I didn't get a job because I'm too educated

Sigh.

I graduated from Law School last May. My wife and I decided that Wyoming (where I went to school) wouldn’t be the best state to look for a job, so we picked up and moved to Arizona (Go D-Backs!).

I took the bar in July, and unfortunately failed by 2 points. (Not that I’m that dumb, mind you. I did well in College, and did pretty good in Law School. The bar exam is damned hard.) Nonetheless, I contacted several Law Firms about possibly hiring me. Apparently, with the recession we’re in, no one can afford an intern.

So I thought, in order to pay the rent and put food on the table, I’d go back to doing the work that paid my way through College. I worked with Developmentally Disabled Adults for about two years, and I really enjoyed it.

I contacted a company that does such work, and got a job interview. I was told during the interview that 1) I didn’t really have enough experience (which isn’t true), and 2) with a law degree, I likely wouldn’t stick around, or rather, I would leave what ever department I was in to be swiftly promoted to better and better positions (heaven forbid). However, they would consider me nonetheless.

Today I got a call, telling me that I didn’t have enough of the right kind of experience. They wanted someone with extensive experience in direct care, which I have done, to some extent.

This wouldn’t burn me as much as it does if the gentleman interviewing me hadn’t said that my lack of experience could be easily remedied after hiring me. That is, I would gain the necessary experience on the job. This leads me to believe that they didn’t hire me because of my education.

I wish that this was just an isolated incident, but I’ve contacted other companies that don’t want to hire me because of my education. Law firms don’t want me because I failed the bar, and other companies don’t want me because I would likely leave when I do pass the bar, which, in all honesty, is a valid concern. I likely would leave if a better job came along.

God, I really don’t want to work at Pizza Hut again, but we’re running out of money.

BTW, I put this in MPSIMS because it’s really more of a whine than a rant.

So send me some of that good mojo, fellow Dopers. Stroke my belly and tell me that everything will be okay.

poor moebius…

I feel for you, most definitely. It’s probably true, your education being the reason not to hire you… I’ve been in the same position for, uh, 9 months now. I have a masters (and honorary doctorate, to boot) in molecular microbiology, and I work as (drumroll please) a bartender!

The bar is HARD!!! My brother just failed for the second time, and he’s absolutely no dummy.

I have contract issues with my former employer (long Pit-worthy story), so any job that I’ve applied for that doesn’t affect intellectual property issues I have, I’m told I can’t have because I won’t stay.

I know two PhD’s who are line cooks, as well.

I figure it all works out, eventually, and I’m sure your situation will too.

Can of Hamm’s, anyone?? (free for moebius, employed people gotta fork over the $1.50 plus a tip for meeeee…)

s.i.c.

Cheer up. I can’t imagine someone named “Moebius” having trouble making ends meet.

If you haven’t already, try looking at the really big firms in the area (if any); they’re pretty much always willing to hire a clerk. And good luck in February.

–Cliffy, who will agree, the Bar is damn hard.

Moebius, I feel your pain. Six years ago I was where you are now. I passed the bar but the market had tanked and nobody was hiring anybody who wasn’t Law Review and/or top 5%. When I went interviewing for jobs (any job, just one that put money in my pocket and food on my table), I got pretty much the same lines you did. And it sucked.

It will get better, my friend. You will pass the bar, you will find a good job, and you will get over this hump.

Zap!

S.I.C.– Hamm’s? No thanks.
Is anyone looking? Quick, give me one. And thanks for the kind words.

finagle– What a terrible joke. I laughed and laughed.

Cliffy– I’m trying and trying. No one seems to be hiring now. I’ll keep pluggin’ away.

Zappo– God, I hope so. Right now, it’s just very frustrating. I went through three years of law school, and I just want a damn job. NOW!

Oh come now. There’s surely more good mojo out there.

Don’t bogart that mojo!

Something similar happened to me a few years back. My corporate masters downsized our entire center and brought in some other local employers for a job fair, along with some temp agencies. One of the temp agencies sent me out on an interview and I was offered the job. The day before I was supposed to start, the agency rep told me (after repeated calls by me without response) that actually I couldn’t have the job because I was far too smart to work there and so I’d be bored and I’d quit, which would make the agency look bad.

Now here’s the funny part. Right now, I’m working for that company doing the same job he wouldn’t let me have three years ago (seasonally as I finish school).

But I got a lead today on a possible part-time or project-based paralegal job, so I have various appendages crossed.

FWIW, you might check with local, state and federal agencies. Most have Internet sites. A couple of fed. comprehensive sites are Fedworld and USAjobs:

http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/

http://www.fedworld.gov/jobs/jobsearch.html

Maybe key words like “paralegal” or “law clerk.” I don’t think that civil service would hold your education against you. If you’re under 37 (or maybe 35), there are criminal investigator positions available to people with a bachelor’s degree. I think the air marshal job age cut off is 41. Some agencies like FBI have their own employment sections on their Internet sites.

Also, monster.com and freeality. Good luck!

I’m probably missing something here. Will you be taking the bar exams again? If so, then should not a student job such as Pizza Hut do while you are studying in the interim?

