Immigration, Job Searches

Terrible Tales From Desperate Job Seekers: Immigration law applicants get the Ellis Island treatment

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Given how desperate legal job seekers are getting, one law firm is doing away with interview niceties.

The job market is like a vast desert. Those crawling through it are desperate for a little drink of employment. In order to get a sip from this firm, though, applicants have to go through some serious hoops.

A tipster says:

Ever heard of an open house interview before? For lawyers, at that?

An immigration firm based in Manhattan’s financial district sent out an interview invitation to applicants last weekend. Here’s the intro:

Date: Sat, May 15, 2010 at 2:02 PM
Subject: Open House Interview

Dear Immigration/Criminal Defense/In-House Counsel Attorney Applicant:

We have received your resume and CV and would like to invite you in for an Open House Interview today from 3-6 PM. During the week it is very busy so this is the main reason. The payscale is $25 per hour or $50,000 per annum, depending on experience, with 30 billable hours required per week on your assigned cases. If selected you will be expected to commence employment on Monday at 9 AM. Our law office is located at the address below.

Please note the time sent; the time of the interview; and the fact that the pay is $50K, “depending on experience.” The relative good news is that if they like you on Saturday, you start two days later. Though you may have to be stripped and searched for lice and a criminal record before entering the building Monday morning.

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It gets worse…

The email goes on:

Again, we are holding an open house interview today from 3-6 PM. Please do not arrive too early, or too late, as the time schedules will be strictly followed. There is also no guarantee that you will be interviewed today as it will depend on the volume of people arriving, and you may have to be rescheduled at a later time.

One of the applicants was at a Broadway matinee show when this appeared via Blackberry, and so could not attend. The applicant commented:

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Is this what the legal market has come to? Open-house interviews? Come one come all? It’s like we’re just mexican workers waiting to be picked up for work!

Given that this applicant is interviewing to work for an immigration law firm, the joke about day workers may be a sign that this firm is not a good fit anyway.

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