Public Works

Defense Intelligence Agency Recruiting Event - February 1 | National Security Presentation - Feb. 21

By YARED GETACHEW

The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) will hold a recruitment event on Tuesday, February 1 from 9:00am-3:00pm at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel (Downtown Mall). The DIA is a Department of Defense combat support agency and an important member of the United States Intelligence Community. With more than 16,500 military and civilian employees worldwide, DIA is a major producer and manager of foreign military intelligence. They provide military intelligence to warfighters, defense policymakers and force planners, in the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community, in support of U.S. military planning and operations and weapon systems acquisition.

2011 Public Interest Interview Week - Update 2

By YARED GETACHEW

Additional Employers: 4 additional employers will participate in Public Interest Interview Week: Charlottesville City Attorney's Office (resume collect), Fairfax Public Defenders Office, Human Rights Program, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Departmental Appeals Board (resume collect). Please note these employers will only be interviewing 1Ls and/or 2Ls.

If you wish to submit an application to these employers, please follow the steps outlined in our previous post with the only change being that you will select "2011 Public Interest Interview Week - Supplemental Session" as the "Session." Due to the late date of these employer registrations, you will need to request bids for these employers by Thursday, January 27, at 10:00pm.

Accepting and Declining Interviews: Beginning on January 28, students will be able to see if they have been selected for interviews. (This does not apply to the Supplemental Session. Students who have requested interviews with the Supplemental Session employers will be contacted separately.) To review your invitations and accept or decline interviews, please do the following: 

Interviewing with Public Interest Employers - 1L Mock Interviews

By Yared Getachew & Andrew Broaddus

As many of you know, the Public Service Center is preparing to host Public Interest Interview Week.  We have a near record level of employer participation this year and we are grateful to employers – returning and new - for recruiting on North Grounds.  More than forty diverse organizations, ranging from federal government agencies to civil legal services providers will interview students for summer internship and entry-level positions. 

The Center’s extensive programming last semester offered, in part, advice on how students should approach interviews with employers in the public sector. For those of you interested in honing your interview skills, the Center will host mock interviews next week, on Tuesday February 1 and Wednesday, February 2.  For those of you who are not able to participate in the mocks, we will have a Q&A session on Thursday, February 3, at 1:00pm in SL294. 

The Center's personnel will conduct the interviews and will simulate six types of employers indicated below:

PSLawNet's advice for 1Ls and 2Ls: Cover Letters

PSLawNet, the online resource for law students and practitioners considering careers in the public interest just posted advice on its blog for first- and second-year law students applying for summer internship positions.  The piece offers five basic tips when writing public interest cover letters. I suspect my friend Steven Grumm, Director of Public Service Initiatives, penned this post (the reflexive pronoun suggests it) and it's excellent:

Before we get to our tips list, the first, most important, universal tip is that law students should immediately schedule an appointment in their career services or public interest advising office.  Your author, about 10 years ago, fancied himself a sort of rogue public-interest student who didn’t need the help of his public interest career advisor.  This was really, really dumb.  Only after I sent the job applications out did I see the typos (amazing how they jump out at you once the original letter has already been sent), the formatting inconsistencies, etc.  These are things that a trained eye would have caught in no time.  Read more.

2011 Public Interest Interview Week - Update 1

By ANDREW BROADDUS

Employers are continuing to register to participate in our annual Public Interest Interview Week scheduled February 7-11.  We are grateful to all employers - both new and returning - for their willingness to recruit at the Law School despite, in many cases, having received numerous applications this year.  A list of registered employers is available here. Please note employers are able to register through Tuesday, January 18, so continue to check Symplicity.

Students: requesting interviews - the deadline for requesting interviews is Thursday, January 20, 10:00pm. All bids must be made by that date. Please refer to our previous post on how to request an interview.

