Job Tuition

Job Market for Third Year Law Students

December 13th, 2006 by Andrew

If you are a third year law student, most of your classmates have probably accepted jobs for after graduation. If you’re reading this, you might not be in that position.

Fortunately, there are still many available job opportunities, even once your final year of law school has started. You just have to know where and how to look.

What type of job do you want?

There are plenty different jobs still available at this point. You need to decide the kind that interest you, and then start researching them. Here is a partial list:

• Large firm - These firms are almost constantly hiring. They have regular hiring cycles, and usually hire a large class of incoming lawyers every year. Your career services office probably knows at least some firms who are still looking for people to fill their needs in the incoming lawyer class. You can also contact firms directly via email, mail, or phone, to inquire whether or not they have space.
• Small firm - Smaller firms have irregular hiring practices. They can’t afford to pay lawyers who don’t have work to do. Thus, they only hire when there is a strong need. Lucky for you, some of these firms will be hiring in the coming months. The key is to get in touch with them and make sure they think of you.
• Public interest - Non-profit organizations have differing needs, depending upon their size, purpose, etc.
• Government - Like public interest groups, government agencies have differing needs. Judicial clerkships are a definite option to consider during your third year. Also, prosecutors’ offices will usually accept applications during your third year. There are also a plethora of agencies at the state and federal level. Many of these have ongoing needs where you can get your foot in the door.

Contact early and often

After you know where you want to work, it’s now time to get in touch with your prospective employers. An important concept of job searching during your third year is to get your name in front of the employers and stay in contact with them. Since many needs are changing and evolving over time, you need to remind employers that you are looking and interested in them. Do not let employers forget about you, but don’t harrass them either.

Part of the contact during this process is maintaining network relationships. These are key during the third year job search. You must expand your network into prospective job areas and keep in touch with your contacts.

Don’t give up

The hardest part about looking for a job during your final year of law school is handling the stress of the process. Third year is hyped as your time to relax, and your friends are doing just that. But you can’t let that get you down. There are lots of legal jobs available, and one is waiting for you. You just need to be flexible, maintain contact, and keep searching.