If you read my previous series of posts starting here, you know that I almost never even pursued my dream of being a civil rights litigator. BigLaw was just such an easy path. Put me on that automatic walkway, let me rake in the big bucks, and I’d figure the rest out later. Right?
Reading the recommendation letter from my law school Property professor – whose letter I was discouraged from getting because the professor wasn’t “distinguished enough,” Property wasn’t an “important enough” class, and I had only gotten a P (the Harvard version of a B) on my final exam – set me back on my path. I called up BigLaw law firm and graciously explained that I would be rescinding my acceptance of their offer to pursue a career in civil rights.
Little did I know how up and down the next nine months would be. Little did I know that the job I wanted was something I could have waited to apply for as my clerkship was ending. And little did I know that I had almost lost out on that job because of my lack of patience.
Even though I had abandoned my BigLaw crutch, I was under the impression that the right way to get a job – even a civil rights job – was to have it lined up in advance of completing my clerkship. The notion of finding a job at a time when you would be prepared to “start immediately” was completely foreign to me based on everything I had seen and been told.
My dream civil rights job was in private practice. The reason for that was multifold, including that one of my favorite intern-/externships during law school was at a private plaintiff-side employment discrimination firm. I also loved the idea that we could pick our clients regardless of income limits, documentation status, or other barriers that you can face in the government sector, legal aid, and the non-profit world. (Don’t get me wrong, each of those fields is fantastic and I highly recommend them for the right person.)
Despite knowing that I wanted to be in private practice, my law school had few if any resources in Denver. In fact, I remember one of my professors actually photocopying a list of plaintiff-side employment firms in Denver out of a booklet. A BOOKLET. In 2014. (As you can guess, the list was incredibly limited and contained the names of some firms that no longer existed… Though I more than appreciated his willingness to help and provide me with the limited resources he had.)
And let’s be honest, I was still terrified. I wanted to know what my job would be. The idea of finding a firm in a city I barely knew – I had moved to Denver solely for my clerkship – versus taking advantage of a path of least resistance seemed like an easy answer: put me on that automatic walkway.
And so I started the process of applying to Honors positions in the federal government. With networking beginning in July followed by the applications themselves and then the multiple rounds of interviews, it was not until the end of December 2014 that I had been notified of my job offers. And it was not until January 2015 that I had officially selected my absolutely-not-dream-job. A great job, just not my dream job.
Just one week after I completed my War-and-Peace-sized background check paperwork, an HR representative named Michael Scott – yes, MICHAEL SCOTT – emailed me a form letter letting me know my job offer had been rescinded. And no, it was not because of my background check.
I was back to square one.
Click here to read Part 2 of How I Landed My Dream Job (After I Almost Never Applied).