Back In The Race: Letter To A Mentor

What should you do when you feel like you've hit a brick wall in your job search?

I thought now would be a good time to give a progress report on my job search. It’s been a little over five months since the race began, and I still have not reached the finish line. All of the jobs openings I applied to have been filled. By someone else.

Recently, I wrote an email to an attorney named Stephanie whom I have known for many years and think of as a role model. Since I have been feeling discouraged and cynical lately, I thought it would be best to be direct with her and not beat around the bush. I was curious what kind of response and advice she would have, if any.

Read onwards to read my email and her response…

Hello Steph.

It was wonderful to see you at [a conference] again.

::pleasantries and gossip::

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Anyway, I am writing to you because I am making a career change. A few months ago, I decided to look for a job and eventually shut down my practice. Despite my best efforts, I have not yet been able to find anything that would be a good fit for me. I have even tried interviewing with firms outside of my practice area, but for numerous reasons, the interviews did not go well. Also, I am not looking forward to learning a new specialty from scratch.

My goal is to work for (or work together with) a few selected firms and government agencies. The problem is that most of them rarely hire someone without top-tier credentials. The only thing I can do at this point is contact the team leaders and get their advice and any leads. I also plan to tell them that I am available for contract work. I’m hoping that at least one of these firms will eventually give me a chance.

I suppose the other option is to go all out with my solo practice and hope for the best. Unfortunately, I have been down this road before. Work has been drying up. One attorney who sends me contract work on a regular basis is retiring. He won’t be able to mentor me because he will be moving out of the county to enjoy his retirement years. Referrals are few and far between. Clients have been harder to obtain despite my best efforts to market myself in the community. Lastly, I am hesitant to spend a ton of money on advertising for uncertain results. If I am unable to find a job in the next few months, then I might consider re-investing in my practice.

Finally, if things do not improve, I will seriously consider leaving the state. Or getting a non-legal job. I really don’t want to do this. If things don’t work out, I will be stuck in a far away land and may make a bad situation worse. But if push comes to shove, I may have no other choice.

I apologize for sounding overly negative on what should be a pleasant occasion. But we have known each other for a very long time so I feel comfortable being honest with you about my situation. While I’m sure I’ll pull through this one way or another, it will be a long and difficult process. If you have some time, I would really appreciate some guidance and introductions to key people who need help with their practice.

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Thanks again for your help. Hope we can chat when you have some time.

S.A.

So it has come to this. Professional groveling. While I didn’t directly ask Steph for a job, I’m sure she got the hints I was sending. She got back to me relatively quickly:

I’ll see what I can do. Stay positive.

I really wish I can stay consistently positive during this race. But it gets harder as every day passes. I hear about classmates and others who are also looking for a legal job but ended up doing something different, and usually with worse pay. And I have to compete with the new graduates every May and in many cases, they have advantages over experienced people because they are generally paid less and do not have a layoff on their permanent record.

I really appreciate Steph’s willingness to help me. But based on past experiences with people, I shouldn’t get my hopes up. Job opportunities seldom appear, and I can’t expect my contacts to look 24/7 for a potential job for me.

Can Steph or others like her actually help? Only time will tell. Because at this point, I feel like I’ve hit a brick wall.


Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached at sachimalbe@excite.com.