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Career Planning For EveningParttime Students
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Title: Career Planning For EveningParttime Students
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Career Planning For Evening/Part-time Students
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Office of Career Planning Professional
Development
- Location
- We are located in the Student Services building
next to the law school on 5th and Lawrence. - Please use the side entrance behind the black
iron gate - Career Counseling
- Individual counseling appointments are available
- Email careerplanning_at_camlaw.rutgers.edu to
request an appointment - Once you have an assigned counselor, you can
email that person directly for future
appointments
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Quick Employment Facts
- The majority of Rutgers Camden students and
graduates work for small or mid-sized law firms,
at government organizations and public interest
agencies. - Large Law firms represent approximately 15 of
the legal market. - Nationwide, only a small percentage of law school
graduates work at large firms. - Small or mid-sized law firms, government
organizations and public interest agencies
generally hire only a few months in advance of
when they need someone to begin working (Late
Fall Semester and Spring Semester for Summer
Jobs) - Most employers DO NOT advertise their available
positions - The majority of successful candidates obtain
employment through direct targeted mailings
networking
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Resources
- Career Planning Website - http//www.camlaw.rutger
s.edu/ - Law Firm
- Public Interest
- Government
- Judicial Clerkships
- Career Planning Guide (job search, interviewing
resume and cover letter advice) - And more..
- Symplicity Accounts
- Internet based program that the Office of Career
Planning uses to deliver a number of our web
services - review job postings and apply for jobs
- RSVP for events
- sign up for mock interviews
- apply to employers participating in our on campus
recruiting programs and sign up for interviews - obtain contact information on judges for judicial
internship and clerkship applications - upload resumes and cover letters for counselor
review - Account access information will be emailed to you
in the beginning of November
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Cover Letter
- 1 page
- Articulate why you are interested in that
employer and why they should be interested in
you - First example of your writing skills so needs to
be flawless (no typos) and well written - Tailor it to the specific employer or at least
to the type of employer you are writing to - Explain why you would be a good fit for the
employer - Find a name to send the letter to (avoid Dear
Hiring Partner) - Model Cover letter in the CP Guide on the website
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Opportunities For Evening/Part-time students How
Do I get Legal Experience when I already have a
full-time job?
- Evening students face a special set of challenges
- Typically already have full-time job on top of a
busy course load - Generally unable to devote summers to legal
employment - Yet, legal employers expect you to graduate law
school with practical legal experience - Employers want to know that you can apply the
skills you developed in your law school classes - Want know that when they hire you, you can hit
the ground running - Because you have an extra year you may
consider waiting until your second year to begin
exploring options
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Options for Evening/Part-time students
- Pro Bono Public Interest Programs
- Various opportunities for law students to obtain
legal experience through Pro Bono Public
Interest Programs. - Some programs meet at night or on the weekends
- Bankruptcy Pro Bono Project - evenings
- Children's SSI Project
- Community Dispute Resolution Committee (CDRC) -
municipal court mediations 600 PM Tuesday
nights. - Domestic Violence Pro Bono Project
- Immigration Pro Bono Project
- Pro Bono Research Project - hours to be scheduled
at the student's discretion. - Defender Project,
- Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Project - T and
W 4 7 at the library, Sat mornings at Campus
Center Feb, March and the first 2 weeks of April - Election Protection Project
- Financial Literacy Project
- Street Law Project
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Options for Evening/Part-time students
- Assistant to Law Professor
- Many professors hire research assistants to help
them with legal research for conferences, legal
publications or books that they are writing. - RAs usually meet with the professor periodically
and then conduct research. - Great opportunity to get to know a professor on a
personal level, which may come in handy for
recommendations in the future. - Students can approach professors directly about
opportunities or apply for advertised positions
with a resume and letter.
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Options for Evening/Part-time students
- Per Diem/Project based work
- Busy small and mid-sized law firms often hire law
students to conduct research and writing
assignment on a per diem or project to project
basis. - Depending on the project, assignments usually can
be completed at home and emailed to the
supervisor. - Students can check their Symplicity account for
these job posting, but since few positions are
advertised, we recommend that students send a
cover letter and a resume to small and mid-sized
law firms offering assistance on research and
writing assignments.
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Options for Evening/Part-time students
- Full-time Law Clerk or Paralegal
- Some law firms hire law students to work as
full-time paralegals or law clerks. - This is an excellent way to make contacts in the
legal community and begin exploring your options.
- These types of positions are usually advertised
but students may want to be proactive and contact
firms they have an interest in working for.
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Options for Evening/Part-time students
- Write an article for publication in a law journal
- All legal employers value strong writing skills.
- Writing and publishing an article is an excellent
way to hone those skills and to demonstrate your
interest in a particular area of law. - Employers recognize the significant time and
effort required to write and publish an article.
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Options for Evening/Part-time students
- Externship
- Third-year students can gain academic credit
while working 12-15 hours each week for various
public and private nonprofit agencies and for
state and federal judges. - Students also attend seminars relating to the
work done in their placement.
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Options for Evening/Part-time students
- Clinical Programs
- Excellent way to obtain legal experience.
- Children's Justice Clinic
- Civil Practice Clinic
- Domestic Violence Project
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Options for Evening/Part-time students
- Summer Legal Positions
- Some evening students use vacation time, with
their employers consent, in order to work in a
summer position. - Other may be able to negotiate with their
employer for part of a summer off, or for a
schedule that allows a day or more off each week.
- Most legal employers that hire 1Ls for the summer
begin their hiring process in the Spring
semester. - The exceptions are large law firms, federal
judges and some government agencies.
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Finding jobs applying
- Job Listings
- Access job listings on the Career Planning
webpage - various types of job openings
(Symplicity accounts will be assigned later in
the week) - PSLawnet.org - public interest and government
positions - Be aware that only about 20 of all job openings
are advertised.
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Finding jobs applying
- Direct targeted mailings
- Apply directly for jobs that are not advertised
- Research firms and find contact information
- Martindale Hubbell, martindale.com
- The NALP Directory, nalpdirectory.com
- Search the NALP directory for law firms that hire
1Ls - NALP directory is not a comprehensive database of
all legal employers and contains primarily large
law firms and some government organizations. - VERY Limited opportunities for 1Ls at large law
firms - Research Government Public Service
organizations - PsLawnet.org
- Government Honors Internship website
- Use Symplicity (under Clerkships) to obtain
contact information on judges for judicial
internship applications
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Finding jobs applying
- Networking
- Networking is the process of establishing links
with individuals in a position to connect you
with the job you want. While networking does
require more effort on your part, it is the
single most effective way to land a job. - Career Planning Fall Spring Symposiums (our
Spring Symposium is schedule for Saturday
1/26/08) - Career Planning mock interview program in the
early Spring semester - Bar Associations events memberships
- Informational interviews
- Career Plannings Mentor Program
- Dinners and events sponsored by the law school
and student organizations
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Finding jobs applying
- Job Fairs
- PIPS Public Interest/Public Service Job Fair in
February - Philadelphia Diversity Law Group in February
- Delaware Minority Job Fair in January
- Questions? Email Gwen Tolbert gtolbert_at_camden.rutg
ers.edu, Program Administrator at the CP Office.
Gwen coordinates all job fairs.
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Finding jobs applying
- How to apply
- Most positions just require a resume, cover
letter ( usually transcripts). - Some positions require writing samples.
- In some agencies, the odds are improved by a
personal visit.
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- Questions?
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