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for college students by college students
'Dating' Around
WSU's Jewdiciary association helps make the job search more personable.
Adam Kessler } jewish@edu writer
his fall, I started "dating" for the first time since my
senior year at Indiana University's Kelley School of
Business in 2007. Having been off the market for six
years, I was a bit nervous — hours were lost rehearsing my
one-liners and selecting the perfect outfit. My experience
on the market started in August when I attended the first of
many networking events hosted by Wayne State University's
law school.
Some students go straight for the bar — they need to grab
a beverage, not to drink, but to hold in their effort to mask
the nervousness of their sweaty hands. Others will be found
scouring the chests of the prospective suitors — only with this
type of dating, that is appropriate: They are searching name
tags for the firms they long to date the following summer.
Finding a job in the legal profession is challenging these
days. In 2013, data released by the American Bar Association
showed that just 56.2 percent of law school graduates in
2012 had secured stable jobs in the legal profession. Former
students will stress the key to securing a full-time job is snag-
ging a summer associate position at firms following your sec-
ond year. But at Wayne State's law school, as few as 10 per-
cent of students receive summer associate positions through
the on-campus interview process — a daunting figure forcing
students to seek alternative methods of standing out.
It's hard to pinpoint what can actually be gained from
your typical networking event — students sell their resumes,
while firms sell that the experience at their firm is far superior
to that of others. Most would agree the typical sales pitch
exchanged in these brief interactions involve, in some capac-
ity, a measure of exaggeration. After all, you won't find too
many students confessing that they answer most questions
from their law professors via a quick Google search, nor will
you find that associates answer a question by saying anything
negative about their employer.
In an effort to find a better way, the Jewdiciary, Wayne
State's Jewish Law Student Association, under the auspices
of Hillel of Metro Detroit, sought to create an Executive
Roundtable Series that featured prominent legal profession-
als in a more intimate setting. We limited attendance to 20
people, and the only rule was that no question was off lim-
its. Our first guest was David Foltyn, chairman and CEO of
Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, the largest law firm
in Southeast Michigan, according to Crain's Detroit Business.
I've known David and his wife, Elyse, most of my life; they
were part of the "neighborhood gang" that helped raise me
on the streets of West Bloomfield. David has been a guiding
influence along my journey in law, always available to lend
advice and guide me through the overwhelming decisions
along my legal path. He was the perfect person to highlight in
our roundtables.
With him, he brought Steve Migliore, a partner and former
vice president of WSU's Jewish Law Student Association, and
Katie Katz, a young associate who came to Honigman and
Detroit via Chicago. Our Jan. 24 event at WSU had conversa-
tion topics that ran the gamut, from professional discussions
T
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March 6 • 2014
Jewdiciary event: Moshe Newman, Jewdiciary treasurer, Southfield; Lauren Rennert,
Jewdiciary director of networking, Shelby Township; Josh Zeman, Jewidiciary secretary,
West Bloomfield; Brittney Goldberg, Jewdiciary vice president, Southfield; Eric Zachs,
WSU Law School Faculty/ Jewdiciary adviser, Huntington Woods; Robert Goldman,
Jewdiciary first-year rep, Detroit; Adam Kessler, Jewdiciary president, Birmingham;
David Foltyn, Honigman CEO, Birmingham; Steve Migliore, Honigman partner, West
Bloomfield; and Katie Katz, Honigman associate, Detroit.
about mentors, diversity and experience, to the more personal
questions about time-management, family and marriage.
David stressed the importance of experience: "The more
experiences you engage in, the more knowledge you will
have." Steve, who found a passion for law after an early
career with Lear Corp., stressed the importance of finding
a mentor to help guide you: "It makes the whole process
easier."
In the end, we had more than 30 people on the waitlist for
our event, and the feedback from those who attended was
tremendous.
First-year law student Robert Goldman said the event gave
him a completely new perspective on the interview process.
"I was nervous about on-campus interviews next fall, but
seeing these leaders of Detroit's legal community in such a
candid setting really helped humanize the whole experience
for me," he said. "I'm actually pretty excited now."
Technology may have altered the approach to finding a
partner to build a family — a good sales-pitch-styled profile
on Mate or Match.com may do the trick. But when it comes
to finding the right partner to help build a legal career, we
at the Jewdiciary believe in the good-old style of generations
past — an intimate face-to-face conversation. @
Adam Kessler of Birmingham is president of the Jewdiciary,
WSU's Jewish Law Student Association, which is under the
auspices of Hillel of Metro Detroit. He is a J.D. candidate,
Wayne State University Law School, Class of 2015.
In April, the Jewdiciary will host Ira Jaffe of Jaffe Raitt
Heuer and Weiss. If you have any questions or would
like to help plan a future networking event for the
organization, contact Kessler at adam@kesslerltd.com .