Georgetown Will Do ANYTHING for its Grads....

As far as career advice goes, cold calling has to be the worst of the acceptable methods to find employment.  It comes after applying for open positions, networking and contacting alumni.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, when all of the above methods fail, you literally contact whomever begging for a job.  The chances of scoring a job this way have to be about those of winning at the slot machines in Atlantic City, but I suppose it's better than doing nothing.


What about cold-emailing?  Sending out emails to potential employers who probably aren't looking to hire someone.  Are you chances of getting hired worse or better when a cold-email may end up in a potential employer's spam box?


Well, desperate times calls for desperate measures and Georgetown is going to make sure that Georgetown Grads are employed, even if they have to resort to cold-emailing.


A BIDER reader forwarded me the following email with the caveat: "FYI, I did NOT go to G'town undergrad or law.  Also we are located several hundred miles from Washington DC.  This just appeared in my in-box.  How they got my name, I have no idea."


From:    "Laura Hosid" <lar9@law.georgetown.edu>
To:    DELETED
Cc:    <amp273@law.georgetown.edu>
Date:    02/07/2011 02:58 PM
Subject:    Georgetown Law - Legal Interns


I am writing from Georgetown University Law Center to inquire as to whether you will be hiring interns in your legal department this year.  We have a number of highly qualified students seeking employment for the upcoming summer.  In addition, we understand that most corporations do not hire new graduates for lawyer positions, but if you have a need or interest in considering a talented young lawyer for a post-graduate legal or non-legal position, please let us know.
 
Please feel free to get in touch with either myself or Abe Pollack, Director of Employer Outreach, if you would like to post a position for our students.  I can be reached at (202) 662-9303 or lar9@law.georgetown.edu, and Abe Pollack can be reached at (202) 661-6560 oramp273@law.georgetown.edu.  Thank you for your time and consideration.  
 
Sincerely, 
 
Laura Hosid
  
 
Laura R. Hosid, Esq.
Associate Director, Office of Career Services
Georgetown University Law Center
600 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Room 328
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 662-9303



For those that don't know (live under a rock), Georgetown is a Top Tier School.  This is what the legal job market is coming to.  What do you guys think?  Is this enough to keep the lemmings from taking the plunge?  Lord have mercy on us all.


Thanks for the tip!  

I Wonder How Many Unemployed Lawyers Applied to Teach For America

Consider yourself lucky if you were accepted to this year's Teach For America program. Getting into a T14 law school seems easier than getting into Teach For America these days:

Alneada Biggers, Harvard class of 2010, was amazed this past year when she discovered that getting into the nation’s top law schools and grad programs could be easier than being accepted for a starting teaching job with Teach for America.

Ms. Biggers says that of 15 to 20 Harvard friends who applied to Teach for America, only three or four got in. “This wasn’t last minute — a lot applied in August 2009, they’d been student leaders and volunteered,” Ms. Biggers said. She says one of her closest friends wanted to do Teach for America, but was rejected and had to “settle” for University of Virginia Law School.

Hah. "Settling for" law school is one of the first red flags that you do not belong in law school. There are easier and more lucrative professions to "settle for" rather than spending 3 years of your 20s and $150k to enter a miserable and jobless profession. Oh well. Alneada Biggers should feel very blessed. Teach for America might have saved her from the horrible fate of law school or graduate school during the jobless era. I'm going to guess Biggers will have a better chance at finding a job three years from now than her UVA Law friend.

Another plus that TFA offers is an income that most unemployed and shitlaw lawyers can only dream of: a $45,000 yearly income. I'm sure doc review attorneys are drooling right now.

I've heard mixed reviews about TFA. I knew several people who did the program right out of college and were unprepared and inexperienced to deal with the demands of teaching in an urban environment. TFA seems to have gone the way of top graduate and law schools in that it is prestigious in name and all the Ivy League grads want to go, but one can argue about its benefits to the people they are supposed to serve. I've always felt the program serves more as a stepping stone for the participating college graduates to put on their resume to get into a prestigious graduate school or get a good job after they leave TFA.

