Career Services Office

Transcription

1 Fall Recruiting 2013 I. Fall Recruiting Overview Fall Recruiting offers rising 2L and 3L Chicago-Kent students the opportunity to apply and possibly interview for summer associate/law clerk or entry-level associate/staff attorney positions. Fall Recruiting actually takes place in July-October, with on-campus interviews beginning August 12, 2013 (before classes begin). Fall Recruiting includes 3 types of applications: 1. On-Campus Interviews (OCI): Legal employers come on-campus (to Chicago-Kent) to interview law students who meet specific hiring criteria (often the top 10% of the class). a. Joint-OCI: On-campus interviews for students in the Chicago area. These interviews may take place at Chicago-Kent or at another Chicago-area law school. 2. Resume Collect: These legal employers do not interview on-campus, but they collect resumes and other application documents from interested students, and may schedule interviews with eligible applicants. Chicago- Kent s Career Services Office (CSO) collects student resumes and documents, and submits them to employers directly on a specific date (typically early August). a. Early Employer Deadlines: Certain legal employers requested application documents early. The CSO will collect these application documents and submit them by an earlier date (typically late July). 3. Direct Contact: A (non-exhaustive) list of legal employers who prefer that students send application documents directly to the hiring partner/recruiting coordinator for consideration. II. Important Dates Thursday, July 25, 2013, Noon: Resumes must be reviewed and uploaded to Symplicity by NOON. All first-time program participants must have a mandatory resume review by your Career Advisor. Thursday, July 25, 2013: Students may begin entering their bids on employers in Symplicity. Thursday, August 1, 2013 at Noon: Students must enter all computer bids and upload required application materials to Symplicity by NOON. Students must ALSO turn in all hard copy registration materials to the CSO by noon on this date. The CSO will close at noon on August 1st. Friday, August 2, 2013: CSO closed for processing OCI resumes and interview schedules. August 6-8, 2013: Mock Interviews will be available from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm. Interview slots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up here: Friday, August 9, 2013: Student interview schedules will be available for viewing on-line. Monday, August 12, 2013: On-Campus Interviews begin. III. Document Preparation The Fall Recruiting process requires students to prepare and submit several application documents. Here are some tips for document preparation: UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT When an application calls for an academic transcript, create a short Microsoft Word version of your unofficial academic transcript and upload the Word version to Symplicity NOT a PDF or scanned copy NOT a printout from the Registrar or Web for Students 1

2 LEGAL RESUME Your resume MUST include your current (as of Spring 2013) GPA and Class Rank GPA: YOU MAY NOT ROUND YOUR GPA UP! o For example, a 3.28 cannot be rounded to 3.30; and a is a 3.14 or 3.147, not Class Rank: Calculate your rank by the number of students in the class (the official number provided by the Registrar) o When determining how to list class rank, anything between the whole number and.4999 should be rounded down (i.e = Top 25%); anything above.4999 should be rounded up (i.e and above to = Top 26% (or exact decimal). Law Review/Moot Court: If you are a new member on Law Review or Moot Court (or have served less than two academic terms), you must qualify the membership statement ( Member as of August 2013 ) IV. Document Submission Here is a list of Documents that you MUST turn in to the CSO in hardcopy form by August 1, 2013 at NOON: 1. Student Registration and Resume Release Form 2. Class Schedules/Conflicts Printout - print out 1 week from Symplicity (first week of classes OR first week in which you might possibly have an interview) a. Students may NOT miss class to interview with an employer on-campus b. Every student MUST enter his/her class schedule into Symplicity c. If you do NOT enter your class schedule, and you receive an interview during a class period, you may lose the interview (there is no guarantee your interview will be rescheduled) 3. Employers/Bidding Printout print out list of bids for BOTH On-Campus Interviews and Resume Collect from Symplicity 4. One (1) hard copy of resume 5. One list of employers you are interested in submitting a resume to but whose hiring criteria you are just outside of (Note: you must be within 10% of the required rank) (with corresponding resume(s)) a. Please include your name, GPA and Class Rank at the top of the list. b. For each employer on the list, you must print out a copy of your resume (it does not need to be on resume paper, but resume paper is a nice touch!). Write the name of the employer on the back of each resume. We will forward these resumes to the employers that are coming on-campus to interview and encourage them to either add students to their schedule or contact students directly, if interested in setting up an interview. The Legal Market and Fall Recruiting Fall Recruiting represents a very small number of overall legal employers. Generally, it is only large law firms that hire in this manner, because these employers can predict their hiring needs far in advance. Large law firms have changed their hiring practices in recent years to bring in fewer summer associates. Fall Recruiting offers only a few options for employment, and does not represent the market as a whole. There are more than 700 firms on the Chicago-Area Law Firm List in Symplicity s Document Library (list of firms with 4 or more attorneys). These firms will all have hiring needs, but will not necessarily hire in the same time frame as Fall Recruiting! Work diligently to make contacts with the employers on this list that interest you and learn more about their hiring processes. Your Career Advisor can help! Meet with your Career Advisor to discuss all options available (Small firm? Government agency? Law-related business or industry?) and to determine the best course to achieve your career goals. The CSO is here to help all Chicago-Kent students, and we want to work with you! 2