Transcripts:  Some employers have requested a transcript. As you know, you will not have all of your grades prior to Wednesday's deadline. Here's how to proceed:

• Upload your current [but incomplete] grade report.  If a transcript has not been generated for you, it means that you have not received any grades. You will still be able to make bids without attaching a transcript. (You must, however, attach all other documents that employers require).
• The Public Service Center will contact employers to let them know that students requesting interviews may not have complete transcripts available at this time and that students will bring copies with them to their interviews.

Update No. 2 on how to accept/cancel interviews will be forthcoming.  Please direct questions regarding the 2011 Public Service Interview Week to publicservicelaw@virginia.edu.

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

By YARED GETACHEW

The Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center honors today the life and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968).  His work to secure civil and human rights for all Americans is an inspiration to all of us especially to those who dedicate their lives to public service.  Meredith Jung-En Woon, Dean of Arts & Science at UVa, has written an excellent piece on her blog today to honor King's work:

On the occasion marking the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., we might pause to reflect on the early days of integration at the University of Virginia, going back now six decades. It was in 1950 that Gregory Swanson, a black attorney from Danville, successfully sued to gain admission to the Law School. For years, African-American scholars had been seeking admission to the graduate program, going all the way back to 1935, when Alice Jackson of Richmond applied to the graduate school in French. Read more (The Desegregated Heart).

BLSA Public Interest Diversity Reception: February 7, 2011

By YARED GETACHEW

My colleagues and I at the Public Service Center have had the pleasure to work with the Virginia Law Black Law Students Association (BLSA) in its tireless efforts to host its second Public Interest Diversity Reception at the Law School.  BLSA's inaugural reception in 2009 was a huge success - it allowed students the opportunity to network with representatives from several employers in the public sector and for some students, the reception led to jobs. BLSA has once again put together its now annual gathering which will take place on Monday, February 7.  Below is a public service announcement by Marina Warner - BLSA's Community Service Chair. Students interested in attending should read the announcement for information regarding registration.  Questions about the event should be directed to service@uvablsa.org.

BLSA Public Interest Diversity Reception

Please join UVA BLSA for its second annual Public Interest Diversity Reception on Monday, February 7 at 6:30pm in Caplin Pavilion.  The reception allows public service organizations and agencies to meet with first, second, and third-year law students interested in working in the public sector.  The reception is open to the entire law student body but members from the following diverse student organizations are especially encouraged to attend:  BLSA, PILA, APALSA, Lambda, LALO, Women of Color, NALSA, VLW, and MLSA.

The following  employers have RSVP'd, but more are expected to be added:  Blue Ridge Legal Services, Supreme Court of Virginia (Office of the Executive Secretary), Legal Aid Justice Center (Immigrant Advocacy Program), Legal Aid Justice Center (JustChildren), US Army JAG Corps (Command Judge Advocate), Federal Public Defender's Office (Western District of Virginia), Supreme Court of Virginia (Office of the Chief Staff Attorney), Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, and the Albemarle Country Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.

Students must RSVP using the following form to attend: Public Service Diversity Registration Form. The deadline to do so is Wednesday, February 2 at 11:59 pm.

Attire is business formal.  Questions may be submitted to service@uvablsa.org.

Apartment exchange - summer 2011

By YARED GETACHEW

For students seeking housing for the upcoming summer: we just received notice from NALP announcing its 2011 free online apartment exchange for law students who seek summer housing.  The service will be available January 15 to May 15, 2011.  A link to the exchange is available here and on the left-hand column of this blog, under Summer Housing.

Current issues in indigent defense and prison systems

by YARED GETACHEW

This is for those of you interviewing with indigent defense, civil legal services, and law enforcement organizations. Last year, I referred to a television report in NYC discussing how state budget cuts and rising caseloads have affected the work of public defenders.  The Constitution Project's recent interview with Steve Hanlon below picks up on two aspects of our criminal justice system - the dramatic increase in the number of people entering our prisons and the impact of this spike on school systems.  Being conversant on these issues would go a long way toward showing employers your awareness of important issues regarding our criminal justice system and your commitment to public service. Hanlon is a partner at Holland & Knight and chairs the Constitution Project's Board of Directors.

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.