The pathway to landing a legal job in today’s climate has seemingly become an uphill battle, not similar to how it once was in 1979 when a freshly minted law graduate like David Butler of the Butler Snow LLP, found the streets “paved with gold”. These days, the competition is more intense, with an increasing number of law graduates entering the employment market every year.
David Butler fondly remembers the time post his graduation from Tulane Law School, where a law degree was almost an instant assurance of work, and even work options, with the class ranking hardly coming into consideration. He describes the experience as “the streets were paved with gold”, reflecting the abundant opportunities that used to exist for new law graduates.
However, he aptly recognizes that the scenario today is substantially different. The surge in the number of graduating lawyers, along with a tightening job market, has made law graduates face a far more challenging employment situation. Butler also noted that, nowadays, human resources departments of firms rely heavily on data to shortlist prospective candidates, running the risk of losing out on excellent applicants who may be overlooked due to a lack of specific keywords or highly sought-after GPA.
How, then, can aspiring legal professionals increase their chances of rising above the sea of faceless applicant data? What can these graduates do to ensure that they stand out to potential employers in a data-driven arena? The potential answers to these pressing questions could very well shape the future of legal hires for years to come.
For more detailed insights, visit the full article on JD Supra by Butler Snow LLC.