While Teach for America is highly regarded by undergrads — Mr. Goldberg said Duke recruiting sessions typically attracted 50 students — it gets mixed reviews from education experts.

Research indicates that generally, the more experienced teachers are, the better their students perform, and several studies have criticized Teach for America’s turnover rate.

“I’m always shocked by the hullaboo, given Teach for America’s size” — about 0.2 percent of all teachers — “and its mixed impact,” said Julian Vasquez Heilig, a University of Texas professor. Dr. Heilig and Su Jin Jez of California State University, Sacramento, recently published a critical assessment after reviewing two dozen studies. One study cited indicated that “by the fourth year, 85 percent of T.F.A. teachers had left” New York City schools.

“These people could be superstars, but most leave before they master the teaching craft,” Dr. Heilig said.

Maybe TFA should accept people who are actually serious about teaching as a career and not because they graduated from college (or law school) and couldn't find a job. Did any of you unemployed lawyers out there apply to Teach For America?

Racist Harvard Law Student Needs a History Lesson (Updated)

Those of you who read Above the Law or other law school scam sites have probably read about the Harvard Law School 3L who made this racist and sexist statement in an email that went viral:

I absolutely do not rule out the possibility that African Americans are, on average, genetically predisposed to be less intelligent. I could also obviously be convinced that by controlling for the right variables, we would see that they are, in fact, as intelligent as white people under the same circumstances. The fact is, some things are genetic. African Americans tend to have darker skin. Irish people are more likely to have red hair. (Now on to the more controversial:) Women tend to perform less well in math due at least in part to prenatal levels of testosterone, which also account for variations in mathematics performance within genders. This suggests to me that some part of intelligence is genetic, just like identical twins raised apart tend to have very similar IQs and just like I think my babies will be geniuses and beautiful individuals whether I raise them or give them to an orphanage in Nigeria. I don’t think it is that controversial of an opinion to say I think it is at least possible that African Americans are less intelligent on a genetic level, and I didn’t mean to shy away from that opinion at dinner.

I've read comments on other sites from people who are rightfully outraged and offended by this email. Let's not kid ourselves, whoever this person is got into Harvard for a reason and would fit right in Biglaw or another white-shoe firm. I've come across a fair amount of arrogant and tactless bigots and chauvinists in the law, so despite how it disgusts me to read these comments, I can't say I'm terribly surprised. The world of Mad Men still exists to a lesser extent only because people like the Harvard 3L face certain repercussions for being blunt about their real feelings about minorities and (other) women. She'll still have a much better chance of getting a six-figure job most of us so don't think this email going viral will in any way ruin her life in the privileged, upper class, and extremely narrow-minded world that ensured her a spot at Harvard. I'm fairly certain her admittance into Harvard had very little to do with her intelligence or world view.

Speaking of racism and sexism, I think it is important to remember those who have proven people like the Harvard 3L wrong time and again throughout history rather than focus on one ignorant Ivy League law student. One of those people is Dorothy Height who died last week at the age of 98. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 41 years and fought against what she had called the "triple bind of racism, sexism and poverty" her entire life:

Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, told The Times in an interview, "Dorothy understood from the beginning the importance of both the civil rights movement and the women's rights movement and how they're intertwined. She's always tried to keep people together and united."

The daughter of a nurse and a building contractor, Height was born March 24, 1912, in Richmond, Va., and grew up in Rankin, Pa., where she earned top grades in school.

After graduating from high school at 16, she was accepted to Barnard College in New York but was told she had to delay her entrance a year because the school had met its annual quota of two African American students.

Instead she entered New York University, which had no such quota. In four years she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in social work.

...

