Job Search Musing

I made myself a little "Job Search/ Career To-Do List" this weekend and therefore have "started" my post-grad job search . . . right? I also added about 75 people on LinkedIn, updated my resume, uploaded it to the "resume books" on the career services website, and made plans to join the local bar association and to renew my membership with the American Bar Association. I was talking to a friend lately about how important it is to get our networks to work for us . . . I can't devote as much time and energy to job searching as I want to and probably need to, but I want to milk my connections for all they're worth and put myself in a position where people readily think of me when they hear of particular job opportunities, and are willing to pass those opportunities my way. I'd like to get 250 connections on LinkedIn by October 15th, and I'd like to send my resume and a note of interest to at least 5 potential employers within the next week or so. Full disclosure, I think that LinkedIn has very little, if any, value for actually getting a job and is more a way to seem connected than to actually be so. But I also think that employers may assess how active and connected you are on LinkedIn to determine if you are the type of person who is active in your networks and has the ability to generate business connections for their company.

Several friends and I have talked about how we're ready to start work right now. I am just ready to go with this and ready to be where I've worked to get for years. Not that I'm not still enjoying school, because I definitely am, but I'm ready to be in the work world helping people and making a difference and putting my education to work.

I am planning to network like crazy at this Moot Court competition coming up in November, the one I'm planning with a student committee and the one I wrote the competition problem for (which, by the way, is DONE and posted on the website and it is such a huge relief to be finished!) We have to invite attorneys and judges from all over the city and different parts of the state to come judge competition rounds, and we will probably have 150 attorneys in all participating, and I plan to give out my business card and speak with every single one over the competition weekend. I am pretty determined to make some solid job contacts from that event, because I feel like it's definitely possible. In the meantime, one of my friends is my "job search accountability partner" and she's supposed to keep me on track to make sure I'm sending my resume to enough law firms, and going to job fairs, and things like that. So we'll see what happens. But I know I have to stay on track with this, because in this job market, if I don't make things happen, they're definitely not going to happen. I have got to put in the work and effort if I want to have any chance of seeing results. I'll keep you all posted!