While a law degree can launch a variety of professional paths over the course of a career, challenges in securing work immediately out of law school have been well documented. They also are informing new approaches to legal education.
The Rutgers Law–Camden Career Planning and Professional Development team, led by director Rebekah Verona, supports the job searches of hundreds of students in this new legal landscape, beginning with required workshops for first-year law students, who are all assigned career counselors.
Other services in place for law students of all years and alumni include career counseling, resume and cover letter advice, interview preparation and mock interview sessions, as well as access to online databases. Throughout the year, on-campus programs include visits from employers and alumni attorneys who offer on-the-ground perspective of the legal job market as well as provide professional networking opportunities for students.
“Barely a day goes by without an attorney coming to campus for an event sponsored by us or student groups or faculty. It’s easy for students to talk to practitioners on campus and make a contact that could turn into a professional network if cultivated,” says Verona.
Establishing a professional network that not just propels an immediate job search, but sustains a legal career is a key piece of advice offered by the Rutgers Law–Camden Career Planning and Professional Development team.
“Networking is just meeting people and building relationships. To practice law you have to be able to get along with people. Nobody practices law in a vacuum. Right now you might think you are networking just for a job, but you are actually beginning to build a professional network for the future.”
To quantify this crucial point, Verona suggests that 70% of a job search should be dedicated to networking, which is the job search strategy credited for 70% of job search success. In comparison, 20% of all legal jobs are acquired through responding to active job listings and just 10% through a direct application approach.
“Why spend all or the vast majority of your job search time doing something that is not very effective?” Verona asks. “This doesn’t mean spend 70% of all your time networking, just 70% of your job search time, maybe just a few hours of meeting with people in-person or corresponding over email or phone each week.”
Rutgers Law–Camden alumni can attest to the merits of networking. Lloyd Freeman ’07, an attorney with Archer & Greiner P.C., notes that networking is extremely important to be a successful attorney.
“[T]he ability to network goes far beyond client development. Meeting new people and gaining new personal contacts has led to so many great opportunities for me,” notes Freeman, who was recently elected as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Burlington, Camden & Gloucester Counties. “I’ve been nominated for bar association leadership positions, charity board memberships, and numerous awards by the people I’ve met at various networking functions. You may also end up with one of your personal contacts as your adversary in a case. And trust me, it’s much easier to work with opposing counsel when you have a good relationship.”
According to 2008 alumna Lynda Hinkle, who leads her own law firm with several offices in South Jersey, networking is also essential when developing a law practice.
“When I was first starting out, a wise fellow Rutgers graduate, Keith Owen Campbell, said to me that the key to success was in being everywhere until people were sick to death of seeing you,” says Hinkle, voted Top Attorney in General Practice by SJ Magazine in 2013. “I have lived by that from the inception of my practice, networking and encouraging my staff to network in a variety of venues and throughout the community. People like to do business with people they like and trust, and if they can't meet you somewhere or know someone who has, they may never get to like and trust you.”
Both Hinkle and Freeman recall the various networking opportunities available to law students, like joining student organizations, taking advantage of the free admission to join local and state bar associations, and participating in the school’s various pro bono programs.
Freeman underscores, too, the great value in building a strong rapport with law school professors and administrators.
“After all, they’re lawyers as well and can help you immensely in your career by providing advice, a recommendation, or even a job prospect,” points out Freeman, who chairs Archer & Greiner’s affinity group L.E.A.D. (Lawyers Encouraging Archer's Diversity).
Excelling in academic pursuits is of course at the core of being a successful law student, but some investment in networking can be both vital to searching for a job and doing the job effectively.
“The real practice of law is about interacting with human beings, understanding their problems and their pains, and knowing how to solve them,” offers Hinkle. “Without networking, you will be thoroughly unprepared to enter an increasingly competitive market.”