Career/College Advice

Cool. thank you. I just needed at least one outsider to tell me I'm not being impatient. lol

Yeah following up is rarely a bad thing. I kinda hate doing it because its easy to feel self conscious about it, but it gives off the vibe that you care about getting the job, are capable of being assertive, won't need to rely on other people for communication on your behalf, etc. I recently just switched to my "dream job" and frankly the difference maker was networking inside/outside of interviews.

I would reach out to any professor you think will remember you or that you had a good rapport with at the time. When I got academic references for my grad program I had done mostly online classes (I was working 40-60 hours a week, so not a lot of time for in person classes). I got a reference from a professor I had taken like 4 online classes with, but had never met in person. He gave me a glowing reference. I think professors are used to the request, so don't feel weird about it. 

I'd send a couple of them the note that snowman and Monie are suggesting. When I was in a similar situation as you, I asked an old prof that didn't remember me if I could grab a cup of coffee with him / talk on the phone with him about grad school and my future. It comes off as a win/win where you are able to have a mentor / mentee conversation and hopefully that conversation gives the professor more information to work with in their letter. And then their letter appears more sincere. It worked for me for 2 profs and then I had a work reference lined up to make 3.

also has anyone ever worked for the gov't? more specifically their state gov't? seems like most of the jobs I could get are government related.

I would certainly prefer anything involved with the court system since I want to get some experience before law school. Any type of job within the state house would be nice too. I also like non profits a la ACLU, NAACP, GIP, SPLC, etc.

Obviously the pay is better is any type of private sector work but did you feel the benefits and the workload made up for it? My issue with private sector is that I would feel crushed and like I'm making stuff worse.

do you have an inside track on legal gigs for the jaguars?

see, the obvious downside is that I would have to live in Florida and that's a non-negotiable "no".

This page has links to lots of court jobs. www.ncsc.org/education-and-careers/jobs
The first link is to a pretty significant list of court jobs around the country. The second links to various courts’ employment pages. And the third goes to the federal judiciary’s job listings page.

For non-profits, I’d start at www.idealist.org/en/.

I started with the federal courts out of law school, went to Nevada for a while, and now I’m back with the federal courts, so I’ve never worked in the private sector and can’t compare. But for me, working a government job has generally been worth the lower pay. In the fifteen years since I graduated, I can count the number of weekends I’ve worked on one hand. At my current job, I work 7:30 to 4 (my choice, as long as I work eight hour days with a 30 minute lunch scheduled in), and I’ve never worked on a weekend. Because I’ve worked for the federal government for more than three years total, I get like 20 days of annual leave a year (sick leave is separate; I think the actual rate goes up at 10 years, but don’t quote me on that), plus I’m off for every federal holiday. In Nevada, it was similar but it was State holidays which basically meant all the federal holidays plus Nevada Day because Nevada is weird. Also, while the pay is lower, government jobs generally give you at least one raise a year, which means not having to go in and ask for a raise. I usually get a merit pay increase on my anniversary and a cost of living increase in January. (But that’s not guaranteed. When I started in Nevada, pay rates were frozen for a while because of budget issues. Also, Nevada has a pretty good pay scale now, but many many state courts have significantly lower pay scales than the ones I’ve worked under. The federal pay scale is very decent.) Anyway, it’s also all relative. I make a whole lot less than some of my friends I graduated with who went into private practice, but I also make more with fifteen years of court experience than my mom does with forty years of nursing experience.

Having said all that, my job is generally very boring (not all government or court jobs are, but mine happens to be most of the time), I still sometimes feel like I’m part of the problem (although I try very hard not to be, I’m still working within the system), and I’m currently very interested in leaving the law altogether. Now that I’ve paid off all my debt, that’s somewhat more feasible, but my job skills at this point are weirdly specialized and I’m having trouble figuring out what I can do that I will both enjoy and make enough money to live comfortably without getting into new debt. (On the other hand again, I’ve been working from home for over a year now, and that makes my job waaaaaay more tolerable, so if I can keep working from home, I’m likely to stay in this for at least a couple more years.)

I can speak to the non-profit question a bit (Worked part time for non-profits since 2013, full time for the past two years.) Having worked with legislators as a lobbyist/advocate though I will say that in my experience getting into the state legislature can be hard. If you're looking to work with a state rep or senator, those are often staffs of 1 LA who handles administrative and leg work (again, just my experience in NC) though obviously certain legislators who hold more power, or certain important committee positions might have bigger staffs. In my experience, most Legislative assistant positions are filled by the state party, the campaign, or personal connections to the individual legislator. Obviously there's other positions with legislative services and such. Developing a relationship with your local party (if you're affiliated) is often important in this regard. 

Check to see if there is a progressive jobs list, or a young non-profit professionals list serv. Those are two places here in NC where I see a lot of positions get posted before they go to job sites. Additionally, do you have any specific area you want to go into? The orgs you listed are huge and have staff that do various things. Organizing, advancement, comms, advocacy/policy, administrative, operations, etc. Getting into each of these things can look different. I'd also recommend looking into smaller local/regional orgs that you have a personal connection to (even if just geographically.) Those are orgs that are often looked over when folks are looking for jobs, but do really important work.

As someone who's deep in the interview process with NAACP right now, even just getting my application looked at there required knowing someone with connections to the person doing the hiring. Those orgs can often operate kinda like a for profit, if not in the work they're doing, in organizational culture that prioritizes deliverables and outcomes over doing good work (Not trying to turn you off of the work, just worth considering if you feel private sector could lead to burnout/feeling like you're making stuff worse. I can sometimes feel like that even working for a non-profit.) 

Happy to talk more about putting together applications for non-profits, and IMO what helps apps and cover letters stand out when we're hiring for a position.

god the border is even worse

Anyone work a trade? I'm pushing 30 and have been thinking that being a frat party DJ is fun and pays well enough, but isn't exactly sustainable into middle age. I did 4 years of college (telecommunications and film) but failed to graduate due to a bullshit internship requirement. I've got a bunch of knowledge and experience in A/V related stuff, but it's all so fragmented I don't know what my next step could be. I'm considering going to trade school, leaning towards electrician. Or maybe online school to get into IT.

I've found my calling.

So, I have to interview someone for the first time ever on Wednesday.

I’ve interviewed lots of times, but I’ve never been on the other side of the table. Anyone have any tips for second round interview questions I can ask this person? Advice on interviewing people in general?

I’m actually super nervous and I’m the one who already has a job 😂