These days, a lot of second-year law students just want a job. We all know the feeling. Our Office of Career Services told us to use all of our bids, to pick up extra interviews, to get our twenty minutes of face-time with as many firms as possible. I was advised to throw as much spaghetti at the wall as I could, and see what, if anything, stuck.

      In retrospect, I wish that I had gotten better advice. During the on-campus interviewing process, I realized that I would have been happier and, more importantly, more successful in my job search if I had bid for interviews more carefully. In the end, I noticed that my callbacks and offers reflected what I was learning about my own personal needs and desires for a firm job regarding geography, size of firm, size of office, and diversity, factors that comprise the all-important “fit” factor. Given the economy, I have found that it’s more important than ever to think really carefully about exactly what I want in a job, and where I can get that. If I’m happy with my employer and my work, I’ll do better work—employers know that, and they want people who will do good work and fit well into their office.

      In the end, and here’s the shameless plug, I got more help from BBLP’s Guide to Law Firms book (Irene Hahn, Ed., Kaplan Publishing, 2009, available through BBLP’s Web site at www.betterlegalprofession.org) than I got from anywhere else as I narrowed my search from “any law firm looking to hire warm bodies” to the ones where I think I’d be happiest, and the ones who think I’d be a good fit. The book told me about each of the major geographical markets (pages 133-141), it helped me to think about why I want to be a litigator and to articulate my reasoning (which was invaluable during interviews) (pages 94-100), and it even gave me sample interview questions—ones the interviewers would ask of me and some great suggestions for questions I could ask of the interviewers both during the interview stage (pages 59-66) and at the later stages of the hiring process.

It eventually came down to the feeling I got during the callback, but I think I would have had more callbacks and an easier time all around had I thought about all of the details a little earlier. I can shrug off the flubbed interview answer and see it as a learning experience, but failing to immediately pick up on some of the most important differences between firms is my one big regret of this year’s job search, and my top piece of advice for anyone starting to think about biglaw jobs now.