- Law school is rigorous intellectual experience, at the end of which students must attempt to use their new-found knowledge to secure a job. Depending on the quality of the law school one attends, the difficulty in finding a job and the desirability of jobs available will vary greatly. For students attending top schools like Yale, Harvard or Standford, it is sometimes joked that as long as the student has a pulse she will find a good job. At schools with lesser reputations, competition for limited positions can be fierce. There are over 150 law schools in the U.S., and the number of new law positions available in the market is smaller than the size of each year's new law graduate crop. This means some law graduates will not be able to find jobs in law upon graduation.
- One tried and true way to secure a job upon graduation is to get an internship for the summer after the second year in law school at a good firm and impress them--i.e., perform better than most of the other interns. Once the firm knows you, the school you came from matters significantly less, and many firms are more lenient about hiring interns from lesser regarded schools than full hires. Securing a good internship requires solid grades, especially during the first year of law school and good recommendations. Other accomplishments like law review and moot court can help as well.
- While law firms do recruit grads from choice schools, counting on lining up a job through recruiting events like career fairs is not recommended. There's only so much interaction that can be had a fair, and in the end the decision will come down to a resume. Perhaps the best way to distinguish oneself from the pack is through networking--professors or friends who know a student well can influence recruiters that they know personally. When a recruiter is faced with a stack of 30 resumes from the same school, a good word from one of the recruiter's friends or acquaintances can bring a certain student's resume to the top of the stack.
