DeGrushe named assistant dean for career services

Matt DeGrushe has been named assistant dean for Career Services, Associate Dean Rob Saltzman announced last week.

DeGrushe has served as director of career services at USC Law since mid-2005. He previously served as director of career development at Pepperdine Law School and as associate and assistant director of the MBA Career Resource Center at the USC Marshall School of Business. From 1993 to 1999, he worked for McKinsey & Company, serving as recruiting administrator for the last two years of his work there.

Matt DeGrushe

Priya Sridharan has been named director of career services, filling the position vacated by DeGrushe. Sridharan also joined USC Law in mid-2005, serving as assistant director of career services and coordinator of the clerkship application program. Prior to coming to USC, she was deputy city attorney for the government counsel division of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. She also served as legislative deputy for Los Angeles City Councilmember Eric Garcetti and as staff attorney for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center.

“I’m thrilled that Matt accepted our offer to serve as assistant dean,” said Associate Dean Rob Saltzman. “He has demonstrated extraordinary creativity and leadership as director, and his deep experience in career counseling will be a tremendous resource for our students.”

Saltzman also commended DeGrushe’s appointment of Sridharan as director, noting that her efforts to enhance the law school’s clerkship application program have resulted both in increased clerkship applications and a higher number of clerkship acceptances.

Priya Sridharan

“Priya has made great strides in enhancing our clerkship efforts,” Saltzman said, “and her experience as a lawyer has helped expand our resources and connections for employment opportunities, networking and mentoring.”

DeGrushe has outlined several ideas for enhancing career services for students, including plans to increase support and resources for students seeking jobs outside Southern California and to provide expanded ‘self-assessment’ resources to help students better understand their long-term goals and desires as they pursue a job search. In addition, he plans to assign each career counselor to a different employment sector to provide broader resources and employer outreach in areas such as public interest, government, business and mid-size and small firms.

Sridharan already has been designated as the office’s lead on public service employment. In consultation with the Office of Public Service, she will work to enhance resources and materials to support students applying for post-graduate public service fellowships while also advising students interested in public service legal careers and cultivating resources to aid the other staff counselors in advising students about public service careers.

“I’m just really excited about the direction we’re heading,” said DeGrushe. “The office is in great shape. Our biggest strengths — our accessibility, the high level of service we provide — will continue to be our strengths. And we’re excited to move in some new directions as student needs and the market continue to evolve. We’re looking forward to hearing from students and to working to serve them in the best possible way.”