Public Works

What (not) to Wear

So now you've got your interview selections and you're practicing and prepping for interviews.  Here's the easy part: getting dressed. We put out a list like this every year to make sure you know what the working world expects.  But I want to stress that you need to feel good about yourself when you walk into an interview room.  That means wearing clothes and accessories that are professional but fit your sense of style.

What to Wear

• Dark suit (i.e. black, charcoal, navy, gray)
• Hair: tidy and not overly sprayed/gelled. 
• Shoes: shined.  For women, moderate heels.  (I saw a woman at a career fair last fall wearing a lovely dark suit and 3-inch ivory heels.  She could barely make it down the escalator.  Please leave your Carrie Bradshaw heels behind on OGI days!)
• Men, socks must cover your lower calves.  No bare legs peeking out under pants.
• Women, if you wear a skirt suit you must wear pantyhose.  We recommend nude or sheer colors – not tights.
• Jewelry: keep it to a minimum.  Save the huge hoops and chandelier earrings for the weekends.
• You know that little tag on the sleeve of your new suit?  Cut it off.
• Remove the threads from pleats and pockets of new suits.
• Clean shaves or trimmed facial hair.
• Fingernails: trimmed and clean.

Do’s and Don’t Do's.

• Do knock (2-3 raps) on the interview door when it’s time for your interview.  Make sure it’s loud enough to be heard, but not so loud your interview thinks you’re the fire marshal ready to break down the door.
• Do bring a copy of your resume and cover letter, and any references if requested.
• DON'T bring your 30-pound law school backpack, Greenberry’s mug, or cell phone that plays your favorite Beyonce song every time you get a text.  Leave them in your locker. 

Relax and try to have fun while you’re interviewing.  The more you enjoy yourself, the more your interviewer can do the same.

Can Your Interviewer Enjoy Interviewing You?

Reading a column today in Inc. by Matthew Swyers about what separates good interviewees from great ones, I came across this little gem: "a candidate should...engage you on a level that you will enjoy and that moves you one step closer to offering them the job."

You won't always have a sports team or a hometown in common with your interviewer.  But you can always learn about their work.  As an interviewer, I found myself answering the same questions all day long: "how is your internship program structured?" or "what kind of work would I be able to do?" It was boring.

What's enjoyable to interviewers, then?  Having something like an equal partner in a fencing match or a band jam session.  When you have to explain basic techniques, you're already on totally different levels.

Employers enjoy talking with students who know their work and are excited about it - albeit not naively. Who can name the organization's major divisions and bring up a high profile case, initiative or central mission.  Who can talk about the law in a way that makes them feel that they'd enjoy getting debriefed about the status of research, and maybe even brainstorm solutions together.  It's harder for 1Ls than 3Ls, but the goal is always the same: leave the room feeling like a couple of future colleagues.

3 Funding Sources for Summer Internships

So you know about PSLawNet's Summer Funding Resources site.  If you don't, you should check it out here.  It's a great way to find grants to supplement your PILA application.

Here are 3 other funding sources that you should also check out:

1. The Monroe Leigh Fellowship in International Law.  This is a generous fellowship funded by Class of 1947 alumnus Monroe Leigh for Virginia Law students working at summer internships in their 1L or 2L years (and for postgraduate fellowships). Total of $10,000 for 1 or 2 students.  Deadline: February 8, 2012.  More information here: Download Monroe Leigh Fellowship 2012.

2. Raven Society Fellowships. Another great U.Va. institution - and you don't have to be a member of this elite society to apply. Several fellowships of up to $2,500 are awarded to support innovative undergraduate and graduate research projects. Special consideration will be given to proposed projects with a distinctly interdisciplinary focus. Applications are due February 17th at 5pm. For more information, contact the Raven Society at http://www.uvaravensociety.com/ and see the attachment here: Download The Raven Fellowship 2012

3. James B. McMillan Public Service Fellowships.  For students working at qualifying  North Carolina public service organizations (the list is big - legal aids, prosecution, public defender, etc.), stipends of up to $3,000 are awarded. You don't apply directly to the grantor, the Mecklenburg Bar Foundation, but your employer applies. If you're interested, let us know and we'll send you the list of eligible organizations.

Good luck!

2012 February Public Service OGI - Out-of-State Employers

Who's coming from out of state?  We invited roughly 100 new employers this year to our OGI - many of whom are from the major cities outside Virginia where we know you want to work.  Of those, a number of new employers signed up, and a number more told us they're very interested in U.Va. students and welcome direct applications.

Here's a breakdown of employers from outside Virginia so you won't miss any from your key cities.  Starred employers are interviewing at the OGI; the others are doing resume collects:

CALIFORNIA

Bay Area Legal Aid

DC

American Association of University Professors*

American Cancer Society

FCC, Int'l Bureau, Strategic Analysis & Negotiations Division

Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission, ALJ's Office*

U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights*

U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of General Counsel*

FLORIDA (Miami)

Legal Services of Greater Miami

MARYLAND

Community Law Center (Baltimore)

Maryland Office of the Public Defender (Baltimore)

Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office (Rockville)

National Labor Relations Board, Region 5 (Baltimore)*

NEW YORK (NYC)

New York State Attorney General*

The Legal Aid Society (Brooklyn) (both criminal defense and civil legal services positions)*

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, NY District

PENNSYLVANIA (Philadelphia)

U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of the General Counsel*

 

2012 Mock Interview Program for OGI

1Ls and 2Ls, we're doing something new this year to get you ready for interviews with public service employers at our annual February Public Service OGI.  We've recruited employers--many of whom are alumni--from major public service practice areas to conduct mock interviews.  We're also offering mock interviews conducted by our counselors (me, Amanda, Molly) designed to imitate a typical interview for a particular employer of your choice.

