Archives for the Month of December 2007 on CSO Blog
Blog on Holiday!
With all of you on winter break, the blog will be on a temporary hiatus. We will return with all new posts on Monday, January 7. The CSO staff wishes everyone a very happy holiday season!
Government Employers: What To Do Over Winter Break
If you are a 1L with an interest in working within the local, state, or federal government this summer, winter break is a great opportunity to start doing your research and submitting applications. But what exactly should you be doing? The CSO recommends taking the following steps:
1) Check out the Government Honors & Internship Handbook 2007-2008 at: http://www.law.arizona.edu/career/honorshandbook.cfm . The Case Western Reserve University School of Law Username and Password for this website is available in the CSO or through the CSO course on Blackboard. This helpful handbook, which is updated on a regular basis, lists a variety of government opportunities for law students and provides a description of the opportunity, requirements, and information about the application process, including deadlines.
2) Do some research on your own – use online resources, the Inside Scoop (available through the CSO course on Blackboard), and the CSO to find out more about opportunities for law students. Often, government agencies list hiring and application information right on their own website and links to a variety of government website are also available through the CSO course on Blackboard. A list of additional government resources available in the CSO is posted at: http://law.case.edu/careers/students/content.asp?id=605 . And don’t forget to ask the CSO if we have alumni contacts working for the government in geographic regions that are of interest to you – alumni can be great sources of information about the types of opportunities available to law students.
3) Prepare cover letters, resumes, and other official application materials to send to government employers that interest you. Make sure to check to see if the employer’s website has any information about law student hiring on its website. If the website specifies other application procedures, be sure to follow all instructions. And, as always, if you have questions or concerns about your cover letters and application materials, send a draft to the CSO for review by a counselor.
4) Keep a spreadsheet or other list of the employers to which you have sent materials, noting the date on which you sent the materials. The CSO has an application tracker/ log available in the office and on Blackboard to help you track your job search.
5) Remember that fellowship funding is sometimes available to students doing unpaid government internships. Begin researching and applying for fellowship funding keeping in mind the deadlines for funding that is specific to Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Additional information about this funding is available in the CSO. The CSO also has a list of other available summer grants and fellowships – stop by the CSO to pick up a copy and begin researching the application procedures and deadline dates for this funding.
6) Follow-up! Be sure to make follow-up phone calls to the employers to which you have sent materials approximately two weeks after sending your materials.
Public Interest Organizations: What To Do Over Winter Break
If you are a 1L with an interest in working for a public interest organization this summer, winter break is a great opportunity to start doing your research and reaching out to these organizations. But what exactly should you be doing? The CSO recommends taking the following steps:
1) Register for PSLawNet – NALP’s Public Service Law Network at http://www.pslawnet.org/. Once registered, use the database to search organizations and job postings, looking for organizations and positions that interest you. As another starting point, the CSO also has a list of organizations where our students have spent past summers and a Cleveland-specific guide to public interest organizations.
2) Do some research on these organizations – use online resources, the Inside Scoop (available through the CSO course on Blackboard), Equal Justice Works, and the CSO to find out more about opportunities for law students. (A list of additional resources available in the CSO is posted at: http://law.case.edu/careers/students/content.asp?id=606 .) And check with the CSO to see if we have alumni contacts at any of the organizations that interest you.
3) Prepare cover letters and resumes to send to organizations that interest you. Ask about opportunities for law students and express your desire to work for the organization. Make sure to check to see if the organization’s website has any information about law student hiring on its website. If the website specifies other application procedures, be sure to follow all instructions. And, as always, if you have questions or concerns about your cover letters, send a draft to the CSO for review by a counselor.
4) Keep a spreadsheet or other list of the organizations to which you have sent materials, noting the date on which you sent the materials. The CSO has an application tracker/ log available in the office and on Blackboard to help you track your job search.
5) Begin applying for fellowship funding keeping in mind the deadlines for funding that is specific to Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Additional information about this funding is available in the CSO. The CSO also has a list of other available summer grants and fellowships – stop by the CSO to pick up a copy and begin researching the application procedures and deadline dates for this funding. (Remember that oftentimes you can create your opportunity with a public interest organization simply by being willing to volunteer your time for free. Fellowship funding can help you do that.)
6) Follow-up! Be sure to make follow-up phone calls to the organizations to which you have sent materials approximately two weeks after sending your materials.
