Customer Reviews

Guerrilla Tactics For Getting The Legal Job Of Your Dreams: Regardless of Your Grades, Your School, or Your Work Experience!

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1 star:		(9)

 

 

I have read this book, and admittedly not employed all of its suggestions. However, from what I have read and tried, my feelings are mixed. First of all, I'm a graduate from the bottom of the class of a "Top 10" law school. I could not get into any firm, thus I don't have the problem of having to explain not receiving an offer after my summer (I'm interested in gov't at this point).

Grades/school: this book is great for people who are currently enrolled and doing fairly ok-to-well in law school, and want an extra boost to get into a better firm/employer. Students at the very top and very bottom of the class are unlikely to benefit from the book. Why? Because most firms only look at grades, then school, nothing else. Almost all big firms, the ones most capable of hiring graduates, won't hire below the top 75% of a top law school. Kimm suggests avoiding firms that are concerned about grades. Well, unfortunately, that would be almost all of the firms except the ones that pay $28K a year.

Small firms: the author suggests looking at small firms. The problem is these firms also tend to be fixated on grades, sometimes even more so than large firms. In addition, small firms tend to be very low paying ($40K and below) and you will be required to work the same long hours as at a big firm. Grant it, you will have your foot in the door. On the other hand, small firms don't hire until you admitted to the bar, so you're looking at a few months without an income, or longer if you don't pass the bar the first time.

Volunteering: the book suggests doing this at various gov't agencies like DA's or City Attorney's offices. Watch out: most of these places will use the free help and not offer a job. They DO hire volunteers in boom times, but then everyone hires in a boom time so there would be no point in volunteering in the first place. You have to be at the right place at the right time. The experience you will get from volunteering is limited, on the other hand if you are unsure about what you want to do (i.e., corporate vs. litigation), it can be helpful.

Networking: Kimm suggests ways to network. I actually tried her suggestions, and found that I was meeting partners from large grade-heavy firms who could never hire me if they wanted to, OR, solo practicioners. This makes sense, because these are the people who need to make appearances at public events the most. I never really ran into that associate/partner at an up and coming small or mid-sized firm that was recruiting heavily. Although we are in a recession, many firms are doing well. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places. However, it seems that more and more firms have set procedures for hiring and are not willing to be schmoozed as easily as in the past.

Mass mailings: her opinion of mass mailings have been confirmed by many attorneys who received my resume. However, I did receive 3 interviews that way. Moreover, if one does not do a mass mailing, how is one supposed to contact employers? Afterall, it is a numbers game. To her credit, I think Kimm talks about well-tailored emails to alum at law firms. This works well, but again, if the firm has a grade-floor, there is no way around it generally.

In conclusion, while many of Kimm's suggestions would be fruitful for that student in the top 55% of a top 25 school wanting to work in NYC, it is not right for everyone.

This book provides some rather basic common sense approaches to finding a job. I would not buy the book. However, if your library has a copy check it out of the library and read it or go to your local book store and sit down and read it with a cup of coffee. I think she makes suggestions about how to get a job that are just extremely unlikely to materialize. She suggests that you can get a job at a big firm by first working as a Contract Attorney. This is VERY VERY unlikely. Big firms have hiring committees and usually a list of schools they will hire from. If your school is not on that list, they cannot consider you. I know people who have done contract work for many years at a lot of big firms and they were never offered a job. It just doesn't work that way. Contract work usually involves working for a short time on a single project with many other attorneys (some cases over 100 other attorneys). I've never heard of anyone getting hired on at a big firm after working as a Contract Attorney. Anything is possible, but it is EXTREMELY unlikley. The truth is that most reputable big and mid-sized firms would rather be understaffed than hire Attorneys who lack the proper credentials. Also, she writes at one point that people hire people, not schools. In my experience, firms hire ONLY from certain schools and her book is not footnoted to back up the claims she is making with rock solid evidence. My suggestion is read this book at your library or book store for free, but don't buy it. Save your money for your student loan payments.

Hey Kimm,

The 1980's called and they want their Parachute back.

Let me give all potential readers of this book some REAL advice. DO NOT, under any circumstances, answer ANY of the interview questions as advised in this book. I interview law students and applicants to our firm every week. Upon hearing one of these "cooked" responses, I immediately put that person's resume/application in the "No" file.

