Do You Need Special Job Search Tools?

If you are alarmed by this lengthy list of best job search tools according to experts, don’t be. I waded through it for you. Do you really need Grammarly, Canva, Hunter.io, Calendly, etc.? Although you can certainly use these apps, they aren’t essential for a legal job search. As a lawyer, you are already good with words, details, calendars, and spreadsheets, and don’t need any specialized tools.

The three things you do need are free and familiar:

1. LinkedIn. This is still the most accepted form of social media/networking for lawyers. Use it to present yourself to the world(include a good photo, keywords of your skills/experience) and to find out who works at a target company so you can network/get more information. (My tips on using LinkedIn here.)
2. Job search engines. Free and good search engines: Google jobs, LinkedIn, and maybe Attorneyjobsinusa.com, goinhouse.com as extra.
3. Calendars and spreadsheets to track data. The standard calendar and spreadsheet you are using now works for what you need to do. First, create a spreadsheet after you identify target companies, and fill in details like contacts and noted comp range. Second, as you get interviews, track application date, source of referral, the date foreach round, and then add notes post-interview. (See here for a plan that works.)

Bonus tip: something you probably aren’t doing yet but should consider is cold emailing people. (I know that sounds scary. Here are templates that shouldn’t annoy the recipient.) The job search tools mentioned in the list work fine to find email addresses for free: Hunter.io or Mailscoop.