Friday, December 28, 2007

An UPDATE - Job search, interviews, bar exam studying, etc.

Hello,
I know that I have not posted in a long time. There are many things to talk about now. As you all know, not passing the bar exam the first time has set me back many months, and I have struggled to find a job. Well, I tried many things. I did targeted mailings to all firms that fit my interests, I applied to all jobs posted on my college's job search site, searched for jobs on various job boards, and I sort of tried to network.

My targeted mailing produced very few results and mostly rejection letters. I did get a couple of calls. Now what was strange about these calls were that they were not calls to schedule interviews as I had anticipated, but they were interviewing me right there on the spot! The first firm called me when I was at the gym. The second while I was in the middle of a movie after 7 pm. Without any regards to my time or current condition, the potential employers went on to question me on what they thought was important. Unfortunately for both of us, they did not get a good idea about me from the phone conversation and I did not land the in-person interview.

The people at the career office at my law school were unaware of these phone-interviewing tactics and suggested that the next time it happens, make an excuse to reschedule the phone conversation. Great idea! But I haven't had any calls since then. Meanwhile, the rejection letters continue coming in.

So to the others who are in my position, be warned about these on the spot phone interviews and reschedule or prepare ahead. To the employers who try these phone interview tactics, you are wasting your time if you think you will get to know and judge a candidate like this. Get some manners and respect our time.

Regarding bar exam preparation. I decided to get the Micromash program for bar exam review. So far so good, but I have a lot more questions to do. I think this is a good back-up preparation and I hope that my results will show that.

Also, a word about Legal Authority or LegalAuthority. I used their services to send out the targeted letters. The good part is, they do a lot of the work for you and they are legit. The bad part is that they are not really available to give you the career advice and stuff that they promise. My LegalAuthority counselor rarely ever returned calls or emails. The addresses they gave me were riddled with errors and outdated firm names and address information. They also included patent law firms in the search, which is a waste of money and time because I am not qualified to take the patent bar.

I ran a quick search on the internet before signing up for Legal Authority and I am sad to say that I found very little information other than on their own website's testimonials. So for the people who are in my position and who are willing to do anything to find a decent law job, there are few options and the more information we can share with each other, the easier it will be.

Good Luck!