Coverage of Last Week's Equal Justice Works Career Fair (and Some Advice for the Public Interest Job Seeker)
By: Steve Grumm
The Blog of the Legal Times was on hand at last week’s event:
“Resumes in hand, more than 1,300 law students from across the United States attended this year’s Equal Justice Works annual conference, and more than 1,100 met with employers at the conference’s career fair. [It] brought in 117 employers from 27 states to meet with students on Friday and Saturday. Law students waiting on line for a chance to speak with employers all said they held no illusions about their job prospects right now. Although some students were lucky enough to get formal interviews, many more were taking their chances at the informal “Table Talk” sessions, where students waited on line to get a few minutes alone with employers.”
Let’s not mince words: the public interest job market is tight, and times are tough for law students. It’s perhaps trite to offer this advice, but persistence and fortitude in carrying on the job search are essential. (This is true even in better economic times, because there are always more grads interested in public interest than there are job openings.) Keep using PSLawNet, including the cover letter, resume, and interview tips on our Job Search Fundamentals page. And while I know this piece of advice can seem trite, there is simply no better job search tool than professional networking. Every good job I’ve gotten has come, to some degree or other, as a result of deliberate efforts I made to get to know public interest lawyers/law students/etc. Here’s guidance on networking from Harvard’s Office of Public Interest Advising. Finally, email us at pslawnet@nalp.org if you have ideas about how we can help more.