3 Alternatives to On Campus Interviewing (OCI) The Career Services Office understands that not all students are interested in Fall Recruiting, which primarily consists of large firm employers and some government agencies, and we are committed to serving the needs of all students at Chicago-Kent. We have planned a busy fall semester with many programs geared toward students interested in careers in a variety of legal practice settings, including small/midsize firms, government, public interest and alternative careers. All programs will be announced in the Record; keep checking back for new programs. Additional important resources for your job search: Your assigned career advisor. Individual counseling appointments are the best way to review your job search strategy and discover useful resources. Schedule an appointment in Symplicity or by ing kentcso@kentlaw.iit.edu Resume Books. Go here for more information about how to opt-in to Resume Books: Symplicity offers: o Online job postings (includes law firms, government, public interest positions, etc.) o Document Library, which includes: The Chicago Area Law Firm List 4 or more database of all law firms in Chicago with 4+ attorneys The Vermont Guide to State Judicial Clerkships The Government Honors and Internship Handbook o Subscriptions to online job databases: BYU Intercollegiate Job Bank, International Career Employment Weekly, Eco Jobs Online (Environmental Career Opportunities), Opportunities in Public Affairs (Washington DC), and others. Passwords in the document library. Yearly career fairs and networking events such as: o Meet the Public Service Employers Reception, November, Loyola Law School o Practice Tracks, November, Chicago Bar Association o Midwest Public Interest Law Career Conference (MPILCC), February, Northwestern Law o Cook County Bar Association and other diversity job fairs Helpful websites: o PSJD: public interest positions, fellowships and career guidance: create your own password/username on the website after selecting Chicago-Kent as your school o Martindale.com: great for identifying possible alumni connections at private employers o OSCAR: Online System for Clerkship Application and Review ( for federal Judicial Clerkships o Federal Jobs: set up a search agent to send you postings CSO website: Offers resources on networking, informational interviews, interview skills, resumes, cover letters, out of state job searches, writing samples, etc. CSO office: Offers multiple print resources, including subscriptions to all of the Chicago area legal publications, books, handouts, files on employers, etc. We look forward to seeing you at many events throughout the year and hope you will take advantage of the resources we offer year-round. 3

