It's been a while

Wow. It has been more than a month (1 month and 1 day) since I've posted. Sorry dear readers (reader?). Five classes, two jobs, two writing projects, and snowocalypse has kept me very occupied. I have time now because I just submitted another project and have time to kill before Civ Pro.

So what have I been up to?

Well, for one thing, a lot of my time was spent trying to find a job for the summer. Just when I thought law school was hard, the whole damn thing got harder. I should preface this with saying that I've never really had to bend over backwards to find a good job. With a good transcript coupled with a good degree, a great economy, and sheer luck, it was just never that hard to find anything. I listened to my boyfriend when he was going through his job search, and it sounded painful. (He was doing this a year later, when the economy tanked). Lucky me, I got to live through the pain. This year was painful. I submitted what feels like hundreds of applications. I was keeping track in a OneNote notebook before I just gave up trying. I was committing sins left and right too. I think after a while I subconsciously stopped caring.

I went to the career fair, which was a waste of time (or so I thought). If you ever want to really feel bad, go to a career fair and then get told 40 times "You can submit online." Why go if you can't hand them a resume and spent 30 seconds telling them about how great you are?

I finally applied for clinic, interviewed at 11PM. If the interview was any longer than 2 minutes and 5 questions, I probably would have bombed that.

So, pessimism aside, my Career Fair experience was not all useless. I will post my helpful hints soon. Funny, I only call them helpful now because I saw some result.

Speaking of careers, I finally started an internship. This was a result of the online networking post. Pretty bad assed. Must say, I freaking love it there. Real law experience is nothing like law school.

In academia work, I've been doing pretty well. I didn't fail last semester, but there is definitely room for improvement. That is my goal. I have been doing well on the improvement too. I've already noticed that I am doing better on my writing projects.

I've also realized how I learn. I am not a "read a week ahead" sort of person. I got a week ahead during the snow storm and that burned me, badly. I got called on in CivPro and completely bombed it. I fumbled my way through the answer because I was trying to recall the rule that I read a week ago. I can say that after that slow motion train wreck, I improved my study habits and learned the damn rules (of Civil Procedure).

This semester I've thrown out E&E and brought in Hornbooks. Why? Well, Hornbooks are E&Es, without the cutsey names in the examples. It is straight black letter law.

Traditional outlining has been traded out too (with the exception of crim law- something I still don't know how to deal with). Civ Pro requires more of a mapping out process. How do the rules relate to each other? What step comes next in a law suit? Why do it this way? When should you do it that way? I've adjusted accordingly. Also, on my contracts exam I did pretty well with my "how to" guides. Especially on the "issue spotter" tests, these things are awesome.

Next week (in three hours after my make up class), starts my spring break. I am excited to share the that library is open. I am also disgusted that the library being open is exciting. Well, hopefully I will get my ass in line and get some good outlining done.

Online Networking 101

Networking! It is a dirty word, but you've got to do it. Grades alone won't get you a job. You've got to know people. But how do you meet people? Here is a quick step-by-step on how to use online tools to land a job. (Hopefully the first in a series on networking.)

1. Join LinkedIn.
2. Upload your resume, edit your profile, search for friends/ colleagues/ anyone that you would remotely have any sort of professional contact with.
3. Join any group that you may have some sort of professional/ academic (alumni) interest in. For example I am interested in the environmental law group, so I joined the group "Environmental Attorneys."
4. Post a discussion to the group such as "I am looking for a mentor in the X metro area," or "I am looking for an internship in the X metro area. Does anyone know of places I should apply?" Do NOT ask for a job. People are inclined to give advice, not handouts.
5. Sit and wait for responses.
6. Be prompt with a follow up to any responses.

If you were not familiar with LinkedIn, it is sort of like Facebook for the professional world, so you will post details about your professional work, things you did at work, etc. etc. Although you won't be divulging any of that useless crap about yourself, like that your all time favorite band is Fall Out Boy. Also, people can post recommendations for you. The cool thing is when you upload your resume, most the work of putting in your work and educational history is done for you.

Happy Networking!