2011 Public Interest Interview Week: February 7-11

by ANDREW BROADDUS

The 2011 Public Interest Interview Week will be held on February 7-11 at the University of Virginia School of Law.  Public service employers primarily from the mid-Atlantic region will be available on grounds and via video conferencing to interview 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls, and LLMs for internship and permanent positions. Currently eighteen employers have signed up; additional employers will continue to register until January 18. We therefore recommend that you check Symplicity on a regular basis.

How to Request an Interview:

(1)  Log into Symplicity.

(2)  Click on the OCI tab on the top ribbon.

(3)  Select “2011 Public Interest Interview Week” as the “Session” in the upper left hand box. 

(4)  Select your “Default OCI Resume” and upload your resume.

(5) To review an employer and the opportunity it offers, click on the “Review” button. Please make sure to review all details pertaining to eligibility and submission requirements before signing up for an interview.

More on how to request interviews and a list of important dates after the jump.

(6)  If the employer only requires a resume, on the right side of the page, you can proceed to: (a) select the resume you wish to use, (b) change the notation “No Bid” to "1", and (c) click “Apply”.  Please note that while we are not using a lottery process for the Interview Week, Symplicity requires applicants to insert a bid number. (Note also that employers cannot see these numbers; bids have no bearing on an applicant's chances of receiving an interview).

(7) If the employer requires additional documents, you will need to upload them to Symplicity. Instructions for uploading documents are available here. Please note that the Symplicity system automatically uploads and updates grade reports on a daily basis.

(8) Once your additional documents are uploaded, you must once again click on the “Review” button next to the employer’s name under the OCI tab.  Then use the drop-down boxes on the right of the screen to change from “No Bid” to "1" and to include the additional documents that the employer has requested.  If you have no grade report yet, simply leave this empty.  As noted on the grade report, the law school does not publish GPAs or class rank.

(9) Once you upload your documents click on the “Apply” button to complete your request for an interview.

Key Dates:

January 10 - 20, 2011:  Students sign up for interviews. This must be completed by 10:00pm on the 20th. This is a firm date. We urge you to not wait until the last minute to sign up. The interviews will be scheduled to avoid a class conflict; however, if there are particular dates and times that we should consider, please add a personal event on your Symplicity calendar. The Personal Events tab is available under Calendar (click on “Add New.”)

January 21 - January 26:  Employers pre-select students for interviews and students are scheduled for interview slots.

January 27 - January 30:  Students accept or decline interviews.  For any interviews that are declined, we will schedule alternates identified by the employers and notify those students.

February 4 at noon:  Interview schedules finalized. Students selected as alternates should also make sure to review the schedules on this date.  

February 7:  Interviews begin.

If you have questions about this process or encounter difficulty please stop by the Public Service Center or contact us at publicservicelaw@virginia.edu or 434-924-3883.  Good luck and best regards.

Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center