OCI 2007 Calendar

Overview
Each year, the Law School conducts an On-Campus Interviewing (OCI) program that attracts law firms, government agencies, and public interest employers from throughout the U.S. Employers come to campus to interview students for summer and permanent employment. Generally, fall On- Campus Interviewing (OCI) results in jobs for 25 to 33% of each graduating class, compared to 12% nationally. The smaller spring OCI program provides additional employment opportunities. Do not be discouraged if you do not obtain a job through OCI-most students find jobs using targeted job search strategies and networking. The CSO staff can help you identify the resources and strategies that will benefit you most. You may also want to review the section on Interviewing.

Eligibility
Based on NALP regulations, students cannot interview until after December 15 of their first year and therefore 1Ls do not participate in fall OCI. Visit http://www.nalp.org/principles/index.php for more information. However, all students are eligible to participate in spring OCI.

Preparation for Fall OCI

1. Review the OCI information online via Symplicity over the summer. Identify employers of interest and carefully check the calendar for important dates and deadlines. Deadlines are final, with no exceptions.

2. Research employers with whom you would like to interview, noting their stated hiring criteria to determine eligibility. Deadlines for scheduling interviews occur before you return to school so you must prepare over the summer.

3. Submit your personal profile and resume online by the calendar deadline. We must send your resume to employers in advance of the interviews; consequently, you will not be allowed to interview if we have not received these documents on time. TIP: If necessary, send us your resume during the summer to have it reviewed. You can even e-mail or fax (574-631-4789) it to us if you wish!

4. Place your "bid" for interviews before the stated deadline. Read about Bidding for Interviews below.

5. Retrieve your schedule well in advance of the interviews to avoid potential time conflicts or other problems that could be handled in advance. Your schedule will be available online via Symplicity on the dates posted. All relevant information, including interview location and times, is on that schedule. Occasionally, we will not know the name of the interviewer until after your schedule has been printed. Employer schedules, with recruiter names, will be posted on the bulletin boards in the Resource Center on the day before each interview.

Bidding for Interviews
Bidding is the process by which you identify employers, in order of preference, with whom you would like to interview.

Symplicity will randomly assign interviews based on rank of bid, conflict in class schedule, class allocation and hiring criteria. The time a bid is placed has no effect on whether or not an interview will be awarded. Bids will not be allowed if a resume is not up-loaded.

• Click on the OCI tab (Don’t forget profiles must be completed to gain access)
• Select the correct session under search filters and click the search button.
• Important Dates will show when bidding takes place.

Class Schedules/Conflicts tab should be set before attempting to bid. The dates and times of On-Campus Interviews will show in a calendar type setting. Times when interviews would conflict with class or other commitments should be indicated by checking them off and clicking the submit button at the bottom of the page. Once submitted the time should be reflected with a blue box with the words ‘OCI Exception’ in it.

The Employers/Bidding tab is where employers can be viewed and bids made.

• Click the ‘I’ or Review to see more details such as offices Interviewing For, Additional Requests and Hiring Criteria. Contact information and Interviewer name can also be found here.
• The Bid tab has a drop down menu that will show available bids. Once you select a “bid”/rank the screen will refresh itself. Select a resume and enter a Preferred Location (if needed), then click the apply button.

If an interview has been awarded, it will be visible from the Scheduled Interviews tab. All students on the interview schedule will be visible to each other.

Do not bid for an interview with a firm if you do not meet their hiring criteria; such an action reflects badly upon you, this Office, and the Notre Dame Law School. It may also preclude another student from interviewing with that firm. Even though you do not know your class rank, use the employers' posted hiring criteria to decide whether or not you are eligible for an interview. We will not forbid anyone from interviewing with a firm provided you follow their guidelines. If you believe that you have a good reason for interviewing even though you fall outside their posted GPA, e.g., an illness affected exam grades or you have substantial experience, you may choose to schedule an interview. Keep in mind, however, that an employer expecting a certain level of academic achievement may ask you to defend your presence in the interview room if you do not appear to have the advertised credentials.

Once bidding closes, the computer looks to see how many students selected a firm as their first choice. It then tries to schedule all those students, regardless of bidding order-who bid first or last. Next, it identifies everyone who selected the firm as their second choice, and schedules them. For many of the employers, there are more interview slots available than interested students, so just about everyone gets on the schedule. If you have a very restricted schedule, however, you may not be selected. Obviously, if more students bid for a firm than there are slots available, there will be a waitlist, which is explained below.

