The summer before law school commences, the Career Development staff meets with all incoming students to learn more about them, obtain more information on their career goals, and offer advice about how to succeed in law school. The programs and resources the OCD offers students aims to teach students about the practical aspects of law practice, as well give them the skills they need to make informed career choices.
The Career Development staff offers students many programs and other resources to help students have a successful career in law. In particular, the staff focuses on personalized career counseling. They also offer a mentoring program, where small groups of first year students are matched with upper level students, who offer guidance and information on law school and career related issues. In addition, the OCD staff offers a mock interview program. Local attorneys offer their critique of first year students to help them improve their interviewing skills.
Meetings, including informal lunches with attorneys who discuss their work and careers with students, judicial clerkship seminars, out of state job fairs, online access to
job openings, a library of resources including publications, job hunting information, and graduate programs, and opportunities to study abroad.
Other resources students can take advantage of through the OCD include a newer reference library and a web-based scheduling and database program, Symplicity. This program allows efficient management of on-campus interviewing programs, employer résumé collections and job postings. As well, the OCD regularly maintains a large database of links to online job banks and websites focusing on career related issues.
The Office of Career Development also invests time in marketing the law school and its students to employers. Over the last several years, staff members have met with legal employers in over 30 cities. These visits have not only yielded many job postings for summer clerkships as well as full-time positions, but have contributed to the law school's stellar graduate employment rate. An estimated 95% of the Class of 2009 was either employed, or enrolled in a full-time graduate degree program within nine months of graduation.
