When I graduated from law school in 1993, job searching via social media consisted of using the Yellow Pages to find a law firm to cold call. Wannabe associates like me attended job fairs and perhaps asked a parent’s friend to write a letter of recommendation. In that pre-Internet day of dial-up modems, none of us could network virtually.

Obviously, the path to finding an associate attorney position—or going solo and building a practice—has greatly changed and widened over the years, but recent law school graduates have it really tough these days, much as my peers and I did in the early ’90s when big firms had big layoffs. In light of this challenging economic climate, my law school asked that I co-present a seminar to help third-years find their first job post-graduation. I was asked to talk about “the do’s and don’ts of using LinkedIn and Facebook for your job search.” Much of the information that follows about using social media also can help attorneys who are building their solo or small-firm practices. Continue reading →