Under her leadership, the National Council of Negro Women offered job training, set up a school breakfast program in Mississippi, registered voters and pushed to ensure that African Americans were included in the census. In the 1980s, Height also led African American Women for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights group.
....
Height retired from the YWCA in 1977 but continued to lead the National Council of Negro Women for two more decades. The council celebrated Height's birthday every year with an "Uncommon Height" gala fundraiser.

On her 90th birthday in 2002, well-wishers such as Oprah Winfrey and boxing promoter Don King helped raise $5million, enough to pay off the mortgage on the organization's national headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.

In 2004, President Bush awarded Height the Congressional Gold Medal for her many decades of service. Inscribed on the medal is a classic Height quote: "We African American women seldom do just what we want to do, but always do what we have to do. I am grateful to have been in a time and place where I could be a part of what was needed."

UPDATE: H/T to the Jobless Juris Doctor for the update. Gawker has exposed the Harvard 3L as Stephanie Grace. She graduated from Princeton in 2007 with a degree in Sociology, is on Harvard Law Review, and will clerk for Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, also known as the cow porn judge. More proof that idiots can get into Ivy League schools and have a successful legal career. Oh, what a world we live in.

T5 or Bust?

According to one of our readers who has worked as a lawyer for nearly 15 years, in the new jobless era, even being in the T14 means getting your resume thrown in the trash. The comment belonged in "comments that should have been posts" category so I'm posting it here for all to read.

I have been a lawyer for about 15 years. The landscape of this profession has changed enormously and there is no elastic effect from the current economic recession. When the economy recovers (5-7 years from now), most of the legal jobs that have been lost won't be coming back. I graduated from a T30 school and today I am a partner at a boutique firm. I can tell you that many firms will not be hiring entry level associates in these times. I receive dozens of resumes from T14 grads and they all wind up in the trash can. If you are applying to law school, DO NOT attend any school outside of T5. Attending a school ranked outside the T5 will be a terrible gamble of your life and future. If you are a college graduate reading this, I know you will be too arrogant to heed my warning and you believe you will be the lone exception to the doom that awaits you. A few years ago, I would feel sorry for you. With the proliferation of these lawscam blogs, you have been warned. I personally will not pity any buffoon that attends law school in the past 2 years or next decade.

Thank you for your honest and astute observations. The very few who benefit from the system will never admit that thousands have wasted their youth and what could have been their life savings on a useless degree. Some of us had to learn the hard way but at least we have the excuse of not being warned before the economy tanked. I also want to remind readers that plenty of my classmates who found biglaw jobs were laid off in less than a year and haven't been able to find any type of employment since and will probably never be able to reenter biglaw again. Job security no longer exists for our generation and there is no reason for companies to employ entry-level graduates who will expect a higher wage because of their useless degree when there is an endless line of new college graduates, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers waiting to be rehired at slave wages.

Another reader made this comment:

Heres some food for thought.

My roommate is a 1L at a tier 2, well respected local school in California. He is in the top 2% of his class. He did not get an interview for an unpaid internship with the local city attorney's office. He received a form letter rejection.

I am a militant scam blog follower and member of the movement, and even I was blown away by this. Please spread the word......

Thank you for your support and kind words. Unfortunately for your friend, he will likely remain unemployed until he finds an entry-level job unrelated to the law. I've mentioned this in a post several months ago, but a close friend of mine graduated from a T14 in the top 25% of his class, has several published law review articles, and has been unemployed for nearly a year. There is no room for Tier 2 graduates when there are top legal scholars from the best schools living on welfare.

More Reasons Not to Go to Law School

The New York Times City Room blog recently posted a Q & A with a career counselor. Readers sent in their questions and the career counselor answered them in the most polite, PC way possible. Regular readers here know that Angel and I are more blunt about law school being a big mistake for MOST people who either don't have the grades or law school prestige to enter BigLaw, end up in BigLaw but get laid off or quit in a few years, or end up in an established law career yet feel completely trapped because they are unfulfilled and miserable after spending three years and thousands of dollars on a degree that is useless outside of practicing law. Yay! Here are a few of the questions from an established lawyer and a recent law grad that the NYT career counselor answered. My answer is below in red.