If you're very new to interviewing and could benefit from extra counseling, consider signing up with a PSC staff member instead of an employer.  We can spend more time with you and give you more than one mock interview, if that's what you need.

EMPLOYER OPTION

Date: Friday, January 27th

Interview Length: 20 minutes

Practice Areas/Times available (subject to possible minor changes):

• 9-10               Federal/State Government
• 9-11:30           Legal Aid
• 9:30-11:30      Public Defense
• 1-2                 Federal/State Government
• 1:00-3:00        Prosecution
• 1:00-3:00        County Attorney (Local Government)

To sign up for a mock interview with an employer, please email Assistant Director Andrew Broaddus at publicservicelaw@virginia.edu no later than Monday, January 16th at 5 p.m.  In your email, rank your top 2 choices for employers and provide your full availability during the times posted above.  We will take care of providing employers your resume in advance of the interviews.  All you need to do is show up at the appointed time, dressed appropriately for your interview.

If we do not have enough slots for everyone who's interested, we'll give priority to 1Ls and to those who responded first, so email us soon!

PSC OPTION

Dates: Anytime before your interview when we're offering counseling

Interview Length: Choose 30 minutes or 60 minutes

Practice Areas: Federal/State Government, Public Defense, Prosecution, Legal Aid, Local Government, and any practice area for your particular employer

To sign up for a mock interview with a PSC staff member, please request a counseling appointment on Symplicity, then choose "Public Service Center - Mock Interviews" with any of us in the PSC. You can request either 30 minutes or book two back-to-back sessions for 60 minutes total.

I hope you'll take advantage of mock interviews to get in the best shape possible for interviews.  We've seen students make HUGE progress over the course of 1-2 mock interviews and think everyone can benefit from doing them.

2012 February Public Service OGI - Employer Information

Happy New Year, everybody! Though you're not back on-grounds yet, now is the time to start preparing for our 2012 Public Service OGI, which will be held February 6-11, 2012. We know there's a number of employers who will definitely sign up by January 9th, so please check Symplicity over the next several days to see who's participating.

Every year we hear from employers that some students don't seem to know what the employer does.  This is a sure way not to get the job.  In my own experience as a former county attorney, I always got a few cover letters from students who thought my office prosecuted crimes.  Those students never got interviews, no matter how well qualified they were.  We've also heard from employers who participated in our February OGI last year that some students got to the interviews without knowing what the employer did. Not surprisingly, those students failed to impress them. 

So, to make sure you avoid these pitfalls, take a few minutes to review the information below.

Key Things to Know about our Employers

• Resume Collects (RC) vs. Interviews.  Some employers are participating through resume collects.  There are various reasons why employers choose this option over interviews.  For most, it's about time and money. Unlike firms, most public service employers do not participate in single school OGIs because of staffing and cost.  Many have small internship programs.  We also have some new employers this year from New York and California for whom distance plays a big factor.  The thing to know, though, is that your applications will get reviewed and employers will respond directly to you--not through Symplicity--if they wish to interview you.

• Commonwealth's Attorneys vs. County/City Attorneys. Commonwealth's Attorneys are prosecutors.  This term is specific to Virginia and some other states.  Elsewhere, they're known as district or state's attorneys.  On the other hand, county, city, or town attorneys work exclusively on non-criminal law matters unless they prosecute selected ordinance misdemeanors (if they do, these cases form just a small part of their jobs). Our participating county and city attorneys' offices handle a wide range of civil work on behalf of their localities--land use/zoning, employment law, police & fire, contracts, finance and bankruptcy, child protective services, and litigation, to name several areas.  If you're interested in litigation experience, apply to the Henrico and Chesterfield County Attorney offices, as they both handle a large volume of litigation.
  

• Staff Attorney's Offices and Administrative Law Judges. Staff Attorneys are either term-appointed or career attorneys who advise judges.  Working for a staff attorney's office is similar to working at a judicial internship, as you will get experience handling and preparing cases for judges.  Administrative Law Judges or ALJs (for example, our returning employer, the ALJ for the Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission) are federal judges who handle administrative cases for their agency.  Internships with ALJs are also very similar to judicial internships.

• Client and Witness Contact.  Learning how to talk to clients and witnesses is a big part of becoming a good lawyer.  You will get an excellent opportunity to do this at the legal aid organizations participating at our OGI, as well as the Public Defender and Commonwealth's Attorney's offices.  While most of your client and witness interactions will center on litigation, some of it will be to help them understand the legal system and other legal assistance options.

Quick Plug for Cover Letters

• It's tempting to use the same cover letter for all your employers coming to a single OGI.  Don't.  Remember to research your employer and hit in the first or second paragraph of your cover letter WHY YOU WANT TO WORK FOR THAT EMPLOYER.  You can't do this effectively unless you know what they do.
• Stuck?  Need some quick cover letter advice?  Email publicservicelaw@virginia.edu and get help. Or email me (Annie Kim) directly at ak5m@virginia.edu. 

Enjoy, good luck, and remember that January 11th at 10 p.m. is your deadline!