What’s life after law school? You graduate, you get
your degree and you take the grueling bar exams. What’s life after bar exams?
It’s a six-month agony of waiting for the results. What do you do after that?
You either sit and sleep on your bed all day or look for work and hustle.
I graduated in law school as a very mediocre
student. Neither was I in the Dean’s List nor in danger of being kicked out. I was
always qualified for admission every semester. You could say that my grades
were pretty normal. But of course, I would be lying if I don’t tell you I
didn’t struggle to be normal too. I mean, I get those 75.00 too. I barely made
it, but with all the luck in the world, I managed to graduate without a failing
grade, within the normal four year course.
I joined very few organizations because I thought
far ahead that it would be difficult to look for a job in Manila without
connections. So I joined them despite being tied up with school. I juggled org
activities with my academic life. Thank God, I still made it.
Now that law school and the bar exams are over, I
needed to look for a job. The question now is how do I start?
Regrets came surging in now that I am all done. I
thought about why didn’t I do much better in school? If I had, law firms would
stumble to get me even before graduation to be their intern. Even the top 10
would have no problems looking for jobs. So the question now begins. How to
look for work when you’re technically no one?
I didn’t have any plans of looking for work the
entire month of December. Why? Because who would dare move out of their bed
after the 6 month agony of disciplining themselves and that November Bar exams?
Give me a break!
Much later, I found out that it is better to look for a
job right after bar exams because you could ask your employer for you to start on January and have the
entire December for yourself, than look for a job starting January and be hired
in an unknown date a little bit before the results come out.
SO, HOW DO YOU START?
First, find out which sector do you want to work.
Would you like to be in the government or private sector?
I first started to look for jobs in the government
sector because it pays really well, and you get to have connections inside the
institution. I’m not sure if this is public knowledge, but unfortunately,
government employment reeks of Padrino system than a merit based system. In
government employment, it is better to look for jobs that are co-terminous or
contractual because the hiring process is much faster than a plantilla position
which might take you two-three months due to evaluations by the HR department
and what not. You might get hired and be committed in a non-law position just a
few days after passing the bar. Not a good wait, right?
If you want a private sector, you can find job
vacancies in law firms. If you want to be in the private sector, law firms are
your best option because it will serve as your training ground in a legal
setting. And when I say firms, I meant, small or medium sized firms of general
practice because you will gain more experience than being in a big sized firm. It
takes so much pride to be an associate of a large firm, but take note, that
those kinds of firms have separate departments and tendency is, you will be
assigned in one department, and all your other law subjects will rot in your
brain.
But, not everyone has a choice right? In my case, I
applied to whatever job vacancy that came my way. I applied to the Court of
Appeals, Sandiganbayan and the House of Representatives because I was informed
of a job vacancy from friends who worked there. Another thing about government
agencies is that they seldom post job vacancies to the public for Christ sake! For
the private sector, job street was my best friend. I think I sent more than 50
applications to firms or companies who say “legal” on their job advertisement.
I got several interviews and got depressed over several rejections from firms.
That’s where I found out that “we will just call you” is a subtle way of
rejection. And if you ever come across this statement, you better start looking
for another. Do not wait! It will most likely waste your time. I waited for 3 weeks for an update of my job
application at the Sandiganbayan only to find out from a friend that someone
else got hired. Bear in mind that if your employer really wants to hire you,
they will hire you right on the spot or call you 1 or 2 days after. And if they
don’t and you got hired somewhere else, it’s their loss, not yours!
Lastly, pray for the job that you want to take. As
for me, I didn’t have any specific job in mind, but I wanted a job that is
worthwhile, a good training ground and a job that pays well. I asked God to
place me in an environment where I am most needed and a place where He wills me
to be. True enough, He placed me in an environment that suits my personality,
skill and preferences. Turns out, I wasn’t meant for the private sector or in
law firms. Currently, I am happily serving the public rather than the
privileged few.
We'll see what comes next after I pass the bar. See you on my next blogpost!
