A round up of comments from legal recuiters in the DC area recently appeared in the Legal Times. You should read the whole thing, but here are some interesting insights:
Networking is key, but remember its not just your professional network that can help you — your personal contacts can be a fruitful source of leads. Also, don’t limit yourself to online networking tactics. A handwritten letter or phone call may work better with some.
The most marketable associates are the ones with a niche practice (areas that don’t have alot of competition and where it would be difficult to try to re-train an existing under-utilized associate from another practice area). Examples mentioned in the article were: FDA, energy, export control, Section 337/patent litigation before the ITC, patent prosecution, bankruptcy, SEC enforcement, antitrust and health care.
Don’t assume the only jobs out there are the ones that are posted on a jobs site. Your network is critical in identifying opportunities because, in today’s economy, if an employer posts a position, they will be inundated with resumes that they can’t possibly work their way through.