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Associate Laid Off Twice in Four Months Looks at the Bright Side

Posted Feb 12, 2009 6:38 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Associate Inna Efimchik has had a rough four months.

Efimchik was a corporate associate at the law firm Heller Ehrman when it dissolved last fall, the Recorder reports. But the fourth-year associate was able to land on her feet at Cooley Godward Kronish, moving there with a group of Heller partners and associates.

Less than four months later, she was laid off along with 51 other Cooley lawyers, the story says. But Efimchik is looking at the bright side.

"At first I was really upset," Efimchik told the publication. "And then I thought, they did me a favor by hiring me in the first place—I've had a job for the last 3½ months, I got severance, and another great firm on the resumé."

The job market has changed since Efimchik graduated from University of California at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall. She got so many calls from recruiters in her early days at Heller that “it was sort of annoying because you can't get through the day," she told the publication. "You start to think that you're so marketable: You went to the right school; you're the cream of the crop."

Now she is finding there are few job openings and a surplus of applicants. She told the Recorder her resumé is “updated and pretty” and she is “networking as wildly as I can."

Comments

1.

Larry
Feb 12, 2009 8:06 AM CST

We are hiring in Ohio if you want to move here.

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2.

B. McLeod
Feb 12, 2009 8:17 AM CST

Looks like she has shot her Boalt.

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3.

Jen
Feb 12, 2009 12:14 PM CST

I would sue.  Did they lay you off because you were a women with a peculiar last name.

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4.

Einstein
Feb 13, 2009 6:35 AM CST

Comment removed by moderator.

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5.

Dorothy
Feb 13, 2009 7:06 AM CST

From the article at least, she has a good attitude. She’ll be ok. Good luck to her.

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6.

JD
Feb 13, 2009 9:12 AM CST

Ah Yes.  THose good ol’ days of recruiters annoying me day and night with job openings. I remember them well in my youth. Those were the days, my friend. I thought they’d never end…
Good Luck, Inna.  From the continuing number of layoffs posted in today’s newsletter, things aren’t going to get any easier for jobseekers. 
Wait a minute.  The phone is ringing…

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7.

Hmm
Feb 13, 2009 10:07 AM CST

If you google her name, you’ll see she posed for a bunch of stock photos currently being sold on one of the stock photo sites.  Compare those pics with the one she has on her linkedIn page, it’s her.

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8.

Nuthintodo
Feb 13, 2009 10:45 AM CST

Comment removed by moderator.

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9.

Nutintodo
Feb 13, 2009 10:46 AM CST

Comment removed by moderator.

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10.

Andy the Lawyer
Feb 13, 2009 10:54 AM CST

The only bright side of getting laid off twice in four months is that it wasn’t three times in four months.

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11.

OH BOY
Feb 13, 2009 10:57 AM CST

Larry , you should tell people how to contact you for job offers in OH.

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12.

Larry
Feb 13, 2009 12:14 PM CST

OH Boy - what areas do you have experience in?

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13.

AMBJD
Feb 13, 2009 4:48 PM CST

Wyoming is doing just fine, you can move out here for legal work, just pick a small town.

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14.

Allen Sheketovits
Feb 14, 2009 7:07 AM CST

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15.

Allen Sheketovits
Feb 14, 2009 7:12 AM CST

Oh, I mean to ask:  What kind of a name is Efimchik?  Is it Slovakian?  I also have an unusual name, but my roots are Sino-Russian. 

Ellen has Slovakian roots, so If Ms. Efimchik wants to sign in, perhaps she can share information about her heritiage for us.

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16.

B. McLeod
Feb 14, 2009 10:53 PM CST

Thank you for the clarifying re-post.  I had missed the initial comment, removed by the Moderator.  For a small number of minutes, I did fear that I (yes, and indeed, all my ABA colleagues) might never be blessed with the benefit of the deleted Sheketovits comment.  I (and, I am sure, your many other fans) can only express profound gratitude that you thought of our probable, intense interest in your comment, and took a few moments of your valuable time to replace it with a version the Moderator would permit to remain.  Again, thank you so very, very much (and God bless England).

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17.

gea
Feb 15, 2009 5:06 PM CST

Reading the posts make me sad and curious. I do not know why??? this article got so, so, so many deletions. Is all of this rumpus because A) she is a woman or B) she has a non-english or non-irish or non-italian or non-african last name or C) because she remains optimistic. Answer to C is that if she had been negative, it would have been boring, as most people would feel pessimistic after three layoffs in as many months. hmmm I would think that educated responses are the norm here, w/out much moderator intervention.

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18.

Allen Sheketovits
Feb 15, 2009 8:35 PM CST

The moderator must be an old biddie.  My deleted comment said only that the subject woman was attractive.  Obviously the old biddie diesn’t like it if others are seen as attractive, like my Ellen.

And McCloud is also working for the website, or he has a lot of time on his hands.  He’s no more english then a bucket of squid.

My Ellen is Slovakian.  She wonders about Ms. Efimchik.  Does the moderator know, or does she just remove comments that are complimentary to Ms. Efimchik?

Oy!

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19.

Sam Bohn
Feb 16, 2009 8:23 AM CST

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20.

B. McLeod
Feb 16, 2009 12:45 PM CST

Poor Sheketovits.  You are completely wrong about the Moderator.  Thank you, however, for at least having the sense to recognize that I am not English.

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21.

D Brogman
Feb 16, 2009 7:14 PM CST

Inna is nice.  She went to Berkley, is a venture capitalist lawyer and speaks FLUENT Russian.  That is pretty close to you, Sheketovits.  I would look her up if you and the Slovak, Ellen, do not work out..

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22.

BR
Feb 20, 2009 12:43 PM CST

I’d almost be willing to get laid off just for all the free publicity Ms Efimshik has received.

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