Law Students

Life After OCI
By:  Daniel Hare

OCI has come and gone and you’re without a clerkship, now what?

On-campus interview season can be a rollercoaster of highs and lows.  The uncertainty of the bidding process, the chaos of 20-minute speed-dating interviews, the waiting to hear about callbacks, the callbacks themselves, and finally the offer or the silence, all contribute to an exciting yet draining first few weeks of the 2L school year. 

But what happens if the silence reigns?  What do you do if you went through the OCI process and came away with nothing?  This is a humbling experience to be sure, but actually more common than you might think, and certainly not the end of the opportunities for a summer clerkship.

Here are a few thoughts and tips to consider as you move on to Plan B for your summer clerkship search:

1.)  Review the first round to identify potential problems you can correct.  Did you simply not get very many interviews?  Perhaps you should go back over your resume and cover letters to make sure they are high quality and error free.  Did you get screening interviews but no callbacks?  Ask your career services office about a mock interview.  Did you go on some callbacks and receive no job offers?  Reach out to one or more recruiters from the employers you interviewed with and ask for feedback. 

2.)  Apply directly to firms that didn’t attend your OCI.  Yes this is a long shot, so be efficient with your time and only choose those firms you are qualified for and interested in.  But I will say we had a student this cycle receive a callback interview after applying directly to a large law firm.

3.)  If your school has more than one round of OCIs, participate in the next round.  At Baylor we put on a second OCI session in October geared toward small and mid-sized firms and government employers.  Many schools (Baylor included) also have yet another round of on-campus interviews in the spring.  Take advantage of all these opportunities.

4.)  Network, network, network.  I know most law students don’t like this answer and would prefer to send 100 resumes cold from their computer before going to a cocktail reception.  However, you’re reading TYLA eNews so hopefully you recognize the importance of connecting with others in the legal community who can potentially help you with your job search.

There remain many opportunities for summer clerkships after the initial round of OCI has finished up.  In fact, OCI contributes to a relatively small percentage of summer jobs, and even fewer full-time positions. So you should remain optimistic.  It will just take buttoning up your application documents and/or interview skills and increased effort to network and put yourself in position to capitalize when one of those opportunities arises.

Daniel Hare is the director of employer relations at Baylor Law School.  He is also an attorney and a former university athletic director.