Why Haven’t You Signed Up For the NCBA’s Weekly Job Alerts?

By Josh McIntyre

Most of my friends from law school switched jobs within the first two years of their practice, and I was no exception. Whether we felt unfulfilled, undervalued or we were just unhappy, job transitions within my peer group were common. Based on the communications we receive in the membership department, the desire to find new employment hasn’t changed much in the past six years.

Now entering my seventh year as a licensed attorney, I’ve held three different jobs, and each time I was looking for a change, the job search seemed more daunting than before. From custom-writing each cover letter to tweaking resumes, job searching can be a job within itself. That’s why I wish that I had known about the NCBA’s online Career Center.

Anyone – let me repeat that – anyone can create an account, post a resume and sign up for weekly job posting emails or custom alerts based on certain employment criteria for FREE. The site also allows for a level of anonymity, redacting name and contact info until after a potential employer has made contact and a potential employee has accepted a proposed interaction or interview. That way it is not overtly obvious to a current employer that a job search is underway.

Our Career Center averages between 7 and 10 new North Carolina-specific legal jobs a week, from entry-level attorney positions to seasoned attorneys in specific practice areas to paralegal and staff assistant postings. It’s basically a localized “Indeed” for the state legal community.

NCBA members who want to post jobs receive a 15 percent discount.

For a little over two years, our online career center has offered these features, and we promote them weekly in E-bar and on social media, but I recently discovered that only 190 job alert accounts have been established. With several hundred law students graduating each year and more than 10,000 licensed attorneys in the state in their first 10 years of practice, that number should be much higher.

Every Wednesday morning I receive a nice, succinct email with legal job listings in our state, and every week I get a call or email from a handful of members asking if I know of any jobs in particular areas. My response is always the same: Have you signed up for our weekly job alert emails?

I hope that all of our members and our peers in the legal world find fulfillment in their life and their work. And if that fulfillment means looking for an employment transition, I hope they’ll use the NCBA Online Career Center as one of their first resources.