I have started the job search process so my family can move back to Denver. We are not thriving here on the East Coast, so far away from the bulk of our resources. The expense for daily living out here is still amazing to me, and I am far from able to build a successful practice without a local license. I am incredibly nervous about job hunting. It is hard not to feel as though my skills have gone slack while I have stayed home with my kids.

When I first passed the bar I could have answered a million random legal questions in an interview. Now I feel less able to do so. Sometimes I feel like my brain went out with the afterbirth. I am going to have to start reading up again, and treat job hunting like exams. I just feel so overwhelmed. Sometimes I find it hard to get anything other than childcare done and now I am going to add job hunting, resume and cover letter refining, and studying to the mix of my daily responsibilities.

I know part of my trepidation stems of having “baby lawyer” syndrome. I still feel uncertain in navigating the field. My environmental law prof used to say “law school is a ten year process, you just get paid for the final seven”. He swore that everyone felt uncertain and nervous for the first seven years of practice. I only hope prospective employers remember that feeling as well as he does.

I suppose I will always feel this way if I never get off my butt and start working. Maybe I will feel more assured after I cram for a few weeks.