\par Spring OCI Is Around The Corner \par

Punxsutawney Phil may have seen his shadow last week, indicating six more weeks of winter. But Spring On-Campus Interviews wait for no groundhog’s approval. On March 2—6, employers from all over the state will descend upon the law school in search of their next intern, clerk or full-time attorney. My hope is this post will provide you the essential details you need to know (which you should know already if you’ve been reading the Monday email!), as well as some thoughts on how you can get the most out of this extremely useful job search tool.\par \par Student (and Employer) registration continues this week, so if you’re still needing to register or to get a resume approved by Angela (both a requirement for participation), do so immediately. Once you are registered, you’ll have the ability in Symplicity to view each employer that is recruiting your class year. I can tell you that right now the breakdown of employers recruiting class years is:\par \par 1L: 11\par 2L: 13 (plus three through Resume Collection)\par 3L: 12 (plus three through Resume Collection)\par Alumni: seven (plus one through Resume Collection)\par \par Bidding (i.e. applying) will take place Monday, February 16th and Tuesday, February 17th. There is absolutely no extending the bidding past 11:59pm the night of the 17th. So my advice is to prepare all your application documents well in advance, load them into Symplicity, and have everything you need ready to go when the bidding window opens. \par \par I strongly encourage you to research each of the employers recruiting your class year to determine whether you fit their hiring criteria, and whether it’s an employer you have at least some interest in. At this point in the process, it’s important to keep your options open and not narrow them too quickly. You’ll have the opportunity to do that after the first round of interviews.\par \par Remember what we generally say about the 1L summer: it is a networking summer. So don’t worry as much about pay (many 1L opportunities are volunteer, with government, judges, etc.) and employer type, but do prioritize practice area, geographic location and opportunities to meet people. You want to leave the end of your 1L experience with multiple leads and contacts heading into Fall On-Campus Interviews and your 2L year in general.\par \par It’s a bit tougher to give 2Ls general advice, because you’re each in such different positions at this point. If you don’t have any part of your summer filled yet (or one half with a volunteer/networking type job), you may want to prioritize those few opportunities with law firms, which pay, and could lead directly to a job. Those of you who already have a paying clerkship are looking for something in the other half of your summer, might want to pursue a networking type opportunity for the other half that could open up more doors should the other clerkship not yield a full-time offer.\par \par 3Ls and alumni have a great opportunity during Spring OCI, because these employers need someone full-time, today or very soon. There’s no guessing about whether a job awaits after a clerkship, and what the market might do in the intervening year. They have a need right now. That doesn’t mean you apply for everything, however. A common refrain from employers these days is they cannot stand the candidate who either directly or indirectly communicates that their interest in the firm is because they need a job. That’s simply not a good enough reason for them (though it may be for you). That’s why research, preparation and careful consideration of each opportunity is so important. You must figure out if you truly want the job, why, and then how you’re going to communicate that to the employer.\par \par We have several video tutorials to help you to navigate Symplicity before and during OCI. I encourage you to take some time to watch these, and ask us any questions you still have. We hope you have a fun and productive 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 Internship at U.S. District Court – Northern District of Texas – Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton (Fort Worth, 2L, 3L) Log in to Symplicity to view this job and apply. \par ]]>\par