I got laid off from my job the day they laid off about 30 people which was about 20% of the workforce. It was a shitshow. Girls were crying, people were talking about having to move back to Kansas, nobody was happy. Except me. My job sucked. SUCKED. The day I left, the sun never felt so warm on my face.
Fast forward to an unbelievable three months later. My resume is sick. I have gone on countless interviews. Unfortunately, it's been explained to me that in this economy, people with Masters degrees are taking jobs that pay $10 an hour. So essentially, by shooting for $35,000 a year, I'm apparently aiming too high. Now, the problem is that unemployment pays me more than I would make working for $9 an hour and would last me for like 5 more months or something. Combined with the fact that I'll be starting the hell that is the first year of law school in less than 6 months, I tend to show up to interviews and get complimented on the fact that, unlike other applicants, I seem composed and not, well, desperate. That fact does not however land me a job. Why job hunt if not for the money? I'm fantastically bored. After you sleep in and go to the gym and play video games and argue on the internet, there just really isn't enough stuff for me to do to fill 8 hours.
Essentially the next 6 months are just an epic stall until law school begins. 6 months then I pack all my stuff and move to the sunny haven that is California. The best law school I've gotten into is in Cali but I think I'd have taken a good Cali school over Harvard (Isn't it easy to compose a list of things that are better than Harvard once Harvard rejects you?). I'm just tired of the frozen waste that is the New England winter season.
Law school is a funny beast. You really, really frontload all of your effort. Law firms are on campus recruiting November of your freshman year if I understand correctly. You can be applying for jobs before your first semester grades are in. Thus, if you're sufficiently bad-ass your first semester, you can get a 1st year summer job which leads to a second year summer job which leads to a cushy job offer. Or at least it did before the economy went belly up. Two weeks ago was what the law profession is referring to as Black Thursday. Unprecedented layoffs. Investment banking has died and taken with it a ton of the mergers and acquisitions work that used to be the bread and butter for corporate attorneys. Some of the largest firms in the world are going belly up. This is the mood that will prevail this November when I'm trying to get a cherry summer gig. I've got to put my best foot forward or this little $160,000 gamble won't pay off and I'll be stuck where I am now, not doing coke off of dead hookers.
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I'm pretty freaked out about the economy myself. About to enter the work field upon graduating this year and things look about as bright as the dark side of the moon. Not cool. Anyway, enjoyed some of your blog posts. Come visit mine sometime. I just started blogging again and would love some followers!
ReplyDelete...well, money, to you, is everything. Guess you're happy chasing it wherever it ends up taking you... I maintain my view that, once you get the money (which I have no doubt you will), one day you'll realize that your happiness was actually more important. AND that it was completely independent of money. Because oftentimes, the pursuit of money is just too intense to allow room and time for happiness. I liked your entry...you'll be successful in law school.
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