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My husband was recently contacted by a recruiter for Cornell University regarding a position which would mean a substantial pay increase for him. The problem is, I am an attorney licensed only in GA and TN. As I have been practicing for only about 3.5 years, it would mean having to take the NY bar if I wanted to pursue an attorney job up there. Granted, I am unemployed at the moment. So it isn't like there is anything keeping us here. But how difficult will it be finding a good job up there? Will I face an anti-southern bias?
I clerked for 3 years for four superior court judges (meaning I have a broad, general practice background), then did private practice for a short time. My salary clerking was set at 40k with no opportunity for raises other than very, very small cost of living increases. When I went into private practice, my salary jumped to 80k. To make the move worth it, I'd be looking for mid-60's. I could start lower, as long as I got up to the mid-60's after passing the bar.
One concern I have is that Cornell has a top ranked law school. Granted, most of them will be headed to NYC for big firm salaries. But in this economy, all it would take is just one or two to take away what I am sure are only a few opportunities in the small town area of Ithaca.
All in all, I am really excited about the move if I can find work. Though I am a native of the north GA mountains, I've never really felt southern at all. The liberal and hippy area of Ithaca sounds great. Plus, I have gotten stuck in Atlanta and I am desperate to get back to a rural area, preferrably with mountains and some culture. Ithaca seems to fit the bill.
I just don't want to trade the un-employment blues down here for the unemployment blues up there. Any advice for job searching? Other than the jd, my background includes a BA in English with honors and teaching English 101 and 102 while working on a master's degree that I abandoned to go to law school. I'm not ruling out additional schooling either. I'd enjoy the phd program in English if I could get one of the fellowships. Though that would make money tight for a while with only a 20k stipend, the trade off would be 30k worth of free tuition as well. Then, I would have to get a teaching job at either Cornell or Ithaca College and I have heard it is almost unheard of to stay and teach where you got your phd.
Obviously, I am very torn about this decision. I've never lived further north than Clemson, SC. So this would be a big, big departure for me. No, I'm not looking forward to the snow. Down here, two flakes means a snow day. I'd have to actually go out in that stuff--and drive in it--yikes! But, the trade off may be worth it. I really don't want to deprive my husband of what could be an amazing opportunity for him. (Plus, he is from Erie, PA so it is closer to home for him). I just don't want to screw up my career by going to a place that will severely limit my opportunities. My husband is over 15 years my senior too. So a big consideration is the fact that I need to have a good job lined up for when he retires. He has always said, as a matter of common sense, my career has to come first.
Thanks for any advice you can offer. I'd especially love to hear from attorneys/jd's who have made a similar leap of faith from one state to another. Or, jd's who went back to school to take a path in academia. Oh and by the way, Cornell seems sincerely interested in my husband. Not only did they contact him first, he applied for the job last Wednesday. It closed out Friday, and they called him today to set up a phone interview this week. Our time to make a decision could be short.
Cornell is the biggest employer in the Ithaca area. I'd suggest that your husband mention that you will need a job during his phone interview. There may be something that could be done for you in the way of employment on campus.
Thanks Sgoldie. Actually, the recruiter already said that Cornell tries to place spouses as a matter of course. But I am concerned about my prospects if that fails. Also, I am concerned about the salary I could command if they placed me in a job at Cornell. As I said, I made 40k for 3 years. That is low for an attorney. So I'm looking to go up to the 60's at least. With all my student loan debt, that is a realistic expectation and one that would allow us to buy our first house in a few years. But if all Cornell can offer is an office job that someone with just a BA could handle and all it pays is 20's or 30's, that isn't going to work.
Cornell is huge. I'm sure there are an assortment of jobs. Get on their website and look over the employment opportunities and have him suggest to them what you might like. For instance they have the Labor Relations track at the school which might provide openings for an atty.
Thanks again. I must admit, I have no sense of the size of Cornell. I've checked out the current openings and haven't found the perfect fit yet, but maybe more will open up soon. Believe me, if we make the move, we will take full advantage of their dual career assistance program.
Betsy, the dual career person, is really really nice (I was the one who had a job offer here, and my husband, a librarian, followed me). She helped us get a lot of things sorted both before we came to town and after we arrived. Obviously she can do more for on-campus employment, but she does have a lot of contacts in town. Cornell is a huge research university, and there are often a lot of different types of openings, so definitely keep an eye out.
I don't have any advice about your specific situation career-wise, but I did want to warn you that Ithaca is a pretty small town that has a LOT of very well-educated people, many of whom followed their spouses for whatever reason. As a result, there are lots of folks working at jobs way below what they could get with their degree elsewhere, because the market is just saturated. My husband has a master's degree and it took him about 5 months to get his foot in the door, after doing some low-to-no pay work in his field. I don't think you'll experience any sort of anti-Southern bias, as the university has faculty and staff from all over the world, but I do think that you may end up needing to spend a little time at a job that's probably "beneath you" before working your way up. On the other hand, I think a lot of the highly-educated people don't have a lot of real-world experience to support that education, so it may be that your experience outside of academia will set you apart.
Thanks for the honest advice, and the warning. I gotta admit, being 5 years out of law school now, the last thing I want is to have to take a job that is "beneath me." I'm really, really tired of struggling just to get by. But it isn't like I have had a lot of luck down south, facing a lot of gender discrimination, I think. So if I had to wait a few months for the right job to come along, fine. I just don't want to follow my husband only to find I'm stuck with no opportunities to use my jd and make a salary which reflects my education and training. I don't want to have to make him think about returning to GA or TN because of me. I've been with my husband for 6 years total and all we have done is look for jobs and worry about money. I told him the next job he gets is it. That will have to be the job he stays in until he retires. So if we move up there, we will have to stay for at least 10-15 years.
It might be a good opportunity to become associated with a small law firm involved in all aspects of the law. Just sayin... And I don't think you need to worry about an anti-southern bias especially in Ithaca. Also, Cortland (a city not too far east - don't know the mileage) is also the county seat for Cortland County. There could be some opportunity there as well.
If you couldn't find work that satisfied you in Ithaca, maybe you could expand your search to some outlying towns. One poster mentioned Cortland. You could perhaps consider a job in Elmira. My SO works in Elmira, and while it isn't the ideal commute (40 minutes), he does make quite a bit more $$$ and is in a position he likes so much more than what was being offered in Ithaca.
That being said, I've found Ithaca and the surrounding area to be a wonderful place to live. If you plan on buying a home, be aware that the taxes are high here, but I still feel it's worth it. If you haven't visited yet, do so. It's just beautiful here, and if you enjoy the outdoors, you'll be very happy.
Thanks Sgoldie. Actually, the recruiter already said that Cornell tries to place spouses as a matter of course. But I am concerned about my prospects if that fails. Also, I am concerned about the salary I could command if they placed me in a job at Cornell. As I said, I made 40k for 3 years. That is low for an attorney. So I'm looking to go up to the 60's at least. With all my student loan debt, that is a realistic expectation and one that would allow us to buy our first house in a few years. But if all Cornell can offer is an office job that someone with just a BA could handle and all it pays is 20's or 30's, that isn't going to work.
Cornell employs about 7400 people (and growing) at its Ithaca campus. IC employs another 1000. There is a lot of variety within Cornell, and hopefully they'll be able to locate a position that's right for you.
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