On Saturday May 13, 159 graduating law students of Drake University gathered to celebrate the completion of their degree requirements. By Monday, they were back in the lecture hall studying for the bar exam.

Yet, as daunting as the 2 1/2-day exam is, there’s something greater looming over the recent graduates’ heads: employment. While students await the outcome of their exams, they are eager to get started in their careers and to find a position that matches their interests.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty to the law school process,” said Martha Sibbel, the mother of two children, both of which she gave birth to during law school. “You know you have to wait to find a job, but need to start paying off loans.”

The problem is not whether someone with a law degree will find work: “If you want a job,” says Ben Smith, a recent Drake graduate, “you can get a job.”

In fact, 98.3 percent of Drake Law School graduates and 99 percent of University of Iowa College of Law’s graduates in 2005 were employed within nine months after graduation.

Rather, it’s the waiting period that involves intense study for the bar exam (from 400 to 600 hours on average), and another month and a half to find out whether you passed.

“It seems that there is a lag time,” said John Audlehelm, 2006 graduate from University of Iowa. “You can’t bear the risk if you don’t pass the bar.”

For the summer and winter bar exams in 2004, 81 percent and 78 percent respectively of all test-takers passed. First-time takers had even higher passage rates: 86 percent in the summer and 87 percent in the winter. The high success rate may be one reason some graduates start looking for jobs before the exam.

With a family to support, Sibbel wasted no time in lining up a job. She pulled out the phone book and started calling small firms to see what kind of law they practice. Fourteen cover letters, five interviews, and four job offers later, she took a position with a small firm in Carroll. She’s already started working there, but cannot sign her contract until she passes the bar.

Other recent graduates in Drake’s bar review course are working part-time jobs such as teaching a college course or driving a taxi, while doing minimal searches for employment. They plan to step up the search once they find out the bar results in September.

Although most students can find a job if needed, they struggle to find a job that focuses on their areas of interest.

A lot of graduates are looking for other opportunities outside the traditional route of practicing in a law firm, said Trisha Fillbach, director of career development at Drake University Law School. “Students are seeking public interest positions, working for legal aid organizations and non-profits, as well as serving as judicial clerks or assuming government positions doing public policy work. In addition, a fair number seek alternative careers outside the practice of law.”

Out of the University of Iowa College of Law’s graduating class of 2005, 57 percent went into private practice. The next most popular areas were government, judicial clerkships, and business.

In Des Moines, students admit that it’s hard to find positions with federal government programs, such as environmental protection agencies, and civil practice firms, but there are always positions in tax law and with small-town firms. When a desirable position does open up, it attracts many qualified applicants.

“Des Moines has so many lawyers in the area, it’s hard to find something,” said Audlehelm. “When something comes up, you have to grab it quickly.”

Moving to a small town or even out of state is a lifestyle commitment, especially if former students have husbands and families settled in Des Moines.

“They [small-town firms] want you to be part of the community so people see you as a member of the community,” said Sibbel.

“My husband enjoys his job,” said Jessica Braunschweig-Norris, a 2006 Drake graduate. “For me, looking elsewhere is a major commitment. If we choose to move, we may be in two different places for a year.”

Monica Cameron has discovered that an aspiring lawyer’s personal life is important to hiring law firms, especially those looking to hire a woman. With an engagement ring on her finger, many prospective employers ask about her future plans, which include starting a family within two years. She believes these plans make her a less appealing candidate, because firms worry they will lose her services shortly after hiring her.

“Ultimately it comes down to who you know,” said Tyler Baldwin, a 2006 Drake graduate, and many agree that networking is the way to get the job you want, which is one reason why it’s more enticing to stick around Des Moines.

“In my opinion,” said Fillbach, “spending three years in this area, having significant amount of contacts, quite a few friends, and maybe experience if they clerked in the area at a local law firm – that’s already establishing quite a large network of people they know.”

Whether it is to be closer to home or to take advantage of a better opportunity, many students still choose to look for work out of state. In 2005, 24 percent of Drake graduates left the Northwest central region (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, and South Dakota) and at the University of Iowa, 54 percent found employment outside that region.

Drake’s career services department tries to connect students with as many job opportunities as possible by posting weekly job openings, offering a variety of online resources, reviewing cover letters and resumes and setting up a networking event each year.

“My role is to help teach them the skills of how to find a job now or in the future if they ever decide to go a different route,” said Fillbach. “I don’t see myself as a placement office, but more helping them develop their skills.”

Through Drake’s curriculum, students also find plenty of opportunities to practice their skills, especially in a legal clinic, a program that allows students under a supervisor to provide legal services to people unable to find an attorney elsewhere.

“Drake has a great reputation for producing high-quality, ethical attorneys,” said Fillbach. “I think we have a great alumni network of successful attorneys who help as well in terms of helping our students get their name out there. People just know students coming out of here will have the practical experience.”

“I’m ready,” said Baldwin. “I love being in the courtroom.”

But for now, he and the rest of the students are on hold while they await the outcome of the bar exam in September.