I majored in media arts for my undergraduate degree. Because of my creative interests, I became a graphic/Web designer, but was laid off early in my career. With few job prospects and limited opportunities to make a decent salary in design, I decided to go to law school. I have been practicing trademark and licensing law for the past five years and have yet to find my passion for the law. I do not feel that the legal field speaks to my interests and passions, namely art, design, music, geography, history, etc. I have thought about using my love for music by moving into entertainment law, but the basic job description would be similar to my current role and so I don’t feel that in the end I will be fulfilled.

I am giving serious thought to a complete change in career and moving into architecture, landscape architecture or urban planning (these fields seem to combine elements of several of my interests). Harvard has a six-week exploratory program that would allow me to see what is involved in this field. From there I could determine if going back to school is a worthwhile option. I am hesitant after spending so much time and money on law school to go back to school again, but it is clear that the law is not for me. Do you think that this kind of a program would be a good use of my time and money, and help me find a career better suited to my interests and skills?

— Posted by Oliver

I can certainly understand your hesitancy to spend more money on education and training after investing the time, money and energy into obtaining a law degree and that you’re no longer interested in practicing law.

I think you are certainly on the right track to evaluate how you can integrate your passions for art, design, music, geography and history into what you do next. Your decision to explore architecture, landscape architecture or urban planning seems more aligned with your passions than law does. You state that you are giving it serious thought, which I assume means that you have gone through a thorough brainstorming exercise, generated many different career options and then narrowed it down to those listed above.

Creating numerous options and vetting the interests and risks of those options on paper is an important activity to invest in before actually making a monetary investment. Many of my clients come up with as many as 10 or 15 different career options to evaluate and then prioritize. I encourage you to do the same, if you have not already.

Your hesitancy in making the decision to invest in Harvard’s six-week exploratory training program indicates to me that you might not have enough information to make this investment decision. I encourage you to identify what your concerns are, formulate smart questions and then ask people in these fields to help you address your concerns. By doing so you will gain the clarity you need be able to make a better informed decision.

Good luck Oliver.

HardKnocks' Answer: Hi, Oliver. Law school is a mistake for anyone who considers themselves to be creative and artistic. I fall into that category. Growing up I was very musical, artistic, and enjoyed creative writing. If my college career counselor had any idea what law school was really like, she would've immediately told me not to apply because law is generally not an area where talented people can express their creative side in their work. Outside of public interest law, being a lawyer is for boring people with no passions other than to make a lot of money or dream about making a lot of money in the basement of BigLaw doing temp work while practicing shitlaw on the side. Before you became a lawyer, you worked in graphic/web design. You clearly have more practical non-legal skills that the average lawyer and would likely be able to use that to leave the law for a more fulfilling career.

You are absolutely correct in feeling hesitant about spending more money on an education that may or may not help you find a job in architecture or urban planning. First of all, how much is this six-week Harvard exploratory program?? Have you spoken to people who have participated in this program and did they feel that it was worth the price to attend? If not, what else can you do to work in this field temporarily without having to spend thousands of dollars on a so-called exploratory program? Can't you do the same thing for free with an alumnus from your college? Would it be more worthwhile and cheaper to do an internship with a local architect or urban planner instead? What are the current job prospects for recent urban planning/architect graduates and what is the average salary for a recent graduate?

