Job Searches, Law Schools, No Offers, Summer Associates

UCLA Law: The Jobs Will Come Out... Tomorrow!

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Last month, on their blog, Bruin Briefs, staffers in the career services office of UCLA School of Law offered some advice to 3Ls who didn’t receive offers from their summer employers. If you’re in this ship that be sinking boat, you might find the counsel helpful; check it out here.

One UCLA law student identified this language as the best excerpt:

To many, [being no-offered is] a huge, unforeseen blow. If it’s happened to you, you may be cycling through feelings of anger, betrayal and/ or self-doubt. You’ve worked hard only to have the rug pulled out from under you. Give yourself a bit of time to recover. Remember to use your support systems and seek out help if needed. Take care of yourself and remember you’re the same person you were at the beginning of the summer. This experience doesn’t define you.

The tipster’s take: “It sounds like it was lifted from a suicide prevention handbook.”

We found a part of the post that we liked better….

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Here’s the language that jumped out at us:

[F]or those of you who are waiting to hear from your summer employer, many large firms are still trying to figure out how they want to make offers this year. You may be hearing good news soon.

But know that, whatever happens, things will work out. Graduates from previous recessions often talk about the amazing opportunities they discovered when going back to their firms wasn’t an option. For better or worse, there’s a whole world of complicated legal problems, just waiting for your help.

And non-legal problems that need your attention too — like the traffic in Los Angeles.

“[W]hatever happens, things will work out.” Sounds a trifle pollyannaish, no? Many law school graduates, although probably not from UCLA, are jobless and over $100,000 in debt. They are still waiting for “things [to] work out.”

But kidding aside, and in fairness to the folks in the UCLA career services office, as well as law school CSOs around the country, they’re just trying to make the best of a difficult situation. If you’re a law student, you need to have realistic expectations of your CSO staffers. They don’t have magic powers, like the ability to create jobs out of thin air or to make your student loans disappear. Even Barack Obama, aka “The One,” doesn’t have that power.

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So be nice to the career counselors when you go in to see them for advice. Unlike many of you, they do have jobs — but their jobs aren’t easy. Not in this economy.

3L TIPS: IF YOU DIDN’T RECEIVE AN OFFER [Bruin Briefs]

Earlier: UCLA Law Offers Most Depressing Job to a Law Student (2010 Edition)

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