to Attorney 2 that they hired someone over you, who screwed up, and now they need you to fix it. It seems their real hold up is they doubt your commitment to the firm. Tell them, repeatedly, that having been in your last job, you really appreciate working there and that you WANT to work there.
ReplyDeleteAssure them that, if hired, you would have every intention of staying with them for the foreseeable future.
I've posted this comment before so forgive me if you don't want to hear it again - but healthcare/medical malpractice claims is a good field to get into if you're a law school grad, you are interested in the field of health care, but don't particularly want to be a litigator. You may find listings for "professional liability analyist", "claims specialist" or "claims consultant", and in most of these jobs, you get a foot in the door just by having a law degree. That's how I got into this field right after law school 16 years ago and never looked back.
ReplyDeleteI posted in an earlier entry that I think you write well. Reading the @bronxzooscobra twitter feed (http://twitter.com/bronxzooscobra) I was reminded of your writing style and humor. I know, of course, that you have to "eat" and all making employment a good thing, but I still think you have a potential career as a writer/humorist - maybe one who captures the unique challenges faced by twenty-somethings in the sunset of the American empire (that sounds a little or a lot overblown, but I think the gist of it may be true).
ReplyDeleteIf you're looking for a job in healthcare law, it might help to use the more commonly accepted grammar in your letters, resume, etc. The big law firms say "healthcare law" or "health law practice" without any hyphens. (The same is true for real estate - no hyphen.) You might try modeling the contents of your apps after the language in large law firms' webpages to be sure you're using correct (or at least commonly accepted) terminology and grammar.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't have the hyphens in there. The red squiggly lines in my spell-check were just bothering me that day and the hyphens got rid of them.
ReplyDelete