4 NALP GUIDELINES PART V: GENERAL STANDARDS FOR THE TIMING OF OFFERS AND DECISIONS To promote fair and ethical practices for the interviewing and decision-making process, NALP offers the following standards for the timing of offers and decisions: A. General Provisions 1. All offers to law student candidates ( candidates ) should remain open for at least two weeks after the date of the offer letter unless the offers are made pursuant to Sections B and C below, in which case the later response date should apply. 2. Candidates are expected to accept or release offers or request an extension by the applicable deadline. Offers that are not accepted by the offer deadline expire. 3. A candidate should not hold open more than five offers of employment at any one time. For each offer received that places a candidate over the offer limit, the candidate should, within one week of receipt of the excess offer, release an offer. 4. Employers offering part-time or temporary positions for the school term are exempted from the requirements of Paragraphs B and C below. 5. Practices inconsistent with these guidelines should be reported to the candidate s career services office. B. Full-Time Employment Provisions 1. Employers offering full-time positions to commence following graduation to candidates not previously employed by them should leave those offers open for at least 28 days following the date of the offer letter or until December 30, whichever comes first. Offers made after December 15 for full-time positions to commence following graduation should remain open for at least two weeks after the date of the offer letter. 2. Candidates may request that an employer extend the deadline to accept the employer s offer until as late as April 1 if the candidate is actively pursuing positions with public interest or government organizations. Candidates may hold open only one offer in such circumstances. Employers are encouraged to grant such requests. 3. Employers offering full-time positions to commence following graduation to candidates previously employed by them should leave those offers open until at least November 1 of the candidate s final year of law school. Candidates should reaffirm these offers within thirty days from the date of the offer letter. Employers may retract any offer that is not reaffirmed within the 30 day period. 4. Employers offering candidates full-time positions to commence following graduation and having a total of 40 attorneys or fewer in all offices are exempted from Paragraphs 1-3 of this Section. Instead, offers made on or before December 15 should remain open for at least three weeks following the date of the offer letter or until December 30, whichever comes first, and offers made after December 15 should remain open for at least two weeks. C. Summer Employment Provisions for Second and Third Year Students 1. Employers offering positions for the following summer to candidates not previously employed by them should leave those offers open for at least 28 days following the date of the offer letter or until December 30, whichever comes first. Offers made after December 15 for the following summer should remain open for at least two weeks after the date of the offer letter. 2. Candidates may request that an employer extend the deadline to accept the employer s offer until as late as April 1 if the candidate is actively pursuing positions with public interest or government organizations. Candidates may hold open only one offer in such circumstances. Employers are encouraged to grant such requests. 3. Employers offering positions for the following summer to candidates previously employed by them should leave those offers open until at least November 1. Candidates should reaffirm these offers within thirty days from the date of the offer letter. Employers may retract any offer that is not reaffirmed within the 30 day period. 4. Employers offering candidates positions for the following summer and having a total of 40 attorneys or fewer in all offices are exempted from Paragraphs 1-3 of this Section. Instead, offers made on or before December 15 should remain open for at least three weeks following the date of the offer letter or until December 30, whichever comes first, and offers made after December 15 should remain open for at least two weeks. 4

5 FALL RECRUITING: Symplicity Instructions After logging in to Symplicity, click on the OCI tab at the top of the screen. You will be taken to this screen: 5

6 There will be several sessions to choose from. Choose a session by using the drop down menu indicated below at the first blue arrow. The screen will show the employers for that session as indicated by the second blue arrow. 6

7 Within each session: Career Services Office Employer Screen Below is a screenshot of an employer screen. Note the Hiring Criteria box, which details what students are eiligible to bid for this employer, and the Additional Requests box, which will contain information about additional information or documents the employer is requesting. You will also find this information in Excel spreadsheets located under the Resources tab in Symplicity. On the right side of the screen, there are several drop-down boxes (see arrows), which will not be operating until bidding opens on July 25, They are 1. Bid This is where you assign your bid for a particular employer (first blue arrow). You must assign a bid to each employer you are interested in. Remember, bids for employers in the On-campus Interviews Fall 2013 will be used by the system in determining what students get interviews. In contrast, in the Resume Collect Fall 2013 and early employer sessions, bids will not matter, but a bid still must be assigned to each employer you wish to submit an application to. 2. Resume, Cover Letter and Writing Sample In these drop down boxes (remaining blue arrows), you can select the different documents you ve uploaded to Symplicity for each employer. If an employer is not requesting a particular document, you won t be able to see a drop down menu. You must upload all required documents before you can place your bid. 7

8 Screencap of Bid drop down (indicated by arrow) Career Services Office Once you have assinged a bid to the employer and uploaded all your documents, click the Apply button on the right side of the screen. You will be able to change the bid assigned and documents submitted to each employer until August 1, 2013 at noon. After this date, the system will lock and no additional changes can be made. 8

9 Entering Class Conflicts Class Conflicts Main Screen 1. Select the time of your class the boxes that roughly represent your class conflict using the small check boxes indicated by the blue arrows, then click the Submit button at the top of the screen. 9

10 2. After hitting Submit, the screen will refresh to show your entered conflict. On this screen, click on the OCI Exception text in the shaded block. 10

11 3. On the next screen that appears, be sure your class conflict appears correctly. Use the drop down boxes to make changes, and then hit Submit at the bottom of the screen. ENTER YOUR CLASS CONFLICTS FOR EACH ON-CAMPUS EMPLOYER YOU BID ON! 11