« Five Obstacles to Overcome to Working a Room | Main | »
April 11, 2007
Careers in Career Counseling
Believe it or not, every year a few students ask those of us in the CSO how we got in to this field, and how they might do so. We love our jobs, so we can understand why you might consider it as an appealing career option! And with more and more students thinking about non-traditional legal careers early in their careers, the questions are becoming more frequent. Here are a few suggestions if you are thinking about this field for the immediate future, or even a few years down the road:
* Conduct informational interviews with your CSO staff, or the CSO staff at a law school in the area in which you intend to live and work. People are happy to tell you how they entered this field, what their work is like, and how to find out about opportunities.
* Get involved in your law school or undergraduate institution. Demonstrated interest in higher education goes a long way. Interview prospective students or volunteer your time to the alumni office.
* If you are going to work in a firm or other more traditional legal employer, get involved in recruiting.
* Whenever friends look for a new job, volunteer to review their resumes and cover letters.
* Think about the qualities most CSO administrators will look for in prospective hires: flexible, hard-working, empathetic, patient, positive, organized, calm under pressure, adaptable, ability to generate new ideas, ability to juggle many tasks and interruptions, and more.
* Check out www.nalp.org. It has current CSO job openings, NALP Directory of Law Schools so you can see the size and structure of various CSOs, sample job descrptions, and a great resource called Perspectives on Career Services which we also house in the CSO.
Posted by smp20 at April 11, 2007 02:10 PM