Symplicity: Gentler, Fuzzier
…and less functional. Check out the Symplicity update.
Lockstep Seniority
While most people are freaking out about OGIs, our team of investigative journalists has been focusing its energies on something much more important to your happiness than callbacks and dings: namely, your locker.
We have, in fact, uncovered a useful link, not yet distributed to 2Ls or 3Ls, at which returning students can renew their locker rentals.
It is our understanding from an e-mail sent to 1Ls on Monday that if you do not renew your locker quickly, a 1L might get to it first and “lock” you out, so to speak:
I suggest that those interested in a locker visit the online rental form this week as there are many second and third-years that have yet to renew their lockers and will likely do so when we announce the new online system to them next Monday, 8/23–lockers and locker locations are limited.
No word yet on whether 1Ls will also leapfrog us, their more senior classmates, when it comes to Spring class registration or the parking lottery. Stay tuned for more on this developing story.
Things that you shouldn’t do unless you are Top 10%
From an e-mail containing OGI Advice from Peer Advisors:
For every interview, I researched practice groups, my interviewer and particularly the firm’s pro bono record to see what I could work in to a conversation.
…
For example, if you have a public interest-heavy resume, you can explain to firms that you wanted the challenge of working in different practice areas while being able to continue to do public service work through their pro bono program (mentioning specific projects of interest to you and saying they attracted you to that firm specifically).
DO, research firms, interviewers, and practice groups. But realize that talking about pro bono is only something that you can get away with if you have good grades and you just need something to talk about so that you don’t have an awkward interview. It will not help you sell yourself to interviewers if your grades don’t already do the talking. Pro bono doesn’t generate revenue.
OGI Eve
OGI is beginning soon, but if as I see it, less than half the class will get something there, much of the class must be exploring alternative strategies. Has everyone been networking or sending in resumes? What about applying to government honors programs? Has anyone gotten offers for next summer yet? Did you get something through the Symplicity job board, or through a connection?
And are we freaking out about OGI enough yet?
Let us know in the comments.
Have you tried breath mints?!?
Today’s Career Services “Interview Tip of the Day”:
We provided a garment-related tip for the ladies yesterday so I thought it only fair to give some advice about appearance today that applies to everyone.
When preparing for your interview, consider the details of your clothing and appearance. Lack of attention to shoes, fingernails, hairy necks (yes, I went there) may suggest a lack of attention to details in your work.
Here is a helpful checklist:
- Fingernails, trimmed and clean.
- Hair, tidy and not overly sprayed/gelled.
- Axe Body Spray, no.
- Designers Imposters Body Spray, see above.
- Shoes, shined.
- Socks, must cover your lower calves. No bare legs peaking out under pants.
- Guys – 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.
- Breath mint, yes please.
I once heard about a (non-OGI) employer who would walk each person out to the car following the interview to see if it was messy. Scary!
Bottom line = details matter. Please be prepared.
I appreciate the good will behind e-mails like this. And of course it is always better to get more advice than get less advice. But these are the kinds of tips that cause people to make fun of Career Services.
Many students who look so fresh, so clean, and who do all the other small stuff right, will not get jobs from OGI. Hygiene, dress, politeness, and things like that help on the margins, but this is a profession that loves grades. Connections can help, but there are connections, and then there are connections.
Do the small stuff right. You can’t afford not to. But beware false optimism. As Career Services rightly says, only expect a job from OGI if your grades warrant it.
Divergent Outcomes
Even during the boom times, if you entered law school, you either largely had it made or you didn’t. Your ability to “get BIGLAW” depended on grades, connections, and school rank. Now that T14 students are no longer able to overcome the grades barrier with school rank, the difference in career outcomes is apparent within schools like UVa in a way that it was not in the good old days.
How will the legal world and UVa adapt? There have been recessions before, and dips in legal hiring before, but some truly new winds of change are blowing this time around.
Class Selection
2L class selection opens up in an hour. Will you be taking Federal Courts, Federal Income Tax, and Secured Transactions? Or will you be slinking away to Law and Literature?
Baby OGIs
The Texas OGI sucks. The LA OGI sucks. The September OGI sucks as well. There’s no two ways about it.
