Description
Finding Your Tribe, The Rule Of Thirds And The Importance Of Writing Samples
[00:00:00] A lateral candidate that just finished callbacks with a firm. The day after the callbacks, the firm re-posted the listing for the job I'm being considered for. Is this a bad sign or perhaps a recruiting formality/previously scheduled posting? I know this is reading tea leaves but I'm curious about your thoughts.
Some firms are just constantly recruiting for certain types of things. So, there are firms that are always recruiting for corporate and litigation, and then they just rotate the postings. Typically when a posting goes on a job board, it'll go for a certain length of time and refresh automatically. So, when it's fresh, it'll go to the top of the results, and when they're not, they go to the bottom.
I wouldn't worry too much about that. But I would continue applying to places. Sometimes, they say we're not sure this is the right fit. Maybe we should look at some more applicants, something along those lines, that's nothing you need to be too concerned about, but it may be a bad sign, but the point is, you need to go someplace where they like you and you liked them. You shouldn't worry if you don't get the job, I don't think you should worry about it. Now, one of the things I wanted to share with you, that's a fun fact, is just dealing with people in general. This is something that I've [00:01:00] noticed that I think is true. One-third of the people, you meet will like you. One-third won't care and then one third will dislike you or have negative thoughts about you. If you're listening to me right now after my presentation about going in-house, what you may want to do, you may dislike, which is fine. But one-third of the people out there will dislike you. And, there's nothing you can do. Think about politics and stuff. Move the needle more towards your path.
If you find a group of people that you click with the same personality, maybe two-thirds. One-sixth doesn't care, one-sixth care, one-sixth dislike. If you find a group that doesn't like you, then it may be the opposite. There's nothing you can do. It's going to be like that anywhere you go. So, just think about those factors. It is just finding your tribe and the right people.
Don't worry about if you don't get a job, there's always going to be a place that will like you. You just have to find the right group of people.
If a law firm asks you for a writing sample, it depends on who's asking for it. Sometimes the recruiting personnel, meaning the recruiting coordinator may just have to put that in your file. That's a good sign. Writing samples are [00:02:00] important.
I have Grammarly pro writing aid. Using this to proofread your work is very important. Grammarly is too good. I use this all the time.
It makes a major difference in terms of your ability. Check your writing sample for dumb mistakes. Writing samples are a good sign, but just make sure you carefully proof your work. The same goes for all your emails. All written communications should always be perfect in terms of punctuation. This is what attorneys are paid for. So, if they see a lot of dumb issues with your writing sample, then that's a problem. The tighter your language, the more direct your points, the better off you'll be.
You need to be very careful with what you're doing in terms of your writing samples. I don't know the ethics of this, but, having someone else look over it make sure it looks good is very important.
So, do the best you can. Law firms, typically, have people that do nothing but review writing samples and love criticizing and tearing them up. They may not review it, but if they do, then you need to make sure that it's really good.
