Career Services offers tips for job hunt beyond On-Campus Interviews
—By Lori Craig
On-Campus Interviewing may be over, but there are still plenty of jobs to be had — all it takes is the right job search strategy.
Dean of Career Services Matt DeGrushe and Assistant Director of Career Services Betty Chia spoke to students Oct. 15 about the realities of finding employment after OCI.
“The big law firms that are interviewing at OCI are not the majority of employers that law students go to work for during their 2L summer or after law school,” DeGrushe said. “Government employers, public interest employers, small- and mid-sized law firms: these are just a few of the employers students go work for.”
He and Chia armed students with their top four strategies for finding a job in the coming months.
- Identify career goals and employment targets
“Think about where you want to be this summer and what you want to do,” Chia said. Narrow down your choice of practice area, think about the type of work environment that suits you and the people you’d like to work with, she said.
- Refine job search toolkit
Most importantly, have an up-to-date resume and references and a well-written cover letter ready to go, they said.
“Think about writing a really good cover letter now,” DeGrushe said. Small- and mid-sized firms do their hiring throughout the year, so jobs can be posted at any time. Having the basics of a good cover letter that can be tailored to specific employers will make it faster and less stressful to apply for new openings.
- Analyze potential employers
Once you’ve narrowed down your practice area (for more help with this the CSO is sponsoring “10 questions you should ask yourself before choosing a practice area” on Oct. 22), think about whether you’d like to pursue employment with a firm, a government agency or a public interest organization.
The CSO has plenty of resources to help with this, including a directory of firms by practice area that includes more than 400 small and mid-sized law firms in the greater L.A. area with more than 600 USC Law alumni employees; a guide to government jobs in California and in Washington, D.C. ; and guides on public interest firms and agencies.
- Cultivate a network of contacts
This doesn’t mean just professional contacts — students’ networks might include their undergraduate classmates, their friends and family, or their Ultimate Frisbee teammates.
“Networking is really about seeking information,” Chia said. “You get an opportunity to talk to people and let them know you’re looking. Besides, it’s L.A. , everyone knows an attorney.”
Get comfortable with networking by practicing. After all, “you never know where that connection might come from,” DeGrushe said.
DeGrushe and Chia identified some of the pitfalls job searchers tend to encounter, including keeping the job search too broad and mass mailing employers. They encouraged students to make an appointment with their office to come up with a personalized job search or networking strategy.
DeGrushe concluded with three more tips: start now; set aside time each week to work on the job search; and be patient.
The CSO has plenty of resources available in the library, in their office and online to help students with their job search. Contact CSO for more information or log into the USC Law portal.
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