Slogging Through the Job Search Muck

Whatever motivates your job change, recognize that a good recruiter is a terrific asset.

Meh. So, I closed commenting for my column.

But much bigger things happened this past week. Like getting my GA tickets to share in the groove on October 22. The boys are playing with a fervor not seen in many years, and I am very excited that the circus is coming to town. It also did nothing to stanch the flow of correspondence to my Gmail account regarding the switch from litigation in a firm to in-house work. I write today’s column with three specific people in mind….

First, the unhappy associate. Like many of you, I enjoyed much of my time in firms. For a time, we were treated like kings, and paid handsomely for the trade off in billable hours. I learned a great deal from good mentors from whom I sought advice and training. Boondoggles for “training” took me to Chicago, San Francisco and Boston. Working the firm system, these trips were refreshing breaks from the everyday ins and outs. However, the Blackberry never stopped. Ever. It didn’t stop during the trips, during weekends or even in the delivery room. The constant uncertainty of 24/7 demands on my time made working for Biglaw partners and clients an aspect of the job that I loathed. Figuring out that my billable time at the firm came out to less than I could make at Wal-Mart was soul crushing. I began to explore my options. (Side note, this was pre-2008, and the scope of law job availability was much different.)

Second, the person with a particular, and valuable, expertise. For instance, there will always be a need for patent prosecutors and tax specialists. But, you have to love that work going in. Those are specialties in which most folks don’t partake. However, they are out there, and the market for their skills is never waning. I thought, for a New York Minute, about doing tax work and spent a rotation of my summer in that department. I quickly realized that those folks were much smarter than me, and they lived and breathed the Code. Not for me.

Third, the person who may not have the strongest pedigree, but who has successfully worked on bet the farm cases, and who has built a strong skill set that would transition nicely to in-house work — either litigation or transactional. I share this person’s trait in that I attended Brooklyn Law School. A marketable pedigree in New York City if you graduate high enough in the class, and which marketability lessens the farther away from the City one wishes to work. (Kudos to Justice Sotomayor, who hired the first BLS grad to clerk for the Supreme Court.)

If you are any of the three people above and you want a change, call Keira Chassman. Look her up. And before you inundate me with anecdotes about other recruiters, I know — there are many good ones out there. I mention Keira because she spoke to me at the right time and knew her stuff. And continues to know her stuff. In my opinion, you could do far worse than to give her company a call for advice on the market, or even résumé reviews. Just like my advocacy of ACC, Keira gets my vote as the best of the best.

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I have written ad nauseum about utilizing your network of contacts to look for work, but it really is the best way to find another job. Let me be frank: I knew I wasn’t going to be “made” at my last firm. I spent a hellish nine months looking for work, and it was only by keeping my ear to the ground, and jumping at every available opportunity that I was able to land as softly as I did. I started in close and widened my search circle until I was driving down to Jersey to interview with small, but successful, firms. When things were bleak, I was lucky, fortunate and blessed to find the job where I currently reside. I have no magic elixir (stay away from the brown elixir) for how I landed this gig. It was available, I went for it, and I argued on my behalf in front of a reluctant GC. The final interview was one of the toughest I have endured. It was with a transactional attorney who had led several large legal departments and who doubted that a litigator could transition. I had to convince him, and I did.

Before that interview, I failed to obtain a gig at another large institution in town. After several interviews, the GC decided not to interview me. It is a horrible feeling to see him on your interview schedule, only to be told “something came up.” Second-guessing does no good. What did I do wrong? How could I have been better? These are non-productive worries that lead you nowhere toward the goal. Better to ask: Was I prepared enough? How were my answers? Did I do my best? If you answer these queries in the affirmative, chalk the ding up to whatever and move on.

If you have spent time recruiting at your firm, you know it can be fairly random as far as who gets through to the next round. It is random. Accept this fact. What can you do to get your foot in the door? Have it opened for you. If you truly come down to having no doors opened for you, open them yourself. Accept that you might have to relocate, and start widening your search. A wise friend of mine told me, “it is going to suck very badly, but you will get through it one way or another, and it will end.” I know he reads this column, I know that he will recognize himself. Those words got me through nine months of hell. I wish you all the best in your searches, and I very much appreciate the letters that continue to come to my account.


After two federal clerkships and several years as a litigator in law firms, David Mowry is happily ensconced as an in-house lawyer at a major technology company. He specializes in commercial leasing transactions, only sometimes misses litigation, and never regrets leaving firm life. You can reach him by email at dmowry00@gmail.com.

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