Davis, a second-year law student who worked for Teach for America before coming to Cambridge, said he was set on doing transactional law in Los Angeles. After 22 interviews in five days—and before the second round of callbacks even began—he had accepted an offer from a firm and his search was complete.

Though Davis said “it was scary” to commit early, he never worried that he would not find a job. “There are plenty of jobs to go around,” he said of private sector recruiting.

Despite the impact of the financial crisis on private sector law, Assistant Dean for Career Services Mark A. Weber said that firms continue to hire Harvard students.

Though the number of summer associate positions available at the top 100 law firms in the U.S. fell nearly 50 percent between 2008 and 2012, Harvard’s hiring rate only decreased by 4.3 percent.

Balmori, another second-year at the Law School, spent the summer after his first year working at the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. But Balmori said he knew that come August, he would be applying to work at corporate law firms. He felt that working at the Department of Justice was his “last chance...to do something a little bit different.”

“I know that right now the best place for me to hone my craft is at a private firm,” he said.

Weber said that because of the challenging financial climate and the high cost of law school, students need to keep post-graduate salaries in mind.

“You’ve got to be practical,” he said. “That’s the biggest takeaway. People have to think long and hard about who they are, what’s important to them, and most importantly if there are jobs.”

While the effects of the financial crisis were immediate on the private sector, Shabecoff said that public interest law was affected more gradually, and that the public sector is taking longer to recover.

Gegenheimer said she has also observed this trend. When she first applied for a position at the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division, there were 10 positions available. The next year there were none, and this year there are three.

Despite the obstacles she has faced, Pagano said that she is not bitter and noted that many of her friends headed to private firms care about social issues as much as she does.

“I think it’s good to try not to be super dogmatic and ideological about stuff,” Pagano said. “It doesn’t make you a good or bad person, so I don’t see the point in trying to draw battle lines.”

RETAINING PASSION

In an effort to keep spirits high among students heading to the social sector—a number that has been increasing in recent years—Harvard has developed an “infrastructure to retain passion,” Shabecoff said.

“A lot of people come here with a lot of idealism and a strong commitment to public service, and we’ve gotten better at helping them retain that,” she said, noting that her office seeks to provide students both financial and moral support through community-building events and personal connections. “I’m a hugger,” she said.