Job Search
Overview
Planning For Your First-Year Summer
Every year, the majority of Stanford 1Ls find summer paid and unpaid legal positions. We strongly recommend that you do some sort of legal work for at least part of your 1L summer. You'll not only have the opportunity to put into practice what you've learned, but also have a great reference for interested employers as a 2L.
September | October | November | December | January | February | March
September
- Focus on classes and acclimate to law school.
- Think about what brought you to law school and what interests you.
- Get to know fellow students (including 2Ls and 3Ls), faculty, and staff.
- Consider joining student groups/journals. It’s important to strike a balance and do more than just study. It also provides another way to get to know classmates and expand your personal/professional network.
October
- Attend the Spotlight Lunches hosted by OCS. Practicing lawyers from area firms come to discuss their practice, what it entails, and what their career path was. Learn about everything from Antitrust to White Collar practices.
November
- Attend the Private Sector Job Search Workshops.
- Schedule an appointment with an OCS advisor staff to discuss your career goals. Even if you don’t intend to start your job search until after finals, this is a valuable opportunity to better understand your personal job search issues.
- Research summer job opportunities. Try to rank them in some order so you can clearly identify your top choices.
- Attend the Cover Letter and Resume Workshop and learn what firms expect regarding applications.
- If applying before finals, draft resume and cover letters for review by an OCS advisor. You should also prepare a legal writing sample and a list of three references. Note that most students do not know a tenure-track law school professor well enough to ask him/her for a reference yet. Thus, many 1Ls ask a LRW professor because s/he has already reviewed your legal writing.
- Attend the Interview Workshop and sign up for a Mock Interview with a private sector attorney.
December
- Send job applications to your top choices and/or those in locations you may be visiting during Winter Break. Your application materials should be reviewed by OCS before sending. Note that only a small handful of private firms will be interviewing and hiring in December. Many will wait until January to start interviewing.
- If you are interested in judicial externships, please see Carol Ida, Director of Judicial Clerkships, in the Office of Career Services.
- Focus on exams. When you need a break from studying, continue employer research and job search preparation.
- You may e-mail your resumes and cover letters to OCS advisors after finals for review.
- Continue to research employers and apply to additional employers. Consider contacting Levin Center staff for a discussion of public sector/public interest summer jobs.
- Check SLS Connect and the Alumni Database and speak with OCS advisors to generate a list of alumni who share your practice interests and with whom you can meet during the Winter Break for informational interviews. Information you learn from these meetings may greatly strengthen your cover letters.
- Review the list of participating employers for Spring OCI. Check the market research firms as well for regional firms that may not come on campus.
January
- If interested, sign up for Spring OCI. Continue to send out applications.
- Schedule a follow-up appointment with an OCS advisor , if needed, to discuss any offers received and outstanding applications. If you receive an offer from one of your lower tier employers and you have at least interviewed with your top tier employers, contact them and mention that you have an offer from elsewhere and would like to ask whether they can expedite review of your application.
February
- Continue to follow up on applications and consider sending applications to more of your lower tier employers.
March
- Focus on exams.
- If you have not finalized your summer plans, please contact OCS. Check in with the Levin Center as well.
Planning For Your Second-Year Summer
As a 2L, you should concentrate on finding the legal job that will best lead to post graduate employment in the area - both geographic and practice - in which you are most interested. For private sector jobs, that seemingly starts with Fall OCI - but you have to do a bit of work before you just show up for OCI.
June | July | August | September | December
June
- Focus on exams.
- Sign up for OCI Group on SLS Connect.
- Meet with an OCS advisor (in person, Skype, or phone).
- Research employers in preparation for bidding on OCI firms.
July
- Update resume and have it reviewed by an OCS advisor.
- Get great experience and develop a writing sample.
- Keep detailed information on your work assignments – you’ll need the information both to discuss what you did when interviewing, and for conflict checks later.
- Start ranking the employers you want to bid on and have an advisor review your bid list.
- Place bids by bidding deadline.
August
- Finish up your 1L summer.
- Apply to resume collect and direct application firms.
- Prepare for OCI and interviewing.
- Participate in Mock Interviews right before OCI.
September
- Go on callbacks. If you haven’t heard from firms or are worried, stop by and see an OCS advisor.
- Loosen the death grip and turn down callbacks and offers you don’t want.
- Sign up for the Judicial Clerkship Group on SLS Connect.
December
- By Winter quarter of your 2L year, you should have at least two strong faculty references. They can be cultivated by working as a faculty member’s research assistant, enrolling in a clinic, or taking multiple classes with him/her.
Planning For Your Post Graduate Employment
For most 3Ls interested in the private sector, the offer received at the end of their second summer is all it takes. But often there are other opportunities that arise or a change in plans that require interviewing and making choices all over again.
June | July | August | September | June
June
- Focus on exams.
- Sign up for OCI Group on SLS Connect.
- Meet with an OCS advisor (in person, Skype, or phone).
- Research employers in preparation for bidding on OCI firms if you plan to go through OCI as a 3L – or if you plan to direct apply to firms.
July
- Update resume and have it reviewed by an OCS advisor.
- Keep detailed information on your work assignments – you’ll need the information both to discuss what you did when interviewing, and for conflict checks later.
- Start ranking the employers you want to bid on and have an advisor review your bid list.
- Place bids by bidding deadline.
August
- Finish up your 2L summer.
- Apply to resume collect and direct application firms.
- Prepare for OCI and interviewing.
- Participate in Mock Interviews right before OCI.
September
- Go on callbacks. If you haven’t heard from firms or are worried, stop by and see an OCS advisor.
- Loosen the death grip and turn down callbacks and offers you don’t want.
- Sign up for the Judicial Clerkship Group on SLS Connect.
June
- Fill out your Grad Employment Survey in Symplicity.