Bidding for an interview slot entails a commitment: you are expected to accept your assigned interviews and to attend them. Failure to honor an interview appointment may result in a suspension of OCI privileges. Carefully review the section on Interview Etiquette for more information. If emergencies do occur, notify the office immediately.

The Waitlist
The waitlist is not the end of the world! If you bid for a popular employer and find yourself on the waitlist, here's what you do:

• Relax! Employers receive resumes for all interested candidates, including those on the waitlist. The employer may call you directly to set up an interview based solely on your resume.
  
  
• STALK the CSO! Interview schedules are printed and available for review in the CSO. If a scheduled student cancels and you are on the waitlist, you may take that interview slot by writing in your name and having a CSO staff member initial your entry. The waitlist is not ranked--anyone on the waitlist can claim a vacant slot. First come, first served! DO NOT attempt to bid on the computer again once the bidding closes; all subsequent changes are done manually on the printed schedules in binders at the CSO.
  
  
• Call the employer directly and ask if you can see the interviewer briefly before or after their regular day. Be creative! Other successful students have gotten "face time" at breakfast, lunch, dinner, the evening before or after the interview day, and even giving the interviewer a ride to the airport (this person got the only offer from that firm!). You don't need a full 20 minutes to make an impression. However, "suiting up" for impromptu meetings is strongly recommended.
  
  
• Take advantage of the breaks in the interviewer's schedule. Each interviewer gets one break in the morning and another in the afternoon. Show up a few minutes before their break and introduce yourself. This shows initiative and demonstrates your level of interest in the employer.

OCI Schedule Changes
BY YOU: First of all, avoid doing this at all costs! One change can disrupt the entire schedule. Do not bid for a firm unless you really want an interview. However, if you must cancel or adjust your time, consult the printed schedules in binders in the CSO. You MUST have a staff member initial your change! Unauthorized changes will be considered "no shows".

BY US: Unfortunately, employers do change and even cancel their schedules. Often, an interviewer must leave early to get a flight, or is delayed in the morning. If too few students bid on a firm, the employer may cancel altogether. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU CHECK YOUR BOX, EMAIL AND PHONE MESSAGES OFTEN DURING INTERVIEW SEASON. Even if the employer is responsible for changing the schedule, it still reflects very poorly on you as a candidate and on the school in general if you miss an interview.

Preparing for On-Campus Interviews
Know where you are going! Some interviews take place in the Law School, but because of increased employer visits, we also schedule interviews in other buildings on campus, such as McKenna Hall or the Career and Placement Office in Flanner Hall. Know in advance where your interview room is located. There are maps posted in the Resource Center with room locations. You may be asked to escort the interviewer to the assigned room. DO NOT check the map or ask a CSO staff member for directions in front of the interviewer! This makes you seem unprepared and disorganized, and could affect the outcome of your interview.

Be armed with a copy of your transcript, a writing sample, extra resumes, and a list of references. Always have a copy of your transcript with you when you interview. Almost all employers will ask for your transcript at some point in the interviewing process. Usually employers do not need an official copy until late in the process, so you can simply photocopy your transcript at first. To obtain a transcript, you must visit the Registrar's Office in person, or send a request letter with your full name, address, social security number, date of graduation, and signature to: Office of the Registrar, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 ATTN: Transcripts. PLAN AHEAD. It can take between 24-48 hours to process your request. Transcripts are free.

Choose a writing sample that represents your writing skills at their best. It can be a first-year writing assignment or exam, a document produced for an employer or professor, or a journal note. It should demonstrate your ability to reason and work with cases (i.e., a letter to a client is not appropriate, and neither is an essay about history or philosophy). If necessary, choose an excerpt, not more than 10 pages, from a lengthy document; most employers prefer succinct samples! A word of caution: if you use material you wrote for an employer, you must get permission to submit it as a writing sample and ALWAYS remove any identifying names or facts.

Always bring extra resumes and a list of 3-5 references with you to interviews, whether requested in advance or not! It shows that you are prepared.

Interview Etiquette: OCI and Beyond
Always show up for your interviews! A "no show" is a very serious offense. It affects not only your chances of employment, but also the reputation of the school and your classmates. An employer who is offended during a visit may choose to not return next year! If you do not show for an interview without properly canceling, you will be required to write a letter of apology to the interviewer. TWO "no shows" will result in the cancellation of all subsequent interviews and you will be banned from the CSO for the rest of the academic year.