Do yourself a favor and answer job interview questions frankly, honestly and with originality. Your sincerity will play far better than the insulting routine this author -- and almost every other career counselor -- proposes.

I don't know what's more pathetic: the fact that people like this are still making money encouraging applicants to "sell themselves like an infomercial" or the fact that other people actually give them money for the drivel they're shoveling.

I read the reviews here before purchasing this book and decided to go ahead and buy it anyway. First of all, forget her writing style/tone, that "Auntie Kimmbo" stuff and the way she goes on and on about Harvard. You can get over it--that is not a reason to low-ball the book. Second, I do think Walton over-promises a bit, but I see why. Her ideas are really good. Whether or not they are common sense to a person probably depends on that person's background. But as someone who came to law school as an introvert with no connections and very little experience with job searches and interviews, I learned a lot from this book. Some of the ideas she gave had occurred to me on occasion before reading this book (i.e. anybody in law school knows they need to network, but some people--like me--are very uncomfortable with it and don't entirely appreciate its significance) while others are simply the kind of ideas that seem so simple when you read them in this book that they merely *seem* like common sense. You wonder why you didn't think of it before.

To tell you about me some and relate it to this book--I finished my first year at a top 10 law school May 2006 with low grades and no job offers. The school I attend has on-campus interviews in the spring that are mainly for first-year students but also for second-year students...but the spring OCI is mainly used by 1st years. My school is the kind where firms have to see whoever signs up; grades are not used. I sent out resumes to firms, also, but not as many as my classmates were sending out. The cover letters and resumes were pretty general, not attention-getting at all and just boring. There were students at my school who also had unimpressive grades but got jobs while I had what I thought were strong on-campus interviews and one interview at a law firm in my hometown that I also thought went well. I couldn't understand why I kept getting rejected, how other people got their jobs and connections, and how I could attend a top 10 school and finish my 1st year with nothing, to be very honest. I had a lot of misconceptions in my head (mainly that of entitlement based on my school's reputation, particularly in relation to the ranky-dank-ness of my hometown...I thought they should have wanted to snatch me right up), and I now believe that if I'd had Walton's book I wouldn't have had to come back to my hometown, call public interest groups and ask to volunteer over the summer.

I have found that I made countless mistakes that I wouldn't have made had I known about Walton's book, or even had I been to see my Career Services office like she recommends over and over in her book (and, again, I never bothered with them because I believed everyone when they insisted our school's reputation would be enough and that my hometown would jump on a student from a top 10 school). I wouldn't have had to figure out too late that law firms in areas I'm not from care a lot about geography while stumbling through geo-related questions in interviews and then have that confirmed by Walton in her book. One thing I think Walton says several times that I'm not sure about, unless you attend a top law school, is that you can get your dream job regardless of grades. At my school, we get access to a lot of information about what top firms have hired our students with what GPA...and, essentially, firms make a lot of exceptions for *us* despite saying they want "top 10% at top schools." In fact, every firm that says that takes students from my school that are not in the top 10%, or even 20%, and pretty much every other firm that says they want "top students from top schools" goes almost to or right around the 50th percentile. I found out that with my GPA and even lower (I am seriously not in the top 50%), there were several law firms I could have gotten hired by during the summer of 2006 had I read and followed Walton's advice...and I would have known that before had I paid more attention to my Career Services office. But I somewhat doubt the exceptions are just for top schools...I think some firms do have their strict cutoffs, but I also think some firms claim they want top 10% simply to make themselves look more prestigious/selective or even to discourage receiving more resumes to sift through. One of my classmates had actually given me a tip that Walton gives in her book about what to do when you have lower grades than a firm looks for--just go ahead and mention your grades in the interview but put a positive spin on them--and the tip had worked for him several times. I wonder if he had read Walton's book, in retrospect!

