Ann Israel is the legal profession's Dear Abby. A New York legal recruiter since 1979, Ann is a past president of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants. Advice for the Lawlorn is updated every Tuesday.

Q:What advice would you give a Biglaw associate looking to break into policy and government work -- either at an NGO, a think tank or a government research organization?

And what are the best resources for job hunting, the differences between presenting yourself for these types of jobs versus law firm/in-house positions, etc.?

While I found a recruiter to be very helpful in my lateral move between law firms, it doesn't seem like they are helpful for this kind of move. Are there recruiters who work in this niche?

Policy Wonk

Dear Policy Wonk: Yes, I would think you did find recruiters to be very helpful when making a lateral move between law firms; this is really the niche market for legal search consultants, particularly when they are working with Biglaw associates.

However, it is understandable why you are not enjoying the same type of success with recruiters as you try to break into policy and/or government work. Your basic legal recruiter is not going to be as helpful in this arena as you found them to be when making a move into another law firm.

There are specific search firms that work with government agencies or policy organizations, but generally, these are executive search organizations, and they do not represent candidates; they have specific searches where they seek out individuals to fill very specialized and defined spots.

But more often than not you will find that the type of opportunity you are seeking is not going to be found through a recruiter. Rather, these positions will be listed on the Web sites of those organizations or through their papers of records.

The reason for this is that government agencies and not-for-profit organizations, generally, are not budgeted for paying search firm fees. Therefore, I strongly suggest that you do not rely on recruiters for these types of opportunities. You are going to have to get out there and network, speak with everyone you know, check the job boards at your law school career services office, read the Internet job boards and Web sites of the government agencies that are of interest to you and, basically, look under every rock out there.

You might also want to speak with other attorneys currently working in the types of positions that you are seeking and find out how they were able to secure these opportunities. These people are probably going to be the best resources for finding out how to get the type of job you are seeking.

I hope this is of some help to you. Perhaps some of the readers of this column will be willing to share their experiences with me, and I will be happy to pass them along.

Best wishes!

Sincerely,
Ann Israel
President, Ann Israel & Associates