Any tips on going in-house?
Related Posts
Experienced hire. Put interests on resume or no?
First score for the collection
Is financial engineering a thing?
Additional Posts in Law
How many YOE for each: junior, mid, and senior?
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Rising Star
If you are corporate, it is very easy. Look on LinkedIn, ABA, ventureloop, techgc, solutus, MLA websites.
If you're not corporate, read goinhouse.com's interview guide and act accordingly.
I networked at the company I was interested in. I had one contact there, and she introduced me to the hiring managers for several positions before I got my current role. I talked to all of the managers and applied to all of the positions (even though the first three weren’t the right fit at all). I suppose I don’t know for sure that the networking did it, but I really do think it got me the screening interview.
At my non-FAANG tech company, we locate new lawyers through a grab bag of referrals and job posts. We receive a high number of apps for open roles, so I think my advice is (a) if you don’t have a contact, be sure you understand how automatic resume screening and keyword/skill searches work, (b) if there is an internal recruiter, try to make a connection with them on the first phone screen because you are their work product and they have more influence over the process than you might think, and (c) there may be a skills test, but in general, in-house lawyers won’t ask you tough questions, so it is up to you to figure out what you are going to tell them to differentiate yourself from potentially dozens of other qualified interviewees. Maybe you have stellar credentials or a perfect skill match and can coast with a mediocre interview, but it definitely helps to know your sales pitch in advance (ymmv, I’m not a hiring manager).
I (OP) realize that this question is impossibly vague, so I’ll rephrase: For those that have gone in-house, how did you find your first post-firm job? How does your company find the lawyers that it hires?
Most of the people I know who are in house get there by going to work for a larger company either as interns or as attorneys with a specific skill set the company is looking for.
I personally went in house by starting at a legal services company that I was really enthusiastic about, moved into management, and then became their in house counsel when a position opened up- first on a trial basis and then permanently. I started in criminal defense, so my path was completely non-traditional, but I made sure to use all of my experience to my benefit even when it didn’t line up the way others might expect it to.
Do your research! Check Robert half compensation study etc, check Glassdoor for company reviews and see if any of your LinkedIn connections work anywhere you’re interested in so you can hear what it’s like.