Hi everyone!

I am a fresh graduate (2024) from a decent State University known for everything other than placements, which is usually the case with every such university. We don't even have a placement cell and I know none of my seniors to be working in a law firm. People just don't go for that. However, we have Judicial Officers, Litigators, Assistant Professors and great number of seniors working in government agencies (which is, again usually the case).

I never intended to study here, but I believe fate to be one of the strongest forces out there. I wanted to be a SDE but my father (I won't say forced) asked me to appear for CLAT too. I did and I scored enough to bag mid to low tier NLUs (on my own). I also appeared for this state university and got in. This made me confident and during this time I also developed interest in law. I wanted to give myself another try but I didn't want to waste a year. I took admission in the state university while studying for CLAT alongside (the fee was peanuts compared to NLUs). Next year, Covid happened, I lost my shit and got promoted to third semester just like that. The idea to appear for CLAT just dwindled away. At this point, I was questioning my every life decision. I was really confused. I don't know why but I continued with the state university, really hoping to make something out of it. I got active, got a number of publications under my name, did not so famous moots, applied for internships, did a few decent ones. Obviously not T1/T2 and even T3 till my third year. I had no connections whatsoever then. I am sure I would have had a couple of T1 internships if stayed consistent but the weight of constant rejections made me lazy in my last year of law school - yes, in the most important year. Not that I was really active in my fourth year, it was still progress compared to my work in the last year.

My last 18 months went mostly with me travelling and writing. During breaks I stayed at home with my parents, went on trips w them, went on so many of them solo, played video games, started reading books, helped lawyers in my building with some drafting and research work and did everything instead of actually building myself a career in law.

Cut to now, I graduated from the state university with obviously no job in my hands. I really want to work in a law firm because I tend to like it naturally. I don't even mind the odd working hours and the somewhat toxic work culture. I started cold emailing every firm that I could find, started spending time on Linkedin, started connecting with PAs and SAs, all which in the start meant something but now has turned into a mindless grinding routine. It's been six months and I received ZERO callbacks or interviews. I also tried my connections but to no avail. All the offers I am getting right now are in really small law firms and litigators with almost nothing for a salary. My father keeps repeating that I shouldn't care for money at this age and only focus on learning but how could I, now that I am 24 y/o with friends earning great salaries along with 2-3 years of PQE.

I am aware of my mistakes but I can't really do anything about them now, what I can do is work on the future. I know I am still doing something wrong. I want to seek professional help but I don't think I have seniors working in the field. I don't know if my CV or cover letter actually work. I am again at the point where I don't know what to do. Please HELP!

Thank You

Start somewhere. The longer you do this the gap on your CV grows. Take even a low paying job in a small place (you can afford it, clearly) and you will have something additional to show on your CV. More importantly you will gain valuable work experience - and in this profession any work experience is better than sitting at home. It may take 1-2 years after your first job but you will eventually be able to make the jump. Especially if your work makes you stand out. After taking up your first job, make sure you network and build connections at every opportunity. Work will provide you with plenty of those. Sitting at home won't.

I did. I have joined a law firm in Def Col. They are not very fancy and are mostly into litigation but they have work. The office is right next to a prominent Law Office . Interestingly, one of the partners here has a similar story. He also comes from a state university and after graduating, appeared for interviews at almost every major law firm. Got rejected from everywhere. The prominent law office was the last place he applied for, aced the interview (I am taking his word for it) and still got rejected. Since then, he never looked back.