Monday, March 19, 2007

What's the difference between spam and a job posting?

So did you catch this job posting on our school's web site a week or two ago? Does anything seem a little out of the ordinary?

Seeking an Attorney of record, with 4-6 years of Attorney experience. To work in the Traffic and Boating Citations Industry in the State of Florida. Experience in this field is not required; however you will be responsible to learn while on the job. While attending Traffic Court, where you will receive a vast knowledge of civil traffic / Boating Citations as well as, Criminal Citations. This will be a learning curve in which you will learn very quickly the various ‘Statutes’ and how to defend on cases as they come into this business. If hired for this Position you would be responsible for twelve – twenty Counties in the State of Florida. Looking for an Attorney with a flair for creativity and legal expertise. At least 4 years post JD, their own Business, or currently working for Attorneys. All Attorneys interested are encouraged to apply. You will be able to comprehend this Industry receiving a quick introduction, through attending Traffic Court. This learning curve should not take longer than 8 weeks (while still working.)

First of all, it was written by someone who is functionally illiterate. Or in third grade. The bizarre use of capitalization and quotes (I know not all lawyers are experts at punctuation and grammar but when you want someone to learn 'Statutes' as opposed to Statutes, I'm suspicious) is the first red flag for me. It also reads as though a child write it (At least 4 years post JD, their own Business, or currently working for Attorneys. What does this sentence even mean? Seriously. While attending Traffic Court, where you will receive a vast knowledge of civil traffic / Boating Citations as well as, Criminal Citations. What's wrong with this sentence? It's missing a clause somewhere.) It says it's for a company called Metro Marketing Group, but when you look it up on line, it seems to be a company with offices in New Jersey and Hong Kong that has nothing whatsoever to do with the "Traffic and Boating Citations Industry" and in fact has a web site that touts its ability to "assist, recommend and participate in the product development, product sourcing, supply chain development and marketing plan development to bring product and ideas to market."

So here's my best guess: someone at the Career Placement Center is incapable of discerning the difference between an actual job announcement and spam. Awesome. What's next? A posting for a barrister position with a Nigerian investment bank?

At least that listing is better than the next one for a clinical professor at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. Yes, pharmacy. OK, granted, it says you should have a J.D., but are these people serious?

8 Comments:

At 2:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Speaking of spam, have you noticed the new spam filters? Now instead of just getting the spam in our email where we can delete it, we get a notice from IT telling us that we have spam in our inbox. What used to take one step (delete) now takes two. Our own IT dept. is spamming us.

Maybe that's where the tuition increase went.

 
At 11:40 PM, Blogger X said...

:D

Bad translation? It doesn't make sense because it's full of incomplete sentences. It has that choppy style people use when they are trying to save money on newspaper ads. Regardless, you're right. Our elementary school teachers would roll over in their graves if we ever presented something like this in public.

 
At 4:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"I know not all lawyers are experts at punctuation and grammer"

clearly, neither are law students.

 
At 4:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"I know not all lawyers are experts at punctuation and grammer"

clearly, neither are law students.

 
At 5:00 PM, Blogger some guy said...

Fixed. Sorry. There's a difference between a typo and a grammar mistake.

 
At 9:44 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Some Guy,

What is your take on why you don't have a job yet? Are you in the same boat as a vast majority of students? Do you have an attribute (something on your resume? A particular circumstance? Whatnot?). It seems like the lawyer market is very active right now. What do you think is the issue?

 
At 6:32 PM, Blogger some guy said...

anon,

the reason is that i (like approximately 96 percent of second-semester 3Ls) no longer find law school to be worth my time. prof. froomkin can confirm this.

 
At 1:27 AM, Blogger X said...

The key word is "seems." It's probably pretty good if you're experienced. Finding entry level positions is tough. Timing and luck seem to be major factors. You never really know when someone is hiring until everyone else has flooded the mailbox. It doesn't seem to matter where you go to school. I thought students down the road had it easy. It's not so much easier for them unless they probably give up the hoop dreams of working in a metro area for a mega firm. It's an employer's market unless you're one of those students that meet the criteria to get offers from BIGLAW firms. More and more it seems like you just need to find a family member or friend that knows someone or just run into someone hiring that just likes you as a person without caring about the formalities.

 

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