So Like, Tell Me About Yourself

As many of you may know, the second semester of 1L year is job-huntin' season. We have two free summers during law school, and we are expected to make full use of them in order to expedite our conversion to The Dark Side (i.e. get legal experience). What's interesting is that the job offer you get for the 2L summer is the one that usually becomes your permanent job, because (unless you're inept) it's expected that you will receive a job offer at the end of the summer. Thus, where you decide to work for your 2L summer is a very important decision to make.

If it's true that the 2L summer is the make-or-break, life-altering, fate-sealing, end-all-be-all of summers in the law student's life, then it's equally true that the 1L summer is nothing more than free time to dick around. Well, to an extent. Employers during interviews for 2L summer jobs don't really care where you've worked, as long as you've been doing more than just working at IHOP all summer. Most 1L's get jobs with judges, non-profit organizations, public defenders, DA offices, and once in a while, law firms.

The nice thing about Boalt being one of the top-tier law schools is that we don't have to actively solicit interviews if we don't want to. Instead, the employers come to the school and hold interviews on-campus. It's nice because that way we don't have to drive/fly/taxi to wherever the office is, and also because law students are lazy.

Anyways, I had a job interview today with Nossaman, Gunther, Knox & Elliott, a mid-size law firm. All four of them. Just kidding. I was interviewed by two partners, who were very nice people. So how was it? Pretty fun, actually. It turns out that as long as your resume and other materials are solid, all that the employer is really interested in is what kind of a person you are. As a result, the interview is pretty much just a 30 minute conversation with the interviewers.

I got a good vibe from them and from the firm in general, so I'll see how it pans out *knocks on wood*. I have a couple of applications to various judges and whatnot too, so I'm waiting to hear back from them too. From what I've heard talking to 2L's and 3L's, there's no need to worry, since everyone eventually ends up with a job... *knocks on wood*