Have You Ever Wanted to See a Lawyer Clean a Toilet?

Jobless lawyer has tough time finding new gig, so she's offering to clean homes ... even toilets!
BY James Fanelli DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, September 10th 2010, 4:00 AM

After spending a year looking for a job, an out-of-work lawyer dusted off her resume and added a new profession: housekeeper.

Last week, Alice Lingo posted 30 flyers on the upper West Side that say she'll tidy up apartments for a price and asks, "Haven't you always wanted to see a lawyer clean a toilet?"

"I made the joke that I always wanted a job that makes people smile," Lingo, 29, told the Daily News. "This job does. They come home and see their home clean."

Just over a year ago, Lingo says she was earning $160,000 a year as a litigator at a white-shoe law firm when she was laid off because of the economic downturn. She has been on unemployment ever since, despite sending out 308 resume and cover letters, she says.

"From the moment I stopped working till now, I haven't stopped looking for a job," said Lingo, who graduated Fordham University School of Law in 2007.

The legal eagle has applied for lawyer positions - even paralegal openings - without success.
She admits she has been a little picky, hoping to avoid work at corporate firms, but noted she hasn't had any luck outside the legal world either.

She tried for a teaching fellowship, a ticket-taker job in Times Square, an usher position at the Beacon Theater and 15 waitress openings.

Last week she interviewed for her 30th baby-sitter gig, but the competition for even part-time jobs has been steep, with employers having the luxury of being choosy.

"I was No. 3 of 15 people they were interviewing for a four-hour-a-week baby-sitting job," she said. "I don't think I'll make it to the second round. [The mother] made it clear that her children have refined palettes, and I have to know how to cook mussels."

Lingo decided two weeks ago to try her hand at housekeeping because she needs money to pay her student loans while she continues to apply for legal jobs.

She thought mentioning her lawyer background in the ads would be a plus.

"I thought it was catchy, and people would think, 'This is someone like me. I'll give her a job,'" Lingo said.

So far, she hasn't had any takers, but plans to charge $70 to clean a standard one-bedroom.
She's confident she'll soon accrue customers and pitches her strong work ethic as passionately as a defense attorney making a closing argument.

"I'm willing to work hard. It's engraved in me from Ohio," the Cincinnati native said.
The enterprising lawyer said future customers should expect a sparkling home, but no free legal advice.

"Unless I'm cleaning a corporate office, I don't think I could answer any questions," she said.

From: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/10/2010-09-10_jobless_lawyer_misses_babysitting_job_offers_to_do_housekeeping_one_more_attorne.html#ixzz0z9fOgFsz