When I go for 2nd-year OCI, I will know not to be so passive this time in interviews. Walton teaches you to pick about 5 qualities about yourself that show why firms should hire you, think of experiences and situations you've been in to back those qualities up and then basically tell firms why they should hire you without flat-out saying, "Here's why you should hire me." I never did anything like that...never told firms why they should hire me or about what I can do for them. I never did any networking or took any kind of initiative, and now that I've started networking with lawyers at firms I'm interested in and in the area of law I want to practice, I have actually had those lawyers tell me that I am doing the right thing--that I need to be aggressive and show that I am a go-getter--and that when they think about giving out internships, etc, people who do what I am doing are the first ones they think about and make offers to. Walton basically says as much in her book. And these lawyers, for the most part, have been offering help before I can even get half the questions Walton suggests in her book out my mouth. From the very first lawyer I contacted after reading her book, I got the names and contact information of about five or six other lawyers who work at firms and in the practice area I'm interested in--one being a lawyer who is famous in that practice area and another two being lawyers who work for one of the most famous people/companies in the *world*. Though Walton suggests asking people you network with if they can suggest other people to talk to, I never had the chance to ask that lawyer--she just started GIVING me names and numbers of people I have dreamed of contacting and in positions I have dreamed of working in but had no clue how to get in. All this from only one contact I made.

No, this information might not be ground-breaking, and I could have done this on my own. But Walton gives that kick in the pants some people need and provides explanations for why you need to do the things she suggests. I see why Walton de-emphasizes grades and school--networking and who you know are definitely very powerful. It might not get you over that strict 3.0 GPA minimum your favorite top law firm might have, but you can still get a great--maybe even better--job doing it...and for those who don't really know how, Walton tells you the steps to take when you need contacts and what to say to them. She also tells you how to use those contacts you make in your cover letters so that you will get a response, or at least a serious look. But her book is NOT just all about networking! In general, she just takes all the "common sense" advice and puts it all in one book. I wouldn't necessarily buy the book full-price, but I never do--if you're interested, buy it here or half.com used. But if you're having trouble finding a job and/or are relatively clueless like I was, get this book! I would give 4 & 1/2 stars!

This book had some good information. Want to hear it? When a hiring partner asks you to tell him about yourself, he doesn't want to hear where you grew up, etc., he wants to hear what a hard worker you are.

That's about the only thing I found in this book that I couldn't have just pulled up with a standard google search for legal job hunts. And I probably could have found that, too, with about five minutes more effort.

Do lots of informational interviews? Yep, that's advised on many, many free sites. Mass mailers are useless? Yes, that's on free sites as well.

Her claim: the seven words that will ALWAYS get a call back: "Prestigious lawyer X recommended I contact you" is just blatant b.s. No, it will not ALWAYS get you a call back. Sometimes it MAY get you a contact, but I have to say, after following this author's advice pretty much to the letter (except for showing up uninvited and unannounced at a law office, to me that smacks of career suicide), doing lots of informational interviews, sending out dozens of very, very targeted letters based on the contacts made at those interviews I can say that it is NOT a guarantee of a callback. Attorneys have no problem mailing you a big fat ding no matter WHO referred you. To say otherwise sets up new attorneys who bought her claims for a big letdown.

Also, she claims law offices are ALWAYS hiring. This is a ridiculous claim. As I have learned, they are NOT always hiring. In fact, prior to law school I worked for many firms, big and small, usually for a hiring partner. I know for a fact they are not "always" hiring. Sometimes they may love you, they may recommend lots of people you should call/send resumes, they may truly want to help you out, but if they aren't hiring, sorry, they just are not hiring. And for the author to claim that if you are brilliant enough in your interview, or say the absolutely right things, they'll hire you anyway, is false and simply setting a new attorney up for terrible depression and disappointment.

As for getting into a huge firm via the "backdoor method" even if you don't have the grades or go to the right school: this is ludicrous. I've worked for several BIGLAW firms. There are schools that they absolutely will not hire from. Not no how, not no way. In fact, I worked with a woman who tried to get in to a firm from a non-approved school. She worked for the firm as an assistant during her last two years in law school. They told her straight out: we love you, we love your work, we'd love to hire you, BUT YOU WENT TO THE WRONG SCHOOL. (And yes, they were that blunt about it).

The author went to Yale for crying out loud. She has no idea what she's talking about on this one.

As for MCLE classes being a great place to meet people -- she's right. It's a great place to meet people. People that is, who are just like you, fresh out of law school and desperate for a job. It has been my experience that most partners take associates with them to MCLEs. They go together, sit together, leave together, then afterward they go eat together. If you are the guy in the bar who has no problem going up stone cold sober and butting into a conversation between five or six really hot girls, then by all means, try this at an MCLE, and I tip my hat to you.

