Activities & Tasks
Fall Semester
- Understand the relationship between academics and career paths. Focus on classroom and exam success.
- Attend mandatory Office of Professional Development (OPD) Orientation Meeting and mandatory Pro Bono Legal Honors Meeting (October)
- Complete your profile on Symplicity, the Law School's career management system featuring a job board
- Develop peer-to-peer network within the first year class. With the help of your peer advisors, learn about their experiences with summer employment, externships, pro bono, and other experiential learning opportunities.
- Develop student-professor relationships. Get to know your professors: have lunch with them, go to office hours, attend other law school events, etc.
During the Winter Break
- Create or revise your Individual Development Plan (IDP)
- Draft a resume
- Build Linked In profile
- Research the market where you would like to work this summer
- Assess your contacts: Who do you know in the legal community? Who might be connected to the legal community? Research lawyers and other professionals for informational interviews by using Martindale-Hubbell or the Columbus Bar Association Directory
- Verify the requirements and application deadlines for the bar examination you plan to take
- If you are interested in Public Interest jobs, register a profile on PSJD
- Review spring and summer career fairs and conferences – employment opportunities for summer after 1D/2E year or for summer before 3D/4E year
- If you are interested in medium and large law firms, research employers using the NALP Directory of Legal Employers or Martindale-Hubbell
- If you are interested in federal government summer employment, research opportunities listed in the Honors Programs and Internships Handbook (accessible via Symplicity)
Spring Semester
- Schedule an appointment to meet with the OPD staff
- Attend Career Advantage Program
- Get involved in pro bono legal service opportunities
- Participate in Spring Recruitment, if interested in the participating employers
- Schedule a mock interview
- Submit an application for summer and/or fall externships
- Speak with professors about research assistant needs as a possible summer employment opportunity
- Attend a Columbus Bar Association Committee Meeting to network and to learn
- During spring break
- Observe or shadow various attorneys and court or administrative hearings
- Conduct a series of informational interviews
- Participate in Spring Break Pro Bono Clinics
- Attend a 2D/3E Professional Development Advising & Planning session
- If you are returning to another city or state, consider requesting reciprocity from a law school in the area to review student job postings
Rising 2D/3E Summer
- Maintain an updated resume
- Attend summer receptions and events at law firms participating in Fall Recruitment Program
- Observe or shadow various attorneys and court or administrative hearings
- Participate in Fall Recruiting, if interested in the participating employers (first deadline is usually late July)
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Resources
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