Associate Q & A

You can research the firms in your practice area, and you can find the firms that do the kind of work in your practice area. On BCG Search, we have all sorts of recommended firms. There are four different practice areas that we've put together. That's a good place to start. But I recommend that you drill down by practice area. I recommend applying to firms without openings, and the reason is because firms without openings can definitely help you. A lot of times, they'll hire you because you'll be the only applicant. READ MORE >

If they were in law school, and you worked in an area that's relevant to what you're doing, or they were with a prestigious firm or a judge, you need to list that all the time. But if you worked for a great firm after that or you got very good experience, it may not be necessary to list it. But one thing is a lot of large law firms will expect you to have had a summer associate job in the firm. And if you haven't, they may wonder why you were not interested in being a summer associate. So, you can include that, as well. That's up to you. READ MORE >

This article advises someone with an MBA interested in employment law and working in a law firm. It outlines strategies for crafting a résumé that highlights relevant experience and suggestions for researching firms and networking. There are many labor and employment law firms across the U.S., ranging from major players like Littler Mendelson, Jackson Lewis, and FordHarrison to local options. With the right résumé, networking, and research, finding a job in the employment law sector is possible. READ MORE >

In most practice areas and most types of work that people do, the law firms and the people interviewing you already know what attorneys who work in your practice area do. So, if you've worked at tons and tons of firms or jobs, you need to remove them. READ MORE >

You can use a service that does this. But I think a cover letter is very personal. So the more personal connection you can find with firms, the better off you're going to be. And the more you can tailor it, the better it is. Remember, every law firm receives hundreds of applications from law students. And when they have openings, they typically receive a lot. READ MORE >

Yes, you should always address your cover letter to a specific person. So the people that you can address cover letters to typically, what I recommend is calling the firm and asking who you can send your cover letter to if you don't have the name of the person. And that can be very helpful. READ MORE >

This is an excellent question if I do say so myself! The somewhat unhelpful answer is, it depends, and my fellow Recruiters and I have even discussed the topic of our weekly Recruiter calls. Everyone seems to have a different opinion on the matter! READ MORE >

This is a tough one and one that I think minds differ on. I am asked this question by candidates, which is a question raised more now and has more relevance due to the COVID pandemic than ever before. Without a doubt, there has been a massive slowdown in the hiring market, and most of the Am Law 100 firms are still on a “hiring freeze.” What we are seeing, however, is that many smaller boutique firms are hiring now and aggressively hiring since they are seizing the opportunity to get top talent that may not otherwise have considered their firm and are looking to grow their firms. What many candidates, especially junior candidates, fail to understand is that some of these firms pay more or less the equivalent of an Am Law 100 firm, have just as talented attorneys that went to top law schools that used to work in Big Law and whose clients are of the same caliber as that of a “top” firm. READ MORE >

We know many attorneys are going through a challenging time right now, having lost their jobs due to the pandemic, despite being star students at top law firms, and doing everything right in their career. The pandemic has caused layoffs to the youngest of associates- 1st years – and the most affected group tended to be attorneys in their first couple of years out of school. READ MORE >

I don't think so. If you list the GPA for undergrad, I think showing that you did very well as an undergrad is good. And one of the things too, that a lot of times happens, especially for patent attorneys and other types of attorneys is they major in physics and get 3.8 or something, which personally, I'd be lucky to get a 2.8 or 2.9 if I majored in physics in college, or maybe even a 1.8. But if you majored in something very difficult and you've got a good GPA, you can list that. And it's not going to hurt to include your law school GPA, as well. READ MORE >