So I finally got a post-bar job!

All about my 3L year journey to find employment for after the bar exam.

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What is the typical timeline for 3Ls finding post-bar employment?

The timeline for third year law students to find post-bar exam employment can vary quite a bit. The students who work as summer associates at bigger firms (“big law”) during their 2L summer usually end up getting job offers at the end of the summer and come into their third year of law school with their post-bar employment already lined up. At my law school, that is not a huge portion of students (maybe 25% at most) because we are largely a public interest focused law school. The rest of us look for post-bar employment during our third year, after graduation into bar exam prep, and even after the bar exam if needed.

How do students find their post-bar jobs?

A whole range of ways! You can find your first job out of law school through a traditional job application, a place you interned at during law school, worked at before law school, through networking and cold emails, etc. There is not one set way to get a job in the legal field.

My own job hunt process

At the beginning of my 3L year, I participated in a TON of traditional job applications. I basically applied to anything and everything accepting third year students’ applications for post-bar exam employment that remotely interested me. One of the applications did result in two rounds of interviews and a job offer. I ended up turning it down because the offer was for the office in my hometown, but the practice area I wanted was in a city I would not have wanted to move to. The work in the office I did get placed in was general litigation and family law, and it did not feel like a good fit for me. I hadn’t spent the last 7 years studying environmental policy and law to be doing something completely different! I turned down the offer, and told myself to be patient. It was early in the school year, and there were plenty of opportunities coming.

Later in the fall of my 3L year (as I was still diligently applying to all the applications I could find), I attended the small and midsize firm fair at my law school. This fair is an event where small and mid-sized law firms come to table at the law school. (The reason big firms are not included is because they typically hire their summer associates and aren’t looking for interns/associates through this type of event) This event was virtual for 2021, so you had to sign up for ten minute time slots with the firms you wanted to chat with and got paired with other students for the time slot. I signed up for the max amount of time slots and got to networking! Most firms were looking to hire interns and/or attorneys, others were there just to network and meet people. I followed up with each firm I spoke with, attached my resume, and ended up getting a lot of interviews that way! It doesn’t surprise me. They always tell us a lot of 3Ls find their employment through this event (spoiler: and so did I). I ended up getting 3 spring semester internship offers and one post-bar job offer! I was very torn on my decision at that point in time. The full time offer was appealing, but unfortunately I would have been placed in a satellite office with only two attorneys. One of the internship offers felt like a great fit, but did not immediately come with a promise of post-bar employment. I ended up choosing the riskier option- a spring semester internship- and turning down the full time offer. I figured I would keep applying to things in the meantime in case the spring semester came and the internship did not transition into a full time job.

I started that internship at the beginning of the spring semester (Jan of this year) and just a couple weeks ago, the firm offered me a full time job after the bar exam! I had been interviewing at a couple of other places around the same time, and recently endured a two and half hour (!!!) interview with a larger firm in San Francisco that I thought I would be a perfect fit for. I didn’t end up getting that one, another law firm I interviewed with DID give me an offer, but at the end of the day I happily chose the offer at my current firm.

I’m extremely excited to be done with the job hunt, and just in time for graduation and studying for the bar exam! The last few weeks have involved a ton of applications, interviews, stress, and LOTS of tears, but it is all finally over 🙂