Law Career Stuff

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3.01 Landing a good -- no, a Terrific! -- law job:

3.011 General Information on Law Firms:

• The VaultReports.com Guide to America's Top 50 Law Firms, by Mark Oldman.
• National Directory of Legal Employers, by the National Association for Law Placement

3.012 Finding the Right Firm:

• The Best of the Job Goddess: Phenomenal Job Search Advice from the Country's Most Popular Legal Job Search Columnist, by Kimm Alayne Walton.
• America's Greatest Places to Work With a Law Degree: And How to Make the Most of Any Job, No Matter Where It Is, by Kimm Alayne Walton.
• 100 Best Law Firms to Work for in America, by Kimm A. Walton.

3.013 Getting Right Offer:

• Guerrilla Tactics for Getting the Legal Job of Your Dreams, by Kimm A. Walton.
• How to Get the Job You Want in a Law Firm, by Ann Turnicky. Written by a former recruiter at the largest law firm in the world. Don't bother buying it if your stats are embarrassment-grade; it's written mostly as a finishing-school guide for the major firm wanna-bes. Still, you might track down a copy in the library and pick up a few tips. Sadly, this book illustrates, indirectly, one of the unfortunate paradoxes of life in the law: those who have get more, and those who need must work twice as hard to get half as far. Don't yell at me; I didn't make the rules. [TJM]
• Jobs for Lawyers: Effective Techniques for Getting Hired in Today's Legal Marketplace, by Hillary J. Mantis and Kathleen Brady.

3.014 Miscelleny:

• The Commencement Speech You Need to Hear, by Neal Boortz. Couldn't figure out where else to put this one.

3.02 Résumés:

• Best Resumes for Attorneys, by Joan Fondell and Mary Jo Russo.
• The Resume Workbook, by Carolyn Nutter. Special Order. Not written specifically for lawyers, but it's terrific.
• The Resume Doctor: How to Transform a Troublesome Work History into a Winning Resume, by John J. Marcus.
• Resumes in Cyberspace: Your Complete Guide to a Computerized Job Search, by Pat Criscito.
• Federal Resume Guidebook: A Step-By-Step Guidebook for Writing a Federal Resume in Accordance With the Office of Personnel Management's Flyer, Of-510, by Kathryn K. Troutman.
• The Damn Good Resume Guide: A Crash Course in Resume Writing, by Yana Parker.

3.021 Cover Letters:

• Dynamic Cover Letters: How to Sell Yourself to an Employer by Writing a Letter That Will Get Your Resume Read, Get You an Interview, and Get You The Job, by Katherine Hansen and Randall S. Hansen.
• Cover Letters That Knock 'Em Dead, by Martin John Yate.

3.022 For a little later in your career:

• Rites of Passage at $100,000+: The Insider's Lifetime Guide to Executive, by John Lucht.
• 100 Winning Resumes for $100,000+ Jobs: Resumes That Can Change Your Life!, by Wendy S. Enelow.
• 201 Winning Cover Letters for $100,000+ Jobs: Cover Letters That Can Change Your Life!, by Wendy S. Enelow.
• Asher's Bible of Executive Resumes and How to Write Them, by Donald Asher.
• America's Top Resumes for America's Top Jobs, by J. Michael Farr.
• 1500+ Keywords for $100,000+ Jobs, by Wendy S. Enelow.

3.03 Interviewing:

• The Legal Job Interview, by Clifford Ennico. Shows up as a Special Order, although you shouldn't have trouble finding it.
• Sweaty Palms: The Neglected Art of Being Interviewed, by H. Anthony Medley. (The author happens to be a senior law partner.)
• Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions, by Matthew J. Deluca.
• Power Interviews: Job-Winning Tactics from Fortune 500 Recruiters, by Neil Yeager and Lee Hough.
• Ask the Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job, by Nick A. Corcodilos.
• Knock 'Em Dead 1998, by Martin John Yate. A good, general-purpose guide.