Resource of the Month
Be sure to stop by the CSO and check out our latest Resource of the Month - Guerrilla Tactics for Getting the Legal Job of Your Dreams, by Kimm Alayne Walton. Ms. Walton is a 1984 graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and has some great advice to offer when it comes to the job search. Her book leads you step-by-step through the job search process, offering many helpful tips and strategies along the way.
The CSO has also recently added a couple more resources to the resource room:
- The Insider's Guide to Political Internships, Grant Reeher and Mack Mariani
- An Insider's Guide to Political Jobs in Washington, William T. Endicott
If you are at all interested in politics, these are two resources you need to check out. The resource room is open the same hours as the CSO - M-F 8:30am - 5:00pm. Stop by and visit!
Conducting Informational Interviews
We’ve mentioned it in several of our recent posts, so you should know by now that conducting information interviews/networking meetings is an excellent use of some of your time over winter break. You’ve sent out your emails or letters and made your follow-up calls and now you have a couple appointments set up for a chat over coffee. Great! Now what do you do when you’re actually sitting face-to-face with these people?
Just like in an actual employment interview, your goal is to have the meeting turn into a true conversation, with a natural back-and-forth and an easy rapport. But you’ll also want to make sure you’ve taken the time before your meeting to determine why you wanted to meet with this particular person and prepare questions ahead of time to make sure you get the information you’re seeking. The following is a list of some sample questions you might want to ask:
o How did you decide on your practice area?
o What courses did you take in law school that you’ve found to be most helpful to you in the practice of law? (You can ask the same question about activities or organizations they participated in.)
o What professional publications do they read or what professional organizations are they are member of?
o What’s a typical day like for you?
o What’s the most interesting part of your job, or the most interesting project you’ve worked on recently?
o What do you find most challenging about your work?
o What advice do you have for me in relocating to this market? (if you’re meeting with someone in a different legal market)
And, of course, always remember to close your meeting by saying thank you and asking if there is anybody else you should be talking to in order to learn more. And remember to send a thank you note within 24 hours of your meeting!
For more information and motivation on networking meetings, read Chapter 4 of Guerilla Tactics for Getting the Legal Job of Your Dreams by Case alum Kimm Walton.
Small and Medium Law Firms: What To Do Over Winter Break
If you are a 1L with an interest in working for a small or medium sized law firm this summer, winter break is a great opportunity to start doing your research and reaching out to these employers. But what exactly should you be doing? The CSO recommends taking the following steps:
1) Stop by the CSO or check out the CSO course on Blackboard to find the small and medium firm lists that we have available for a variety of cities. We have lists for: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland/Akron, Columbus, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Seattle, and Washington DC. Review these lists and highlight employers that interest you.
2) Do some research on these employers and on other employers that you find on your own – use Martindale, firm websites, other online resources, and the CSO to find out more about practice areas and recent news. Make sure to check to see if the firm has any information about law student hiring on its website. And check to see whether any alumni work at the firm – alumni are a great source of information and a good networking tool.
3) Prepare cover letters and resumes to send to employers that interest you. Ask about available opportunities for law students and express your desire to work for the employer. If you have questions or concerns about your cover letters, send a draft to the CSO for review by a counselor.
4) Keep a spreadsheet or other list of the employers to which you have sent materials, noting the date on which you sent the materials. The CSO has an application tracker/ log available in the office and on Blackboard to help you track your job search.
5) Follow-up! Be sure to make follow-up phone calls to the employers approximately two weeks after sending your materials.
Alumni Lists and Case Connections
You've heard the CSO tell you over and over again how important networking can be to your job search, and winter break is the perfect opportunity to get out there and build your network! The CSO maintains the Case Connections database, and also has alumni lists to help you get started. Perhaps you are very interested in corporate law and would like to meet a few local attorneys who practice in that area - the CSO can help! Or maybe you are conducting an out-of-state job search and would like to reach out to some contacts in that particular city/state - contact the CSO! We will be here over winter break, M - F from 8:30am to 5:00pm, so please feel free to stop by, call or send us an email.
