Once Courted by BigLaw, Lawyers Find Government Job Search Is Demoralizing
Laid-off BigLaw lawyers are sending a flood of resumés to U.S. agencies, only to learn that advertised jobs aren’t available or computers are winnowing out their applications.
Lawyers sending their resumés “into the murky depths of Washington’s alphabet soup” are being stymied by hiring freezes and computer programs selecting applicants in the top 15 percent of their law school classes, no matter what the quality of their alma mater, applicants told Legal Times.
“Private bar lawyers used to getting fast-tracked into firms after cushy summer associate stints are now facing a mostly electronic process that doesn’t include recruiting lunches at The Palm,” the story reports.
Even agencies that are hiring, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., are warning that it can take months to fill jobs. The FDIC expected to increase the number of lawyers in its legal division from 453 to 648.
Outplacement counselor Susan Manch, who works with laid-off lawyers, told Legal Times that about half her clients typically are interested in government jobs, but now nearly all are applying for U.S. positions. She helps applicants outsmart computer programs. Her advice: Make sure the language on your resumé mirrors the job posting language, and don’t underline or italicize information, since the initial computer screening program can’t read it.
Andrew Knepley, a lawyer who worked at the dissolved law firm Thacher Proffitt & Wood, complained about the computer screening in an interview with Legal Times. He said he applied for a job advertised by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, only to learn six weeks later that the position was not available. Another anonymous former associate reported filling out an application at the Patent and Trademark Office only to learn later of a hiring freeze.
Another associate from Thacher Proffitt, Kim Thien Le, has moved to Washington, D.C., in hopes of improving her chances for a government job after being rejected by seven government agencies.
“To be frank, the application process is demoralizing,” she told Legal Times. “I often feel as if my hard-wrought cover letters and [application] essays are being faxed and mailed directly into some kind of Schwarzschild wormhole in the space-time continuum.”