Finally, do you have a plan to leave law and live off of your savings for a considerable amount of time until you make the decision to return to school or will be able to find an entry level job in this economy? I don't think your hesitancy comes from not knowing what you want to do. I am almost certain that you want to leave the law and I can't blame you. Your hesitancy is from not knowing which option will allow you to spend as little money as possible to get to where you want to be. Law school isn't the only school that is a waste of time and money for most graduates. I've come across intelligent people with graduate degrees in public policy, international relations, journalism, and business who have been unable to find jobs in recent years. Older people established in their careers and school counselors (who are paid to tell you that more school is a good idea) have no idea what us young folks are going through so the best thing to do in your research is to google about blogs like this one started by recent graduates. I just googled "urban planning degree worthless" and came across the following articles:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100320152006AA7HMnP


http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/what-is-a-masters-degree-worth/




Don't make the same mistake twice. Do your research and make sure that this is something you really want to do, will pay enough for you to pay off your loans, and will allow you to use your creative side. Good luck.

- HardKnocks

I recently graduated from law school and took the bar exam. Now, I am searching for an entry-level attorney position in a market where there are several more-experienced people competing for the same position. How do I make my résumé stand out among the crowd?

— Posted by Kelly

Yes, it is a highly competitive job market for law school graduates these days, and your question about how to stand out among the crowd is an important one. In addition to your grades and the schools you attended, other differentiators that employers will look at will be how well you balanced school and internships. Within those internship experiences, which I assume you have, be sure to highlight examples of how you demonstrated leadership, solved problems, applied critical thinking, developed new ideas and effectively dealt with change and ambiguity. These are some of the essential resiliency skills that many of today’s employers seek in all levels of candidates.

I also encourage you to demonstrate your people skills to future employers by using networking as a key method of your overall job search strategy and not rely solely on applying to job banks or working with recruiters.

Good luck Kelly!

HardKnocks' answer: Erm, "several more experienced people competing for the same position"? How about thousands upon thousands more experienced lawyers who can't find a damn thing in this market. Just ask experienced lawyers like Angel. Instead of asking the NYTimes counselor for advice, you should have just googled "law school scam movement" and that would've given you the answer you needed. Maybe not the answer you want to here but an honest account of what things look like for recent law school graduates and mid-career attorneys like Angel who were laid off and are currently competing with us young 20-somethings for a job. Because I don't know your GPA or law school, I have no way of giving you an honest estimate of your chances of landing a job right now. I'm sorry to say this, but there is little that a recent graduate can do to stand out amongst thousands of resumes unless you graduated at the top of your class from a T14 school. And even those people (I know a few of them personally) cannot find a job right now. Yep, law review, T14, dual degrees, published articles, prestigious internships, and all that jazz and still can't find a job. If you graduated from a top law school with good grades, the only thing you can do is network. If you graduated from a third tier school or have bad grades, I recommend searching outside of the legal market for a job. Good luck.

- HardKnocks

JD Preferred: The Holy Grail.

Remember when we decided to go to law school and we were told that a person with a JD can do anything ? Kind of like, when I was a child and my teachers said I could become anything I wanted when I grow up... president, an astronaut, or Miss USA!  Yah right.  I'm a woman--so I can't be president. I don't think I'm physically fit or rich enough to get to space.  And I'm not hot enough to become Miss USA.  Oh well... 

And what of the theory that JDs can do anything?  That also proved false.  After all, as an attorney, I'm often considered overqualified for most positions.  What does that mean anyways?  A JD is really a glorified BA.  Can I do anything at all that involves having intellect?  I've decided that means that Employers expect that you, as an attorney, would want to be paid more than they're willing to give. Little do people outside the legal field know, we're willing to take peanuts and tastykakes for a job in this economy.  

I think that those wise sages from career counseling meant, "If you can't find a decent job in the law, you may be able to get a job in another field if you sufficiently mask those three years you spent in law school."

There is one elusive job that escapes me... the JD preferred job... Where you can actually use your legal expertise without being a lawyer.  Oh, how I yearn for that sort of job.  Where I can straddle two industries and get the hell out of this one eventually.  What sort of jobs are these?  I don't know. I'm still looking for one.  But if I manage to get one, I will be so happy.