Here is the update with my life and all of the fun filled goings-on. My day to day life hasn't changed much. Looking for work, frisbee, sleeping, hanging with the nobbit. Though there has been one pleasant change - the last few Saturdays, we have had some of the frisbee folks over for a game night. It's fun, laidback, etc... It's good to finally find some friends here in Jville. I mean, the law school people were fun and some are our friends still. But we rarely see them. So it's nice to meet some people who aren't afraid to be nerdy and all that.
Let's see, what else...
On the job front, I have spent this week emailing like I have never done before. I think I have sent out, in the last 3 days, 75 ish resumes. I used the florida bar website to find all of the family lawyers in Jacksonville beach, and I emailed them. Then I repeated with all of the elder law/wills and trusts lawyers in town. I also applied online for government lawyer jobs. Now I am expanding to every lawyer in town. The responses thus far have been negative, of course. But I figure there's got to be someone out there who needs another lawyer. I just need to find him/her.
One of the responses that stands out in my mind, I'd like to paraphrase and share. Tell me your thoughts on it, if you have any. It went something like this:
Mr Wentzell,
Thank you for your resume. Unfortunately we are not hiring at the present. We will keep your resume on file.
Sincerely,
XXXXX
PS - For those of us who are old timers in this profession, you might want to stick to the old way of sending resumes.
________________________________________
To clarify:
I have been sending the vast majority of my resumes the new fashion way - via email. The old way is going to their offices and leaving paper resumes and writing samples. I went around San Marco and did some resume-leaving the old fashioned way, and each visit went something like this:
Me: Is so and so available?
Secretary: do you have an appointment?
Me: No, I'd like to talk to so and so about my interest in a position with this firm.
S: So and so is busy right now. You can leave your papers with me and I will make sure he gets the.
I tried once to say, "no, I'll come back when he's available. Is there a better time?" Of course the response was, albeit more politely, "no, there will be no good time for a job applicant."
So, my thoughts on the subject of old school vs new school technique of applying for jobs:
If I go around in person the old school way, I have to dress up. I have to ask for so and so each time, and each time I give my resume to the secretary who says she'll give it to him/her. I never see the lawyer. I rarely hear back from them (though one firm here in san marco was very kind and mailed me a rejection letter - I appreciated it). I can probably do about 10 to 15 of these a day, factoring in driving time. This does not include cost of gas, stationary, ink, etc.
OR
I can sit here on the couch, comfortable. I spend only the money in electric costs. I can do up to about 30 or 40 resumes a day. I don't have to bother the secretary. I still don't see the lawyer, btu I can send it to his email where he will at least see it and take some action (read or delete).
I dunno, I think the new way is much better, easier, faster. What do you think?
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4 comments:
Your way is much easier and faster, and thats why none of the old school folks like it. They know you can send out 30 of these a day and put forth very little effort. Thats why if you do send out emailed resumes you need to do a few things according to online and my public speaking prof at FSU...
1. Every 'cover email' must be written very specifically for them and shows a knowledge that you researched their firm and are not sending out a mass email where you copy and paste new names and places in the letter. Its even more important than a regular cover letter.
2. Don't send your resume as an attachment. In todays modern world attachments often have viruses, do you open mail from people you don't know? After the cover letter below it send a few highlights from your resume and then direct them to a website with the resume.
3. Send a follow up email to any one who does not reply back to you. Thank them for their time etc just like you would a place that you have not herd from about a job that you applied in person for.
With all that said and done though, unless they posted on Monster, they generally want you to apply in person. And if your just blanketing all of JVill you will get far more rejections than anything due to most of them not hiring. Don't loose hope though, some one will want you soon enough.
But I highly recommend the ground pounding. I know that all the places I have worked hired people who came in and showed initiative. Not all of them hired people who sent emails. Some of them thought it lazy.
You can always send out 15 emails and do 10 in person drop offs each day. Or send an email and say your going to come in on X day at X time (perhaps they will email back and say don't come and save you the trip, but if they don't... maybe they want to see if you do come in? even if they don't see you when you do come in)
Hang in there and keep your hopes up, that was my two cents.
As someone who gets tons of emails daily from various people who all think that what they have to tell me is the most important thing ever and will totally change the way I do my work--and the best part about that is that half of these people just copy&paste from the same source and send me that compilation, but they all come from offices, so the names are different. Uhmm, yea, that happens to me, so I tend to be a lot more liberal with the delete button on the e-mailer. However, when I get a stack of papers that someone has put in my inbox, I will--at the very least--flip through those pages and skim as I'm walking to the shredder. So, at least there's a few more moments of eyes-on time with paper than e-mail.
On the flip-side, you're potentially dealing with a secretary who will filter the paper-pile and take it to the shredder herself (I don't have the luxury of a secretary).
So, really, despite the wordiness of this reply, I have nothing to offer you.
As a final thought, I like the 'half-and-half' type approach... but it's less effective without some sort of overarching strategy, that is, a means of determining which firms warrant a in-person resume, and which firms would warrant an e-mail. And there's where your research would come in--you could base it off of some factor of the average age of lawyers currently employed with the firm.
Or, if you've made no progress in a few more weeks, just start strapping your resume to a molitov cocktail, liberally applied through the windows of important offices within the firm.
Sudden lawyer shortage = suddenly available lawyer jobs.
How about mailing real paper resumes directly to the lawyer you are looking to reach. Then secretary cannot open said mail, and it is still an at home activity. Along with said mailing, you can follow up with an email saying... I have sent you a resume via mail, have you received it? If not I have attached it here via email.
Stamps cheaper than gas...
One thing: I made your blog! :o) I'm one of those 'nerdy' jax friends you've been hangin out with! yay!
and two: Delia makes an excellent point. Mailing resumes does sound like a good idea. and then following it with an email. Stamps are cheaper than gas, and take less time, but keep in mind envelopes, paper, and ink. Although, at the library you make several copies for like 10 cents each, right? Thats not too bad.
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