| Topic Name: |
Job Search |
| Message Name: |
Dozens of Dimes an Hour. |
| Date Posted: |
11/20/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
I can relate to you (Go Yankees' 11/20 post) in more ways than one. I, too went to a mid-first tier law school. It's a tough market in general, and esp. for attorneys because, as my former boss told me, "you're a dime a dozen these days." Paralegals are more valued & have a much easier time -- less responsibility, less stress, pay comparable to some associates, and more marketability.
What are we going to do?
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| Message: |
While I like to maintain my physique and generally have a taste for haute cuisine, I occasionally like to slum at BK, Wendy's or suck down a pair of Big Macs.
What does this have to do with me you may ask?
Well...from what I've garnered over the last month during my random visits to these fine exhibits of American glory, is that not all industries suffer the same market cycles. In fact, all three (Wendy's, BK and McDonald's - I don't know about Taco Bell, I don't eat ground pidgeon) were hiring at the managerial level! Now, with the airport screeners rushing for alternate jobs, you may face competition but I'd give you a leg up with your JD. Just think, benefits, a clip on tie, a uniform (women love that) and upwards of $13.75/hour.
The other option would be to suck it up, hustle, scratch and claw your way to a mid tier law firm job. Really blister the streets with your resume, call your professors for recommendations and cold call hiring partners. You'd be suprised how hard it is for some people to say no when confronted directly. That whole send a few resume's out and give up tactic has no place these days. The salad days are now more like day-old-left-out-in-the-sun coleslaw and it takes an iron stomach to succeed.
Move laterally in 12 months after the war machine and cheap oil from the Afghan pipleline have lubed and blasted this economy back to the life. Biglaw will be clawing for candidates again. You'd better spin a better story than "I watched 20 hours of CNN and MSNBC and surfed the web for the past year...because the market was tough." Market tough? Tough luck, tough lawyers (and the really fabulous, cunning, brilliant, handsome and charming ones like me) succeed. Some of the best white shoe lawyers I know had to get a little dirt on theirs before the doors were opened, an edge those prissy Exeter grads can't compete with.
Don't ever say I wasn't helpful. That's all for now, Spark's awaits.
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