\par Get The Most Out Of OCI \par

It's interview time again and many of you will be asking or wondering (or should be), how do I get the most out OCI? Here are five things you can do:\par

1. Get your materials ready. It's a safe bet that employers may ask for your resume, a cover letter, your transcript and a writing sample. These aren't documents which can be thrown together over night, so get started today. Don't be the student (and there are usually several) who has technology issues with their documents the final night of bidding as time is running out. That can all be avoided if you get your documents complete and uploaded well in advance.
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2. Research the employers. Spring OCI is a smaller program (around 10 employers), so you should have no problem at all researching each one. Make sure it's a place you think would be a good fit for you and your goals for the summer (which will or could be different depending on whether you're a 1L/2L/3L). Also research to know the employer inside and out; this will be important for personalizing your cover letter as well as in the interview as we'll discuss.
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3. Bid for as many employers as you can conceivably see yourself working for. Remember that while you're required to interview if selected by the employer, you aren't required to accept their job offer. So why narrow the field too much at the bidding stage?
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4. Prepare for the interview. This includes the research mentioned in (2) above, as well as participating in a mock interview with me. Employers want to know you didn't “spam bid” without regard for who they are or what they do. If you don't learn anything about them beforehand, it's going to be apparent in the interview and likely won't lead to a job offer. More specifically you want to have a few items you can discuss or ask about that are specific to that employer (e.g. a big case they were recently involved in, how their new offices are working out). I went into detail about mock interviews in last week's post, so you can read my thoughts on their value here.
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5. Approach the interview engaged and confident, but not arrogant. A common critique we'll hear from interviewers after OCIs is the students were too reserved or meek. Sometimes this can even be interpreted as disinterested. You really don't want that. I'll observe these issues if you participate in a mock interview, but otherwise just be aware of your confidence level and make sure it isn't too far in either direction.

Remember that Spring OCI is just one in a number of tools to help you in your job search, so don't put too much pressure on yourself to perform or be perfect. Do the little things right before hand, relax, and you'll be just fine. Please let Angela or I know your questions or how we can help.\par \par Contact Daniel by email at Daniel_Hare@Baylor.edu or on Twitter@BaylorLawDaniel.\par \par REMINDER: Spring OCI is March 3-7, and the deadline to register is this Wednesday, February 12th. Please see the email from Career_Development from this past Friday for more details or come by the CDO.\par \par JOB OF THE WEEK: Each week I highlight a job in Symplicity you might be interested in but may have missed. This week's job is: Summer 2014 Legal Intern (1L, 2L or 3L) with the Office of General Counsel in the Governor's office in Austin. Log in to Symplicity to view this job and apply. \par \par Return to Employer Updates page \par ]]>\par