Jobs: Fact, Fiction, and How to Get One: Part II: It's More Than Just Grades

As I wrote in my last posting, the job market is difficult, but not cataclysmic. I tried to provide some context and history, and I hope you found it somewhat encouraging.

I write today for more practical purposes. Finding a job – your first job -- is a bit more complex than you might think. But it’s not rocket science. A major reason that many students - even those at the top of the class – don’t succeed, or don’t succeed as they want, is their failure to be thoughtful, reflective, and mindful about the process and themselves and, more particularly, what prospective employers are looking for. I’m not talking about whether you did a concentration in intellectual property or health law. I am talking about doing the work it takes to understand and empathize with the person sitting across the table from you, to appreciate what it is that person sees that distinguishes the successful from the unsuccessful candidate.

So I’d like to report from the trenches, the take-aways I’ve been given in my visits over the last year with at least 50 hiring partners spread around the country. And maybe add a little common sense of my own.

It’s not about the grades. Once you have been offered an interview, the presumption is that you can do that work; otherwise, the firm wouldn’t be wasting its time with you. It’s not about where you go to law school, although that may be a factor requiring a little bit more effort and ingenuity in getting the interview. Put simply, it’s about you.

I have found it universally to be true that employers are looking for a few basic qualities. Many of you have these qualities, and understand effective and tasteful ways to put them on display. You will succeed. Some of you think you have these qualities, or may be insecure about them, and allow yourselves to come across as arrogant and entitled. This is the kiss of death, and with a little thought and reflection you can overcome this problem. Many of you have these qualities, but for some reason or another, you are hesitant to let them be seen, or seen clearly. This is a significant problem, one you can fix, but you have to work on it. Some of you lack these qualities, whatever your grades or law school. They are attainable, but you must work quickly to attain them, or at least to act as if you have them. Even if you do the latter, and do it consistently, they will eventually become a part of your persona.

So what are these qualities? The best way I have of summing it up comes from Yiddish, the language of my youth. Be a mensch. (Yes, mensch is a gendered word, but in the world today it applies to anybody who embodies these qualities.) What does it mean? It means to be an honest, straightforward, hard-working, humble person who readily takes responsibility, recognizes fault, and fixes mistakes. It is the kind of person to which we all should aspire, a person who projects confidence in herself, instills confidence in others, listens carefully, opines even more carefully, and understands that he is not –ever – the most important person in the room.

Law is a service business. You are there to serve your client – period. And, in serving your client and making your way to a leadership position, you must serve those above you, too. You may enter law school with a Ph.D. in Physics from Cal Tech, rank at the top of your class, be editor-in-chief of your law review, and have spent two years between graduation and law school working in an impoverished village in a developing country to feed starving children. But if, at your interview, you come across as an arrogant jerk (which, put more gently, means that you convey a sense of entitlement, an attitude that certain work is beneath you, the feeling that your interviewer should be grateful you are sitting there), you’re not going to get the job – or any job you want. Everybody has to pay her dues. Even you. You must convey not only that you know this, but that you are eagerly looking forward to it and the experiences that you will have on the way.

Now, we all have internal biases. At some level, we all think we are better than we are. (If you don’t think this applies to you, read Daniel Kahneman’s excellent book, Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow. Actually, read it anyway.) This is where self-examination comes in. You must think about yourself and how others react to you. You must be honest with yourself in assessing your strengths, weaknesses, and personality. If you find any of the negative characteristics I described above in yourself, kill them. Now. Not only because doing so will help you get a job, but also because it will help you succeed. Getting a job doesn’t mean success – it means living up to the qualities you projected in your interviews. It means to serve. Humbly. No matter how smart you are, everyone for whom you work knows more than you do. And every client knows his or her business and needs far better than you do. Don’t forget this.

I’m sometimes saddened to see a student who I know possesses the right stuff do poorly on the job market. Often this is because the student is the opposite of the one I described two paragraphs ago. She may have the same resume. But she conveys uncertainty about herself, a lack of confidence, doubts about whether the job for which she is interviewing is the job for her. She may be of the quieter type, which can lead an interviewer to conclude that she lacks ambition, she lacks drive. None of this may be true, but if this is what you convey, it’s not going to get you where you want to go. Even if you know it’s not true, please remember that interviewers have only so much time, and they will evaluate you based on what they see, not on what you know about yourselves. So, no matter what your natural inclinations, work on projecting strength, energy, confidence, and ambition. You might not be certain that a particular job is for you, but an interview is not the place to convey your doubts. If you need help, do a mock interview or two with your career services people, a professor, or a friend. And do it until you get it right.

You get the point. So let me turn to a few other dimensions of finding employment. It may sound superficial, but how you present yourself makes a huge difference in your success. As a dean, I have about five seconds to make a good impression on a donor, or an employer, or a pre-law advisor, or a prospective student. That’s what you have, too. And those impressions are created by things you might consider to be so simple as beneath your dignity. They’re not.

In general, people want to hire people like them. So figure out what your prospective employers are like. Rule number one is, don’t offend. Dressing is extremely important. You don’t need to buy the most expensive clothes. But men can’t go wrong with a nice suit that fits well in conservative colors, a white shirt, and a tie and, for women, modest professional clothing with high necklines, sleeves, and conservative skirt lengths. Don’t go to an interview dressed as you would for a nightclub (even a fancy one), or to go on a date (or to find one). You need to look serious, professional, and polished. If you don’t know how to do this, ask a friend or professor who does, or go to the best clothing store in your city and let a salesperson help you (you can always buy the clothes someplace cheaper, but the advice is worth a lot).

If the interview includes, as many do, a meal, mind your manners. Nobody is feeding you because you’re hungry; they want to see your social skills. Seriously. Don’t be the first to grab at the bread, don’t order a drink if others aren’t doing so, and order something you can eat neatly. Spaghetti is an absolute no-no. A chewy steak is a problem, too. No matter what, don’t talk with your mouth full, or chew with your mouth open. I know, I sound ridiculous and you should have learned all this at home. You would be amazed at the stories I hear from hiring partners – so it’s worth my repeating.

Be polite. You may be interviewing for a job, but you are still your prospective employer’s guest. You have no right to be there. So behave as you would in someone else’s house.

Finally, treat your interview preparation as if you were studying for a final exam. Firms like to know that you know who they are before you interview with them, and that you’ve done the work to prepare yourself. That kind of preparation not only is flattering, but it signals to employers the kind of work you’ll do once you’re employed. If you can’t bother to prepare for the interview, they think (justifiably), why should they expect you to be diligent in your work?

In any event, I’ve written enough. You don’t need to follow my advice, of course. But if you don’t, I think you’re going to regret it.

Now get going and find yourselves jobs!