Harvard Law Students See Job Offers Dwindle
Seems as if even Harvard and Yale law students aren't immune to the economic downturn. Thanks to a job recruiting schedule that only those two schools can get away with, a number of its students have been left with far fewer job and internship offers than usual, and some with none at all, the Harvard Crimson reports.
Harvard and Yale both hold their on-campus interview processes several weeks after most other law schools to give their students more time to prepare. Normally, this works out fine because law firms will hold spots for students from the two famously esteemed institutions. This year, however, the brunt of the economic downturn occurred right as all the other students were accepting offers and Harvard and Yale students were gearing up for their interviews. By the time their turn came around, job offers had been gobbled up, and students who normally would have gotten asked back to all their choices, were seeing only a fraction of that.
As a result, career services at Harvard Law are pushing to bring the school's recruiting in line with other schools. A decision on that change would be announced at the end of December.
Tags: Harvard University | colleges | law school | Yale University | Harvard Law School
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Reader Comments
Iv League school and not as well known colleges
I think everyone Ivy Leagues and not as well known college graduates are having a hard time finding jobs. I think even Ivy Leagues wont' be hired just on a whim and given these extra perks just because they graduated from this super well known college. Companies, law firms you name it is obvisously laying off people left and right and it takes even like myself college educated and experience at least a year to find a job. It's not unrealistic to now expect that it will take at least a year for people to find a job. Even just simply getting an interview is really hard. It will get a lot easier sooner than later. Obama is luckly saving us.
Stereotypes
Sounds like some people have unjustified views on Ivy League students. I am a grad student at Harvard (in Management), and I'm not rich - I have student loans for grad school, just like I had student loans for undergrad. The assumption that we all have money couldn't be further from the truth.
As far as a school's name goes, I have noticed a difference in the way people react when they ask what school I attend. Same with undergrad. And even my best friend (who went to the same undergrad) was turned down for one job solely because of the school we attended, but was offered another - without an interview - because of the school we attended. So the name does have an effect to a certain extent.
Getting back to the article, there are some large law firms (i.e. Alston & Byrd in Atlanta, GA) that require a student rank in a certain percentile if they are not a graduate of an Ivy League school - usually very high. Ivy League graduates, however, are given a little more leniency. So to say that the school doesn't make a difference isn't accurate.
Name is everything
I graduated magna cum laude from a good, but not great, law school. Though I passed the NY bar exam and gained admission to the bar, I still don't even get interviews because my resume does not say "Harvard" or "Yale." That these schools are having trouble placing students is indicative of just how terrible the job market is for lawyers.
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