Bottom line: there isn't anything in this book you can't find for free off the internet. This book is, in fact, harmful to new people, because the author claims if you do X,Y, and Z you will absolutely have the job of your dreams, and when they do X, Y, and Z and fail, the only thing they want to do after that is fling themselves off the nearest tall building.

You REALLY want to know how to find your first legal job? CRAIGSLIST.

My review is "give me a break". This book should have been titled, "Rah, Rah, You can do it, yeaaaaaaaaah!!!"
How many times will the author say that we all should go to our CSO because they love to help us and they are counsellors first and lawyers second? She didn't meet my CSO and didn't mention them in her thank you section. Apparently she only met CSOs who wanted to be guidance counselors from birth and not the failed, bitter lawyers who got a CSO job as a favor.
There are some interesting ideas that could have been boiled down to a few pages. Warning, a lot of those tactics might be effective for a petite, attractive woman but if you try some of it as a man security will escort you out.

This is a great read for those who want a primer on conducting a successful legal job search. Not much of the info here is new, but it's definitely useful to have all of it compiled in one book. The chapter on interviewing techniques is particularly helpful, and the answers she suggests for tough interview questions are pure gold. The section on what to ask (and perhaps more importantly, what NOT to ask) in an interview is also excellent.

The book seems to be written for students who aren't at top schools or in the top 10% of the class, although the interviewing advice will be helpful to everyone. There's very little discussion of on-campus interviewing, which the author correctly notes will only yield interviews for students at the top of the class and those at top schools. The networking chapter is the real soul of the book and provides excellent advice for students who will most likely not land their jobs through on-campus interviews.

The book's biggest flaw in my opinion is the actual prose. The author's cutesy tone stuck me as patronizing and better suited to a children's book. It's annoying at best; at worst, it's distracting and makes the reader doubt the quality of the information in the book. I'm all for displaying a sense of humor, but I find it hard to take seriously the advice of an author who constantly refers to herself as "Auntie Kimmbo." Also, the book tries to sell itself as a panacea of the legal job search--a claim that I doubt ANY book could live up to. If you're last in your class at a fourth-tier law school, you're probably not getting hired at Wachtell no matter how well you implement "Auntie Kimmbo's" suggestions.

All told, "Guerrilla Tactics," while not the magic bullet the author makes it out to be, will take you far in your quest for the legal job of your dreams.

This book won't magically open the door to the legal job of your dreams, but it might empower you with some tools so that you don't totally goof up a great opportunity. Much of the advice is very common sense- yet the explanations behind some of the advice are what is helpful.

I found the book very well supported, even though I did not agree with all of the author's advice. For example, I appreciated her explanation of how to handle the interview question regarding a "weakness." On the other hand, I disagreed with her unorthodox advice to not broach the issue of salary and benefits in an interview. I found her emphasis on the importance of networking to be lengthy. After all, if you're extremely connected within the legal community, you probably don't need this book. Also irritating was the advice to sell yourself in an interview like an "infommercial." I did, however, appreciate her take on certain interview questions and the advice to keep your answers focused on "what is in it for the interviewer."

There is no magic formula in this book, but it is a good presentation of one person's attack strategy in the legal job market. I gave it only three stars because the book made grand promises that I felt it didn't keep and because it is a bit overpriced.

I wish I read this book in my 1L year or even before law school. It is the most serious book out there for getting the legal job of your "dreams" which is not necessarily the job that pays the most. Some of you will stop reading this review at this point because you feel that the two are synonymous. If you are absolutely sure of that, don't read the book or the rest of this review. Also, go get an MBA because they make way more money, especially per hour worked, than lawyers. But, if you are like me and want more out of your legal career than money, definitely read this book. Believe me, I'm not suggesting that money isn't important. It is. But for most people, money is only one component of happiness.

Since all of you reading this are probably law students, I will tell you that I'm a 3L at UC Davis Law School with some experience to share. The book is a collection of chapters that often repeat themselves. The author explains in the introduction that it is not to be read cover to cover. Read the book section by section according to your needs. For the purposes of this review, I will explain my situation and how the book helped me going forward and how it could have helped me had I read it earlier.

