on the wonderfulness of being me
I spent about an hour with a woman who just graduated from law school right before the holiday. She looked my name up on the internet, e-mailed me out of the blue, and asked me if she could talk to me about what I do for a living and what steps should she take to do the same thing.
Huh.
Apparently I'm some sort of expert or something.
I chatted with her for about an hour, gave her some leads and general information about what she should know and where she should start looking, and I gave her an idea of what it's like to do what I do for a living.
I just got a nice note in the mail thanking me for my time, complimenting me on my web-fu (apparently not everyone can get on 300 job sites in ten seconds as easily as I can) and generally gushing about how wonderful I am. She also sent some earrings that she made me.
I remember those days, right out of law school, hoping for a perfect job and not wanting to settle for some litigation mill. It was hard, and I hated every second of looking for work in my niche field. I started out doing contract work, and papered the world with resumes. Finally, a firm I'd never heard of in a city I'd never been to hired me because I could talk the talk in healthcare. And I learned everything really quickly there, even though my boss was insane. And then this job, which I bitch about from time to time but is rather remarkable, popped up, and at 28, I was running a department, implementing a huge law, and shortly thereafter considered an expert in my complicated field.
But it was hard at the beginning. Not having had a job straight out of law school. Following up on a lot of leads that went nowhere. Wondering if I'd have to hang my own shingle.
I hope this woman finds something, and I hope that she enjoys it. And if she becomes good at what she does, I hope she passes on how to get there to some other recent law school graduate later on down the line.
Huh.
Apparently I'm some sort of expert or something.
I chatted with her for about an hour, gave her some leads and general information about what she should know and where she should start looking, and I gave her an idea of what it's like to do what I do for a living.
I just got a nice note in the mail thanking me for my time, complimenting me on my web-fu (apparently not everyone can get on 300 job sites in ten seconds as easily as I can) and generally gushing about how wonderful I am. She also sent some earrings that she made me.
I remember those days, right out of law school, hoping for a perfect job and not wanting to settle for some litigation mill. It was hard, and I hated every second of looking for work in my niche field. I started out doing contract work, and papered the world with resumes. Finally, a firm I'd never heard of in a city I'd never been to hired me because I could talk the talk in healthcare. And I learned everything really quickly there, even though my boss was insane. And then this job, which I bitch about from time to time but is rather remarkable, popped up, and at 28, I was running a department, implementing a huge law, and shortly thereafter considered an expert in my complicated field.
But it was hard at the beginning. Not having had a job straight out of law school. Following up on a lot of leads that went nowhere. Wondering if I'd have to hang my own shingle.
I hope this woman finds something, and I hope that she enjoys it. And if she becomes good at what she does, I hope she passes on how to get there to some other recent law school graduate later on down the line.