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I'm under the impression that this isn't even confined to tech.
Its not. I know a law firm that has had the same job posting for a specific lawyer/phd combo that has been open long enough that they could have send 2 lawyers with appropriate undergrads through a Ph.D program consecutively.
Would you be willing to share what the PhD field is?
Its some sort of pharmaceutical chemistry thing.
Do they specifically need the PHD? Like I don't know details but unless they're expecting the Lawyers to have done novel research into pharmaceuticals that feels like overkill to acquaint themselves with the industry.
It makes little sense to me. But I know they have turned down multiple people with chemical engineering, chemistry, and microbiology undergrads and otherwise pristine qualifications.
Are you sure it's a real position and not one of those "ghost job listings" I keep hearing about? If it had been a shorter amount of time, I'd assume they'd just written it to target one specific person as a formality, but if it's been posted for a while, then it certainly can't be that.
I don't know the partners unfortunately, so I can't ask. But they are spending $100+ a year to keep it posted on some law bulletins and association websites. Although maybe that is just like a netflix subscription you forgot to cancel. It isn't really a big expense in the scheme of things.
Only three figures/year? That could very well be worth it to keep their name out there for when they do want to hire. For a lot of places, that's chump change.
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