10. Rest. Relax and sleep. Hug your family when you awake.
9. Bask. Reflect quietly upon your huge accomplishment—you made it through the semester!
8. Do something fun which does not involve flashcards or supplements. Do you have an “interests” section on your resume? Have you actually done any of those things during the past four months?
7. (For 1L’s) Share your legal knowledge. Use all you learned in your Torts class to inform family members or even random strangers each time their acts and/or omissions may have fallen below an applicable standard of care. For example, if your mother serves you chicken soup which burns your mouth, remind her of the facts of the “McDonald’s coffee case.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald’s_Restaurants
6. (For 1L’s) Apologize. For having done No. 7. Hug family again.
5. Plan. For 1L’s and 2L’s: if you have not done so, consider what you will do this summer: a job, do research for a professor, take classes, or do a clinic? If you are a 2L or 3L and have not gotten real world legal experience, seek out a pro bono project or a temporary research job. For 2Ls interested in Judicial Clerkships: it is not too early to start researching judges, application requirements, and considering who will prepare letters of recommendation. For 3Ls: set aside time each week to work on the job search process. If you are job seeking out of state, check the Intercollegiate Job Bank (link on PDO’s webpage, passwords in the PDO/Passwords folder on the shared network) and consider submitting a reciprocity request through PDO.
4. Research. If you are looking for a job, research possible employers and positions. Check the Symplicity job postings regularly, look that the employers who are coming to OCI (you can view them on Symplicity), and do your own research:
A. www.nalpdirectory.com: Search law firms by city, practice area and class years typically hired. For a small fee, you can use NALP to create a mail merge directly from the website. This is an option which may save you some time.
B. www.martindale.com: Provides information on lawyers and employers including practice and geographic areas and law schools.
C. Law Firm Lists: PDO maintains lists of law firms in Utah, Idaho, Alaska, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and Canada in the PDO folder on the shared network drive. Review the lists, and research and apply to employers in which you are interested. It requires a lot of effort, but often, small and midsize firms do not post jobs, even when they are very busy. They may interview and hire those who apply and show that the are truly interested.
D. PDO Office: We have books, (such as Vault books), lists of alumni contacts in various areas of the country, and counseling resources. The PDO website has numerous job search links. Additional job search links may be found in the PDO folder on the network drive, in a subfolder entitled Job Search Sites. There, PDO has sites by State and some International sites.
3. Prepare. Brush up on your professional portfolio. Get your legal resume, cover letters to potential employers, and references prepared. Sign up for one of the Mock Interviews coming up the evenings of Jan. 19-21, 2010.
2. Network. If you are traveling to a place where you want to work, take advantage of it. Contact recruiting directors now to let them know that you will be in town, send them your resume, and ask for a meeting. Exploit your personal and prior professional contacts there and contact PDO for alumni contacts in the area. Let your contacts know of your situation, and ask for advice. Attend parties, state bar, business and law firm events. 1L’s, for example, you may want to attend one of the Snell & Wilmer Open Houses. To attend a reception at Snell & Wilmer, be sure to RSVP to Kimberly Sterbach by December 18, 2009-ksterbach@swlaw.com. Plan to attend the College of Law Career Fair on January 14th, from 3:00-4:30 p.m. Confirmed employers attending include: Adams Davis; Christensen & Jensen; Clyde Snow & Sessions; Disability Law Center; Ray, Quinney & Nebeker; Salt Lake County District Attorney; U.S. Attorney; SEC; Holland & Hart; Kirton & McConkie; Workman Nydegger; Parsons Behle & Latimer; Manning Curtis Bradshaw & Bednar; Air Force JAG; University of Utah Office of General Counsel; Utah Legal Services; and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
1. Get help. If you are a 1L and have not signed up for an initial counseling meeting with Kay or Anneliese, do so. If you are a 2L or 3L who would like to discuss your job search, resume, or other issues, make an appointment. PDO is open over the break! Keep in mind Anneliese will be out of the office (but available via email) December 28-January 1.