I transferred to UC Davis because I never made it off the waitlist initially. But I worked my butt off first year and made top 10%. That got got me into Davis as a transfer student and I got swept up in OCI fever. I came to law school from a political and local government background and thought that was the direction I was heading. However, doing so well academically made me a target for interviews at big firms. I thought "why are these other loser law students getting the opportunity to earn $30,000 in a summer and get a cushy firm job after graduation? Those salaries are more than my parents make! Sign me up!"

Of course, the book would have warned me that this is an example of "Dream Cloning." Is it really MY dream to go on the big firm track? Isn't there a reason why 1/2 of new associates leave their firm? Is there a reason why very few are actually happy with their jobs? What does billing 2200 hours annually actually mean? Why are they really paying this kind of money? I was not thinking about these questions the book helps flush out. I was thinking that I have just as much skills as the clowns next to me. I'm not trying to hate on OCI, big salaries, or big firms, but it is important for folks to make an informed decision. The book helps law students tremendously in knowing their options, especially with the reality of law school costs.

I got 4 callback interviews and zero offers. I felt like a total loser because some of my friends (though not many) got offers and will make a lot of money. During 2L Spring Semester, after all the rejection letters came in, things did not go well. I actually took the business law classes, which covered what the OCI firms actually practice in. It is stupid that firms hire folks before they get a chance to take these classes. Anyways, I hated the classes and did not do that well in them. This lack of interest is probably why I did not get the jobs during my callbacks. I'm not very good at feigning enthusiasm for stuff I'm not interested in.

At the end of second semester, I read the book and it really defined the situation for me. I forgot why I came to law school and lost my focus. I started to live someone else's life and I didn't like it that much. The book has sections to help students find their focus. It helps one answer the right questions about what kind of life one wants to live.

For me, I love civil practice and having as broad a practice as possible. I also love politics and working with political entities. Also, I like the a high public exposure job. Also, I hate doing the same thing over and over again. I'm willing to sacrifice some salary for the diversity of issues in my legal practice. This is why I want to be a City Attorney--civil practice, lots of legal issues, politics, high exposure--that's me. Most law firms don't practice in this area because it is done in house or there is more money elsewhere.

The book also helps law students identify the negatives of what they do because there is no perfect job. For me, there are lots of negatives with my "dream job." Money isn't great at first, civil litigation is boring, City attorneys have to be worried about media exposure, and political pressure from local elected officials. This is not for everybody but I don't mind the negatives.

Do most law students really know what they want to do and what they are passionate about? Seriously, ask your classmates and you will hear a lot of baloney. They don't have a clue what they want to do and are just going on autopilot. This book gives tips of how to take control of your destiny. Once you figure out what you want, the book explains how to get externships, internships, and the other types of experience you will need to get the job. The reason this is necessary is most "dream" jobs are not advertised.

Also, the legal market nationwide, with the exception of patent law, is contracting. It is a horrible time to be a new law graduate because you are competing with experienced attorneys for employment. Most likely, it is going to take a lot of hustling to get any job let alone the job of your dreams. This book helped me figure out what my dream job is and how to maximize my chances of getting it. It offers no easy answers or guarantees, but in life none exist anyway. All you can do is increase your odds to get what you want.

Read the book.

I wish I had read this book BEFORE I went to law school. Yes, I was one of those people who went to law school without a clear idea of what I actually wanted to do with my life, spent $100,000 for my degree, practiced for a year, and THEN realized that I do not want to be a lawyer!

Ms. Walton's book is written primarily for current law students, but has a lot of good information for recent graduates as well. Much of the book is standard job search fare, but she does a good job of tailoring her advice to the legal field. One of the main themes in her book is for students to take a step back and try to determine what they actually WANT to do for a living, and to not get sucked into the whole big-firm-litigation-partner-track trap.

For those of us who have just realized that we no longer want to practice, there is an entire section of the book that leads us through the analysis of why we no longer want to practice, and whether those issues can be remedied. This is very important, as Ms. Walton points out that there are numerous areas of laws, and all different types of work environments.

My only gripe about the book is that the writing style is very casual and loose. Although it makes it an easy read, I find the style to be a little cutesy and distracting. However, the value of her message is outweighed by her delivery.