Always be on time for your interviews! Everything you do in this process reflects on the kind of job you will do for the firm. If you are late, it suggests that you would be late for other appointments, court appearances and depositions. If there is a true emergency, contact the CSO and we will notify the employer.

If you are the first person on the schedule, it is your duty to escort the interviewer to the interview room and point out the location of the bathroom. Please arrive at the Career Services Office (Room 135) twenty minutes before your interview time to meet the interviewer. Know where you are going in advance. The employer is expecting you, so failure to show up will reflect poorly on you. It is, however, a great opportunity to make a good impression! You actually have a few extra minutes to impress the employer. Take advantage of it.

Inappropriate questions are rare, but sometimes an inexperienced interviewer will ask you something that you find offensive or irrelevant. The best way to handle this is to gloss over it and move on. For example, if you are asked if you have children (an illegal question), and you suspect answering "yes" will hurt your chances, do not yell, "that is an illegal question" and stomp out of the room. Instead respond to the interviewer's underlying concern: "If you are asking if I will be able to devote enough time and energy to your firm to do a good job, the answer is yes." However, you should always report such incidents to the CSO. We have good relationships with the employers and can gently remind them not to repeat that question. (Note: we usually do this after the season ends so that it does not affect the way they evaluate you in the hiring process.)

Questions about class rank are common. Most schools use a class rank system, so employers often expect this information. We give grading policy statements to each interviewer, and we have extras for you if you need them as proof that Notre Dame doesn't rank. However, you should address the actual question, i.e., how do you compare academically to other law students in your class? The best thing you can do is explain that, although you have no way of knowing your rank and that you are not allowed to guess, there are some "guideposts" for measuring student achievement. Tell them what the mean GPA of your class is. This is released every semester. Tell them that dean's list is 3.6, and that X number of people out of a class of Y made it last semester (go look at the results for your class to find out these numbers). DO NOT TRY to estimate your class rank: if the next person to interview has a similar GPA but a different estimate, one of you will look like you are lying! If all else fails, have them talk to us. We will explain it to them.

L-STAR Public Interest Funding
The Law Student Travel and Accommodations Reimbursement Program (L-STAR).

A message about JAG/Military Recruiting
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) believes that the recruiting practices of the military's Judge Advocate General (JAG) departments are inconsistent with the AALS principle of equal opportunity to obtain employment without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, handicap or disability, or sexual orientation, as well as with AALS requirements that we obtain written confirmation from any employer to whom we furnish assistance and facilities for interviewing and other placement functions of the employer's compliance with this principle.

Nonetheless, the AALS permits law schools to allow JAG recruiters on campus, provided that this notice of conflict between AALS policy and JAG recruitment practices is provided to students who are considering interviewing with JAG recruiters. Copies of materials related to this issue (including AALS Bylaw Section 6-4, AALS Executive Committee Regulation 6.19, AALS Memoranda 97-46 and 98-23 and the December 15, 1998 Report of the AALS Section on Gay and Lesbian Legal Issues) are available in the Career Services Office and on reserve in the Law Library. Any concerned gay or lesbian student may consult with Associate Dean Robinson or Peter Horvath, Director of Student Services. In addition, students may wish to consult the University's Standing Committee on Gay and Lesbian Student Needs. The Committee's web site is http://www.nd.edu/~scglsn/ .

Resume Collects and Directs
The CSO collects resumes for employers who have openings and would like information on Notre Dame Candidates but who have not scheduled on-campus interviews. Collects are posted on Symplicity in the jobs/resume collect section and can be identified by conducting a search using the Position Type drop down menu selecting ‘Fall Resume Collect’. Students can identify opportunities, research employers, and review hiring criteria. You will then submit your resume directly to the CSO. The CSO forwards resume packets to employers, who then either contact candidates directly or, if there is enough interest, schedule on campus interviews.

Employers can also request resumes and other documents from Notre Dame Law Students that is to be sent to them directly. The Directs can also be found in Symplicity in the jobs/resume collect section. They can be identified by conducting a search using the Position Type drop down menu and selecting ‘Resume Direct’. It is the student’s responsibility to mail the requested materials directly to the employer.