Winter Break Checklist
The semester is over and final exams are in full swing. Good luck! To help you stay in the swing of things with your job search over winter break, the CSO offers the following helpful Winter Break Checklist:
____ Catch up on sleep
____ Update/Revise resume and general cover letter
____ Send resume and cover letter to lawjobs@case.edu for review by a counselor if they’ve never been reviewed or if it’s been a while
____ Spend quality time with friends and family
____ Log on to Symplicity a couple times each week to check new job postings
____ Read a non-law-related book (or two) and/or go see a movie (or two)
____ Reach out to area attorneys for informational interviews and/or shadowing opportunities
____ Get some more sleep
____ Apply to postings on Symplicity that are of interest you
____ Attend holiday receptions or other networking events hosted by firms, businesses, and/or local bar associations
____ Say “thank you” to the people in your life who support you and make your law school experience better
____ Make an appointment to meet with a CSO counselor in January or February to talk about your job search
Semester-End Employer Outreach Update
As you know, the CSO continually conducts outreach to legal employers in markets across the country. As the semester draws to a close, we wanted to provide a brief update of the places we have been.
Since July 2007, the CSO has met with or talked to 68 employers in a variety of markets across the country. We’ve visited Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago (twice), Columbus, DC, Los Angeles, New York (twice), Raleigh, and, of course, Cleveland.
The CSO’s outreach efforts will continue throughout the remainder of December and all through the Spring semester. Please take a moment to check out the list of specific employers we’ve met with, which is posted on the bulletin board outside the CSO. If you’re interested in any of these employers, stop by the CSO and schedule a meeting with a counselor to find out what we know. And, if you have suggestions about markets or employers where you’d like us to do more outreach, please let our Director of Employer Outreach know.
Internships for Law Students
No matter what area of law you are interested in, be sure to check out Internships-USA for information on opportunities in human rights, sports, environmental, and educational law, just to name a few!
Check out the hard copy resources in the resource room for contact information for firms, prosecutor's offices, and state and federal judges. The online version also contains direct links to over 200 legal job search sites.
To access all of this information, either stop by the resource room or log in to Blackboard for the login and password to the site. Click on Job Search Links and the login and password are in the second listing. If you have questions about this site or any other resource listed on Blackboard please email or stop in to chat with a counselor.
What Not to Wear: Dressing for Holiday Receptions
So, you have set up an informational interview over winter break or have gotten an invite to a holiday reception or other networking event. Great! But now you are wondering "what should I wear to a holiday reception or for a networking meeting?"
If you are meeting an alumni or another contact in his or her office, wear a suit. Remember this is a business meeting. If you are invited to a holiday reception and the invitation doesn't specify dress, remember this is a business reception, not a holiday cocktail party so wear a suit. No cocktail dresses or tuxedos! Just wear your best suit, hose if you are a woman, a tie if you are a man, shine your shoes, and impress the employers with your personality!
Ok, you get it - wear a suit. But what if the person you are meeting or the event details say "feel free to wear business casual?" Keep in mind that "business casual" can vary from employer to employer and sometimes even person to person. Wearing khakis, a button down, and a sport coat may be "business casual" for one employer while cords and a sweater may be "business casual" for another. As such, trying to dress "business casual" can be difficult for potential candidates and visitors to the employer. Your best bet - you guessed it - wear a suit!
Just because someone says you can dress "business casual" doesn't mean you have to. You are better off wearing a suit the first time you meet with an employer or contact or attend a networking event and being able to gauge what might be appropriate "business causal" for next time. No employer, contact, or alumni is going to look poorly upon you for feeling that they were important enough to wear a suit for!
If you have questions regarding what is appropriate dress for different events in the legal community please feel free to stop by the CSO to chat with our counselors!
Follow-Up Phone Calls
So you've sent out several resumes in the mail, and now it's time to relax and wait for responses - right? Wrong! If you do not hear anything back from those employers within 2 weeks, you must follow-up with a phone call! This is important for 2 reasons:
1. You want to make sure the employer received your resume in the first place. Things get lost in the mail, envelopes get misplaced in offices, documents get discarded accidentally - you get the picture. Confirming that an employer received your resume is a nonoffensive way to begin your follow-up phone conversation.
2. A follow-up phone call shows that you are genuinely interested in the position. Put yourself in the employer's shoes: if 10 students send you a resume and only one of those 10 follows-up with a phone call, who are you going to invite to come in for an interview? The point is that it is easy to send a resume in the mail and forget about it. Plently of people do. It's the follow-up phone call that lets employers know that you are sincerely interested in working for them.
So be sure to keep a log of who you've sent your resume to and when you sent it. That way you'll know exactly when to make those follow-up phone calls. You never know - a simple follow-up phone call could be the difference between being invited to come in for an interview or not! Please stop by the CSO to talk to a counselor if you have any questions about the follow-up process.