Career Exploration Online and Print Resource List
Where do you see yourself in five years? In ten years? If you could create a job that perfectly matched your skills and interests, what would it be? For most, answering these questions takes much thought and soul-searching. Although few would disagree that job satisfaction is of primary importance when choosing a career path, the heavy demands of classes, journals, clinics, etc., leave little time for self-reflection. However, you've all heard about the surveys, which reveal that a significant number of attorneys are dissatisfied with their careers by about their third year of practice.
Why are so many unhappy when the legal profession offers such a wide array of opportunities? Law is basically the smorgasbord of professions. You can focus on theory or work one-on-one with clients. You can negotiate or litigate, develop policy or apply it. More often than not, you can do a bit of each. In light of such professional freedom, why are so many attorneys dissatisfied? For many, it was their failure, early on, to invest the time in self-assessment. Taking the time now to inventory your interests, abilities, values and goals and then persevering in your pursuit of a job that best matches them will help you avoid many potential career frustrations.
To get started on the self-assessment, complete a couple exercises to help pinpoint the best options for you. We also recommend these great resources for further exploration:
Are you uncertain about your career path? Do you know the private sector job you want, but not how to get it? Could you use help marketing yourself to law firms or other businesses? Career Services is here to help at each stage of your job search.
For strategy or advice tailored to your specific situation, make an appointment to see one of our counselors.
In addition to a myriad of programs designed to illuminate for you various practice areas and legal settings, we will teach you the basics of a successful job search.
The workshops in the first two weeks of November, combined with December’s Mock Interviewing Program are everything you need to get you started, give you the tools to prepare your resume, and sharpen your interview skills.
We offer a variety of programs planned through out the year including “Metropolitan Market Presentations,” “Spotlight Lunches,” and programs on “Asking the Tough Questions,” negotiating, and work/life balance.
Whether it is books on self-assessment and various career options or straightforward law firm job information that you’ll find most helpful, access our online resources for links to our employer profiles, Vault (NALP Directory), and what we consider to be the best research tools.
In addition, we provide statistics from classmates that have gone before you, and all of our handouts and information packets are downloadable documents. There you can also find hiring timetables, sample resumes and cover letters, and information on career options.
First year law students receive weekly e-mails' from our office as new opportunities are posted by employers. Regardless of these e-mail reminders, you may go into our employer/student database, Simplicity, at any time and conduct an independent job search for 1L and 2L summer associate positions, as well as post-graduate opportunities. Visit the job posting section of our website for more information.
During our fall OCI, which takes place between September and October each year, approximately 300 firms representing more than 600 offices worldwide visit the law school to recruit 2Ls and 3Ls.
Visit the OCS programs section of our website for more information.
Our Spring On-Campus Interviewing Program is focused primarily on 1L recruiting and takes place in early February. While a small program, it is more likely to include government and public interest organizations than fall interviews, as spring recruiting is more synchronized with their hiring practices.
Visit the OCS programs section of our website for more information.
Whether you intend to enter private practice, public interest, government service, or legal academia, clerkships are a very good way to start your legal career. Clerkships offer paid educational opportunities in which you work intensively with a judge, learn about the inner workings of the judicial system, and hone your legal research and writing skills. A clerkship provides one or two years of practical training, gives you the opportunity to observe the legal process from the "other side" of the bench, and helps you make valuable professional contacts in the substantive and/or geographical areas in which you hope to practice. In short, a clerkship can be an ideal stepping stone into any legal job.
For more information about post graduate clerkships or post clerkship fellowships, visit the clerkship opportunities website.
If you are interested in international legal practice in the private or public sector, the Office of Career Services can help you map out options in line with your interests. We offer the following resources, educational career programming, and advising in regard to international legal careers:
OCS provides educational career programming including: an International Job Search Orientation for 1L students; a fall Spotlight Lunch Series featuring several international practitioners; a SLS Student Panel on International Summer Internships; the spring International Speaker Series; and, other specialized events.
If you would like to discuss your international career goals with an OCS advisor, please contact the Director of International & Advanced Degree Career Programs to set up an appointment.
Different search tips and resources apply to different jobs, but all of the non-law jobs share these common realities:
If you are interested in learning more about some of the more popular non-law opportunities check out our online resources. Also, see our hand outs on Investment Banking, Management Consulting, and Venture Capital handouts in our publications.
Susan Robinson can assist you in clarifying options and developing a strategy. Be sure that she has reviewed your resume so that it features the education, business interests, and work experiences that are most relevant to the positions for which you are applying for.
There are two issues you need to consider if you are thinking of becoming a law professor. First, is this a job you would enjoy and be good at? Most of your time as a law professor will be spent teaching and writing scholarly articles, so the answer to this question depends on your enthusiasm and talent for both of these tasks. Particularly in the early years of one’s scholarly career, the job is emotionally and logistically demanding; not wanting to practice law is emphatically not a reason to go into teaching. On the other hand, the job is also tremendously rewarding: you have great control over your professional agenda; you get to work with smart, interesting people; you can have a real impact on the development of the law and on other people’s understanding of legal issues.
If you’re interested in a legal academic career, Stanford Law School provides extensive resources to help you break into this competitive market. We have an active, faculty-run Teaching Prospects Committee that produces a Law Teaching Handbook, advises students and alumni on research and publishing, and coaches alumni through the recruiting process. Contact the Office of Career Services at 650 723.3924 for the contact information of the current committee.
For advanced degree students who are interested in working in the United States following graduation, the Office of Career Services offers a variety of resources to support your search, including:
Presentations on the U.S. Legal Market and an overview of the steps to pursuing a U.S. job search;
Skills workshops on a variety of topics, including resume and cover letter preparation, interviewing, and networking;
The OCS Library in Room 145 contains a wide variety of publications regarding U.S. legal employers and job search strategies.
To make an appointment with an OCS advisor, contact the Director of International & Advanced Degree Career Programs.
Each Winter, advanced degree students may elect to participate in the Columbia LL.M. Job Fair held in New York, or the West Coast LL.M. Job Fair held in Los Angeles. Both job fairs feature legal employers from the U.S. and around the globe.
Advanced degree students are also encouraged to participate in other OCS career programming that is marketed to the J.D. student population.
Public Interest law encompasses a broad array of fields including antitrust law (on behalf of the government), international human rights, criminal prosecution, environmental justice, and civil rights. All Stanford Law students are strongly urged to contribute their legal skills and talents by doing pro bono service. Pro bono service is hugely rewarding, and a professional responsibility, for all members of the legal profession. In addition, those students who wish to devote their full-time careers to public service will find a wealth of opportunities available to support you in this important endeavor.
No matter what job you think you might take directly after law school, if you are interested in learning about public service in the legal profession please visit the John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law website. The Levin Center serves as the hub of all public interest and public service programs at the law school, and its counselors work closely with students seeking public interest employment.