Otto– Wow. Personally, I would be intimidated by a company that employed the Amazing Kreskin to do their hiring. Then again, there wouldn’t be any of those pesky questions about where you plan to be in five years.

Good luck on the job lead.

Violet– I’ve tried USAJobs in the past, but I hadn’t heard of Fedworld or Freeality. I’ll give them a try. Thank you for the info.

I’m a little afraid of Monster.com. I posted my resume on their site, and the only companies that contacted me were pretty sleazy. Mostly pyramid schemes.

Muffin– Yep, I’m taking the bar again. But I figure that with 7 years of college, I can get a better job than Pizza Hut. I worked there for 4 years, and always hated it (except for the free beer when the manager wasn’t looking and the free pizza).

In my experience, most minimum wage jobs work your ass off for very little pay.

Still, you make an interesting point. Pizza Hut would be one of those mundane jobs that I wouldn’t have to obsess about when I wasn’t there. Unfortunately, Pizza Hut is the devil.

You know, if you were working while in law school (or you were in Wyoming–with a periodically high unemployment rate) and your wife was working when you weren’t, you really don’t need to tell anyone about your law degree, particularly if the job does not have high educational requirements.

Once you’re hired and doing a good job, do you think that they’re going to sweep the country looking for your name among graduating classes to see if you’re over-educated?

Obviously, employers won’t search the country to see how much education I have. I’ve sent my resume to every job I’ve applied to, and right there at the top is my Law Degree. I always try to be honest with employers.

But, I will admit, I’ve considered not telling them about my degree. It’s hard, though. I worked damn hard on that degree. If the situation would warrant it, I might omit it.

What’s with you people, anyway. I come here to whine about a problem, and you offer me. . . solutions?!?

Damn you all. :slight_smile:

from walking out of all the interviews to jobs I didn’t get.

There’s nothing quite so unpleasant as looking across the interview table at someone and knowing (A) you could do their job in your sleep and (B) they have control over whether or not you’re going to be able to pay the phone bill this month.

It makes you crazy, but there is good mojo out there. And the people you meet doing the sh*t jobs are sometimes better friends than the ones you meet when you finally get your 100K+ job.

Moebius, I feel your pain. And not that I’m offering a solution or anything, but honestly, I believe in that whole karma thing… do what you love and the money will come. Not always at first, and not always alot. And yeah, I think you should be proud of that law degree, too. My brother is an attorney.

I worked as a temp for years while playing in bands until I finally got a ‘dream’ job. Hang in there, baby.
I’m sending many positive vibes out your way.

LMAO! While returning from the cleaners a few minutes ago, I passed a couple of folks picketing the local Pizza Hut, one carrying a sign stating “THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH,” and the other “JESUS SAVES.” I was curious as to why Pizza Hut would upset religious types, but was not so curious as to stop and ask. But here you have given me the answer. :smiley:

Look, if you don’t pass the bar the next time round, you will be in an even more difficult position. The smart money would be on taking any job which you can mentally leave behind at the end of the shift, and spend your days busting your ass studying for the bar and volunteering with the local bar association. Of course it would be nice to make a few extra bucks, or to have an easy job, but those should be secondary considerations.

Something worth remembering is that simply passing the bar is not enough. If you didn’t make it the first time through, it is safe to assume that you will not be in the running for jobs at firms where they pay you a high wage in excess of your productivity for the first year or so, and recruit at times convenient to convocants. More realistically, you will have to put a great deal of time into finding a job, and you will end up working for a shop where you are expected to produce from the git go. You may even have to live on what you can kill. With hard work, in a couple or years or so you can reasonably expect to either be able to set up your own shop, or to be picked up by a quality firm in need of a young but good lawyer. Either way, you are going to have to produce from the outset.

In order to produce immediately, you will need to know your bar materials, for they are practice based. Not just know them well enough to pass, but know them well enough that you can run a dog file efficiently, know them well enough to hold your own in court against other attorneys, and most importantly, know them well enough so that when senior members of the local bar see you in action in court and get to know you from the local bar association activities, they will be impressed at your ability and will keep you in mind for when they eventually have a job opening. It comes down to positioning yourself to succeed, and its start with sticking to business – studying for the bar and volunteering with the local bar association.

So that’s a good a tummy rub as I can give you. Don’t let the chaos and seeming inequity of it all spook you. It will all work out fine if you just keep your nose to the grindstone. If you do, a decade from now you will be laughing!

Plan B.

  1. Learn to ski.
  2. Learn to paddle.
  3. Take your call in Ontario.
  4. Head to the North-West.

We are seriously short of attorneys. Up here, expect to scrounge for a year or so, but upon proving yourself locally, also expect to be picked up by a quality firm. This is a land of opportunity for young lawyers.

There, there, Moebius… it’ll all get better.

[sub]I’m afraid you’re wife’s gonna have to rub your tummy; I don’t walk that side of the street.[/sub]
[sub]Not that there’s any wrong with that![/sub]

I thought it was only people with Arts degrees that were terminally unemployable.

Q. What did the Arts graduate say to the Engineering graduate?

A. “Would you like fries with that?”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!! That jokes STILL cracks me up. :smiley:

(oh yeah … Moebius: Good luck with the job hunting, etc).