3.031 Negotiating a Salary (for your next position)

• Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1,000 a Minute, by Jack Chapman.
• Strategic Job Jumping: Fifty Very Smart Tactics for Building Your Career, by Julia Hartman.
• Perks and Parachutes: Negotiating Your Best Possible Employment Deal, from Salary and Bonus to Benefits and Protection, by John J. Tarrant & Paul Fargis.
• Get More Money on Your Next Job: 25 Proven Strategies for Getting More Money, Better Benefits, and Greater Job Security, by Lee E. Miller.

3.04 General Career-Planning Stuff:

• Richard N. Bolles has written some great books on finding your niche in life. His What Color is Your Parachute? books (paperback, hardcover, or audio cassette) have become classics. [The audio-cassette version appears to be out-of-print.] Bolles has also done:
• The Three Boxes of Life and How to Get Out of Them: An Introduction to Life-Work Planning; How to Find Your Mission in Life(paperback or audio cassette) [The audio-cassette version also appears to be out-of-print.]; and
• Job-Hunting Tips for the So-Called Handicapped or People Who Have Disabilities: A Supplement to What Color Is Your Parachute?, by Richard Nelson Bolles.

3.05 For Women:

• The Smart Woman's Guide to Interviewing and Salary Negotiation, by Julie Adair King.
• The Smart Woman's Guide to Resumes and Job Hunting, by Julie Adair King and Betsy Sheldon.
• How Men Think: The Seven Essential Rules for Making It in a Man's World, by Adrienne Mendell.

3.06 Maintaining Life Balance as an Attorney:

• Stress Management for Lawyers: How to Increase Personal & Professional Satisfaction in the Law, by Amiram Elwork.
• Zen and the Art of Making a Living: A Practical Guide to a Creative Career, by Laurence G. Boldt.
• The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success, by Nicholas Lore.
• Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type, by Paul D. Tieger & Barbara Barron-Tieger.
• Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow: Discovering Your Right Livelihood, by Marsha Sinetar.
• The Lemming Conspiracy: How to Redirect Your Life from Stress to Balance, by Bob D. McDonald & Don Hutcheson.

3.07 Dressing the Part:

• Dress for Success, by John Malloy. A career necessity.
• Women's Dress for Success, by John Malloy. Ditto.
• National Directory of Legal Employers.
• Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries (14th ed., in 3 volumes). A good resource for those seeking a foreign corporate practice. (You might check first with your local library.)
• Washington Information Directory 1997-1998, by Paul McClure (ed.). Ditto.

3.08 Life at Law Firms:

• Proceed with Caution: A Diary of the First Year at One of America's Largest, Most Prestigious Law Firms, by "William R. Keates." An inside look at a very big firm. Forewarned is forearmed. (See note to Turnicky's book, above.)
• Explaining the Inexplicable: The Rodent's Guide to Lawyers, by "The Rodent." A humorous, hard-biting look at big-firm life. A bit harsh on folks in the Keystone State.
• The Young Lawyer's Jungle Book: A Survival Guide, by Thane J. Messinger. (The original contributor to this list, an attorney in Honolulu, and adjunct professor of business law at the University of Hawaii.) The above link is to Amazon. If you'd like additional information on this title first, click here.

3.081 Seems odd for this section, but the Law has a lot in common with the Marines

• Making the Corps, by Thomas E. Ricks. Not directly for law firms, but it's appropriate to the atmosphere, and it might just make you a better associate...and senior partner.

3.09 Escaping to Tahiti:

• International Jobs: Where They Are and How to Get Them, by Eric Kocher.
• The Back Door Guide to Short Term Job Adventures: Internships, Extraordinary Experiences, Seasonal Jobs, Volunteering, Work Abroad, by Michael Landes.
• Careers in International Affairs, by Maria P. Carland and Michael Trucano.
• Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries, by Terri Morrison, Wayne A. Conaway, and George A. Borden.

[Note: You might also check out the links page on our main site. It contains links to general legal sites as well as sites for legal employment. Most are (or were) free sites.]

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