\par \par Three Bidding Strategies To Get The Most Out of OCI\par \par

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Three Bidding Strategies To Get The Most Out of OCI

OCI bidding begins today. Most of you probably have an idea which firms you’re bidding with, but just in case here are some last minute tips and things to consider.\par
  1. Use as many of your 20 bids as you can honestly use! Honestly meaning you would at least be willing to give that employer a chance in an interview. There’s simply no reason at this point in the process to limit your options by using fewer bids than you’re allowed. Remember that all you’re committing to by bidding is to, if chosen, participate in a 15-30 minute interview on-campus. There’s no obligation past that, and you can always decide not to move forward with any employers at that point you don’t feel are honestly in the running for your services. Finally, I shouldn’t have to remind you the market is still not in your favor, it’s in the employers'. So you need to bid/interview/consider employers that, perhaps in a better market with more options, you wouldn’t.
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  3. Be open geographically. Inevitably, a group of you will be tempted to limit yourself to one geographic region (usually Dallas or Austin), to the point where you will only bid for employers in that one city. Some of you may have very good reason to do so (e.g. spouse already has a job there). But for most of you it’s just a preference. For the purposes of bidding, we encourage you to let your preferences be a factor in your bidding rather than a hard and fast rule. For example, if Dallas is your preferred destination, bid with 13 Dallas employers and seven from other cities. Markets like Houston and West Texas are growing quickly right now and hiring quite a few lawyers; you ignore them at your peril.
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  5. Diversify. When you applied to law school you likely had your “reach” schools, your “safe” schools and some schools in between. In many ways OCI is no different. You’re best served bidding with a few “reach” employers, a few safe employers, and then the bulk of your 20 bids should go to employers who you are most qualified for and interested in. How does this work in practice? Let’s say your class rank is Top 1/3rd. A good strategy might be to bid with five Top 15% preferred (not required obviously!) employers, 10 or so employers asking for between Top 15% and Top ½, and another five without stated grade requirements. Sure you could bid with more or less of each category, but you get the idea. Don’t bid with 20 employers asking for better than Top 1/3rd, as you’re likely to wind up with only a few interviews.
\par One last thing is not to forget the Resume Collection employers. There is no limit to how many of them you can bid with, and these are fantastic employers that deserve your consideration. Please let Angela or I know if you have specific questions about bidding strategies. We are here to help, and want you to get the absolute most out of your OCI experience.\par \par Connect with Daniel at Daniel_Hare@Baylor.edu and/or @BaylorLawDaniel on Twitter.\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: 2015 Summer Legal Internship at the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, D.C. (1L, 2L, 3L) Log in to Symplicity to view this job and apply. \par ]]>\par

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