No, that noise you hear as the calendar flips to November isn’t the sound of leaves blowing in the fall wind. Rather, it it a collective sigh of relief coming from BC Law 2Ls that the OCI process has finally come to a close. OCI, short for “on campus interviewing,” serves as the major recruitment tool for most large, national firms looking to hire summer associates. Over the summer, 2L students may submit resumes, cover letters, and transcripts to all of the firms that they are interested in interviewing with. The firms then select students they wish to meet with for screener interviews on the law school campus. These initial interviews are about twenty minutes long and are generally a way for firms to get a feel for whether or not the candidate is a good “fit.”
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Why PILF’s Annual Auction is Awesome
BC Law’s Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) hosted its 28th annual auction last Thursday at the offices of Morgan Lewis in downtown Boston. The auction is PILF’s biggest event of the year and is always well-attended by students, professors, and alumni.
As a 1L attending my first PILF auction, I found it to be pretty awesome for two main reasons.
Making an Impact: the Power of Pro Bono
Editor’s Note: Earl Adams, Jr. is of Counsel with DLA Piper in Washington, DC and Baltimore. Prior to this position, Earl was Chief of Staff to the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. He has also served in several different positions of leadership within the BC Law Alumni Association, including his current position as Vice President of the Alumni Board. All of us at Impact are pleased to be able to host his guest blog post.
Before joining my current law firm, I had the honor of serving for five years in Maryland state government as chief of staff to the Lt. Governor, and one of the things I enjoyed most about my job was the knowledge that my efforts benefited more than a precious few. This feeling gave me a true sense of work satisfaction. Among the many things that I learned and got out of my BC Law experience was an appreciation of the maxim, “to whom much is given, much will be required.” So, when I decided to leave public service and return to private practice, I was, to say the least, concerned that I might not find the same contentment in my new job. Said more precisely, I was concerned that my work on behalf of individual clients would not be as rewarding. As a result, when I arrived at my firm, I actively sought out opportunities to find socially impactful pro bono work. One particular engagement caught my attention because of the potential to changes the lives of the people involved.
Preparing for OCI (Part 1 of 3): Timeline & Breakdown
Editor’s Note: This post is the first in a series of three geared to help rising 2Ls prepare for the on-campus interview process and provide prospective students with an inside look at the recruiting process during law school. The topic of this post is a general overview and breakdown of the logistics of the OCI process, and tips for navigating it each step of the way.
As hard as it may be to believe, OCI is right around the corner. If you knew the phrase “on-campus interview” before the start of law school, you had a head start on most of the class. And if you found time during 1L to learn a bit about the process, even better.
Leading up to your first round of interviews, it’s perfectly normal to feel excited, impatient, and more than slightly nervous. One way we do not want you to feel is unprepared. As with any advice, the information that follows is not a one-size-fits-all, guaranteed recipe for success. Hopefully, however, you find the suggestions worthwhile and as a result feel more confident heading into the OCI process. Let’s start by laying out the timeline: Continue reading
What We Do When We’re Not in Law School: A Survey of Summer Jobs
One of the questions many prospective law students often have (and that I definitely had when I was looking at law school) is about what, exactly, law students do during their summers. The answer is: some pretty cool stuff. Below is a selection of summaries about what current BC Law rising 2Ls and 3Ls are currently doing in cities across the country, grouped into five categories: Firms, In-House Counsel & Consulting, Judicial Internships, Public Interest, and Government. This group isn’t necessarily representative (it basically represents who I could dragoon into writing something up for me on short notice — thanks friends!), but hopefully it will give you a general sense of the different types of work law students do before they graduate. As always, if you have any questions, use the comments to ask away!
Here’s Some More Good News About Jobs
Employment post-graduation is obviously a huge consideration for any prospective student, and especially if you are still choosing between multiple law schools. Last week, employment numbers for Boston College Law’s Class of 2014 were released. As mentioned in previous blog posts such as this one and this one, BC’s stats have been trending decidedly upward. Continue reading
Find Your Firm: 1L Boot Camp Meet the Employers Night
As I’ve written about before on this blog, 1L Boot Camp is an awesome program run by the LSA and Career Services to help first-year students make themselves as marketable as possible during their respective job hunts. This Tuesday’s Meet the Employers Night is in many ways the crown jewel of that program. After months of presentations about best practices for résumé formatting, interview attire, and networking strategy (to name a few topics), Boot Camp culminates with this unique chance for the 1Ls to put everything they’ve learned to use.
What exactly is Meet the Employers Night? Basically, exactly what it sounds like. Representatives from fifty-one (51!) government entities, public interest organizations, businesses, and law firms set up shop in the Law Library and talk with the 1Ls about what they do, who they’re looking for, and what their hiring processes are like. Which organizations will be in attendance? Here is the full list: Continue reading
BC Law: Impact 