This Guy Did EVERYTHING Right! Shouldn't he be Running for Office?

Overqualified Attorney Seeks Position

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Date: 2009-10-31, 3:25PM EDT
Reply to: job-6sf3y-1445919455@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

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I might be considered "overqualified" or too senior for most jobs posted.

More than 15 years out, top of class at Yale and Stanford Law School, former Deputy Solicitor General for New York State, federal Circuit Court clerk, diverse experience in criminal and civil cases, trial and appellate levels.

I'm ready to enter at the level you desire. I'm a quick study, eager to learn new areas. I'm a team player looking for a new start after leaving solo practice.

Think outside the box. There's value in it.

• Compensation: negotiable
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 1445919455

Well, there's no shame in begging. None at all. The first thing I did when I lost my job was send an email to my 800 friends (that's actually not an overestimate) begging for help. Never mind that it amounted squat. I'm not bitter. But, I must say, this guy should be running for Attorney General, not begging for work. I want to hire him.

There's really no need, but I think this CL ad deserves a list emphasizing this person's credentials:

1. 15 Years of Experience

2. Yale

3. Stanford

4. Top of Class--presumably at both.

5. Federal Clerkship

6. Former Deputy Solicitor General of New York.

That is a list of 6 things this guy has over me. I don't stand a chance getting a job if this shark is lurking out there as well.

Is the fact that this person is unemployed a statement about our industry? Possibly. Make that, probably. But, just to illustrate a point, I'm going to try to be a little less harsh on the industry and just blame the candidate personally. Although I don't know him, and even though he had the wherewithall to get into Stanford and Yale and end up at the top of the class at both schools--I'm going to assume he is a total fuddy duddy and doesn't know how to speak to people. Why else would a person with those credentials be in that situation?

A person who was socially inept may have been able to make it into great schools, but his success would have stopped there. I guess that flame would have been put out in the interview process. But then he proceeded to get a federal clerkship and then a prestigious government position. So, is it likely that he was just a loser and couldn't get his shit together to make it in modern society? No. It's not.

Why am I going on about this? Because I used this ad to illustrate the thought process of every potential law student out there. If they are at all internet savvy, they all know the rumors about people who don't make it as lawyers or advise against going to law school. But somehow, after seeing the facts before them, they figure that something was wrong with that person or the advice somehow doesn't apply to them.

I cannot connect the dots anymore than I just did. If you don't see my point, you're never going to see it.