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Career Center: Summer Associate Speed Dating (aka Splitting Your Summer)

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Today’s Career Center tips for summer associates focus on how you can successfully split your summer between firms. Obtaining a summer clerkship at one firm is great, so splitting the summer with another firm is even better, right? Not necessarily.

In some cities, such as Dallas and Houston, the split summer has been a fact of life for decades, and summer associates often divide the summer into two, three, or more parts. But even in markets where split summers are the rule rather than the exception, a summer associate must take each firm seriously. Like speed dating, you are going to have to bring your “A-game” the entire time you are with each firm if you hope to land a “long-term relationship” with either firm.

On the one hand, you are going to have to make the firm you are currently summering at feel special — like they are the only firm that matters. On the other hand, both you and the firm know that you are “seeing other firms” and are not quite ready to make your employment status official on Facebook.

Let’s consider the risks here — and how to manage and minimize them, if you’re a summer associate who’s doing a split.

When it comes to non-exclusive “dating,” you run the risk of striking out at the end of the night and single. The same applies to students who split their summer. There is less time to recover from a blown assignment or a bad review, establish relationships, understand a firm’s practice, and ultimately make a reasoned decision. Furthermore, know that the risks of failure during a split summer are far greater in a soft economy. If for some reason a firm decides to pare down the percentage of offers extended, a summer associate with divides their summer is at more risk than a summer associate who does not.

But if you’re lucky — and smart — you can make it to “second base” with both firms. Consider the following tips to minimize the risks, brought to you by Frank Kimball of Lateral Link, an expert recruiter and former Biglaw hiring partner.

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First, the burden is on you to perform above and beyond the call of duty throughout both halves of the summer. But don’t bite off more than you can chew — appearing disinterested with little work may look bad, but it looks a lot worse if you are unable to complete an assignment or fulfill a promise.

Second, do good work and lots of it. The file for someone who spends only four to six weeks will be quite thin. If you are not energetic, you stand a good chance of having only 30 percent of the reviews and work product of those who work the entire summer. If you arrive mid-way through the summer, many lawyers are on vacation. Those who are not wish that they were. The firm is weary of the summer program and it is hard to find good assignments. In the dog days of August, these problems can be acute.

Click here to continue reading tips for the Solomonic summer associate who wants to impress both firms she or he is clerking at. For additional career insights, as well as profiles of individual law firms, check out the Career Center.

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