Dear Students,
On Thursday, April 9, the CSO directors and I had a call with the SBA to answer employment-related questions that have arisen in light of the pandemic. We thought it would be helpful to share with you the answers to their questions. As always, if you have any concerns about your post-graduation or summer plans, please reach out to us. We know this is a very uncertain time, with changes and adjustments being announced every day. We are here to help you navigate it all.
For 1Ls and 2Ls, we recognize that very few students will have the summer experience that they had expected. And for 3Ls, we recognize that questions about the bar and employer viability are causing a lot of nervousness. We are not alone in this—all of the law schools in the country are dealing with these uncertainties—but we know that this doesn’t take away your concerns. We are trying to keep tabs on everything going on in the industry so that we can best advise and support you.
First, we wanted to give you an idea of what we have been doing, in addition to student outreach and advising, which is our primary focus during this uncertain time.
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We have been in frequent contact with employers, both those that are confirmed to host a student this summer and those that typically recruit here, urging flexibility so that students can have some kind of meaningful opportunity to work and learn this summer, and to seek their input on fall recruiting.
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We are monitoring industry developments by participating in regular calls with NALP, being in touch with other law schools and employers, and following the news.
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We are working to increase opportunities, both for summer and post-graduation, whether through Bridge to Practice hosting or permanent employment. The school has created 30 additional RA positions for the summer; alumni have come forward with opportunities (as noted in the email that we sent on Thursday, April 9 and that we are posting on CareerNet); and we are doing more outreach to past employers, urging them to consider our students while also being sensitive that this is a difficult time for employers as well. We are also working with the Indiana State Bar Association.
Here are more specific responses to the questions we got from SBA:
Q: Has CSO been talking to firms and other employers? What are they saying?
A: We have been in regular contact with employers. Dean Parrish sent an email to all confirmed summer employers asking them to keep us up to date on their plans for their summer programs and urging them to be flexible. We are tracking responses on what firms and other employers are doing this summer. Some are going totally remote, some are delaying the start of their programs, and a handful have canceled their programs altogether. Most employers are hopeful that they can offer the students they’ve hired some kind of experience this summer. Again, it won’t likely be what any of us expected, but we hope it will still be meaningful. If you hear anything from your employer, please let us know so that we can track it. For post-graduate positions, we have not yet heard of any offers being rescinded or any start dates being delayed at employers where our students have accepted positions. If you hear otherwise, please let us know.
Back to questions.
Q: Thoughts on postponing OCIs? Is there student involvement in this decision?
A: As many of you are hearing, many law schools have opted to move their fall recruiting to January–February to allow for students to have another semester of grades to present to employers because of the satisfactory/fail grading this semester. We have reached out to every employer (law firm, government, public interest, military) who has participated in Bloomington on-campus or Chicago on-location recruiting in the past three years and asked them their thoughts on this.
Although we have not heard back from every employer, the vast majority who have responded support moving OCI to January–February. This tracks with what we are hearing from employers through NALP as well: The vast majority want to move recruiting to January–February because it will give them more time after this crazy summer to assess their needs, better understand the economic changes that we are all experiencing, and formulate a hiring strategy. We want to make sure our students are not disadvantaged in any way vis-à-vis their competitors, so we will be monitoring this situation closely and consulting with the faculty CSO committee, which includes students, before making any decisions.
Back to questions.
Q: What have we been telling students who have lost their internships?
A: We have been talking to many students whose internships have changed significantly, are uncertain, or have been canceled altogether. This is something that every law school across the country is facing, which again we understand does not alleviate your own worries. Our goal is that every student have some sort of meaningful experience this summer, even if it is part time or remote. We’re urging students to consider the faculty RA positions and other part-time or remote positions that we are posting on CareerNet and that we are working to try to increase. Even with that, there may be some students who do not have legal work this summer. And that is OK. As much as we would love for all of you to work this summer in a legal capacity, it may not happen given employer response to the pandemic. We urge students to consider what they can do in the fall to build legal skills and bolster their resumes, whether it is enrolling in a clinic, doing an externship for credit, volunteering, or taking skills classes. (Another reason to consider moving OCI is to allow for an additional semester of experience).
Back to questions.
Q: What is the Law School doing to help establish alternative summer plans in collaboration with firms and employers for 2L and 1L summer positions?
A: As noted above, the school has created 30 new RA positions, we have reached out to alumni who are providing additional support in the form of internships, and we are reaching out to employers who may not have posted this year but who might need assistance this summer. We are also working with the ISBA who will be encouraging their membership to offer summer positions if they can.
Back to questions.
Q: If a student does not have summer employment due to COVID, what should they do? And how should they explain this to future employers?
A: Unfortunately, this is probably going to be the case, even with all the outreach we are doing and the increased opportunities. There are students who may not be able to work at all for family or health reasons. Focus on what you can do—stay healthy, stay safe, and think to the future. You can get an excellent opportunity to gain skills and build your résumé this fall. As far as explaining this to future employers is concerned, employers are also being affected by the virus and are acutely aware of what it means for their own ability to hire interns and summer associates this summer. No employer will wonder why a student did not work during the summer of 2020. We will work with all of you on how to describe your own particular 2020 summer experience. We talk a lot about transferable skills, and we are all getting a crash course in adaptability, perseverance, and dealing with challenges this spring and summer. We will work with all of you in your career advising appointments and in our fall programing about how to describe your summer in application materials and in interviews.
Back to questions.
Q: What is the Law School doing to assist 3Ls?
A: In addition to urging alumni and other employers to consider our students for post-graduation opportunities, we are working to establish a broader network of employers interested in hosting our students as Bridge to Practice Fellows. This program has had great success rates in the past, with 70-80% of participants securing long-term employment either with their host or as a result of networking they’re able to do while being supported by the program. We have funding for around 35 graduates in the program. If students are interested in this opportunity, there is information in the document library on CareerNet, and they should discuss with their advisors. We are also talking to alternative legal service providers who offer opportunities for students to join law firms and company legal departments on a contract basis. We have added a posting from one of them, Legal Innovators, to CareerNet.
Back to questions.
Q: What is the Law School doing to help LLM and other grad students find positions so that they can stay in the US for their OPT year?
A: We work one-on-one with LLM and grad students the same as we do with JD students, and we urge them to reach out and make an appointment to meet with an advisor. Although there are some positions that require a US bar admission, other positions do not, and we will work with you to identify and apply for them.
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Q: Is the Law School providing any sort of support to recent graduates who may have been affected by the virus?
A: Yes. CSO is here for you while you’re in school and after you graduate. Although we do not see nearly as many alumni as we do current students, we advise alumni and have been working with alumni who have been laid off (so far, very few, but our doors are open).
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Q: What is the Law School doing with respect to planning for the 2020-2021 academic school year with respect to fall and spring externships?
A: As many of you who completed externships this semester know, many students had to complete their work remotely. Our plan for the fall is to go forward as normal with externships and we will be doing more outreach to prior semester externship hosts in hopes of developing more opportunities in the summer that students can apply for and, if hired, add during drop/add. As noted above, externships (and clinics and volunteer work) can be an important way to build skills and your résumé, so we hope students will consider fall externships.
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Q: What actions should we take in our educational curriculum to prepare?
A: We don’t think, from a career-perspective, that it makes sense to advise certain courses based on what is happening in the economy. Our advice is to continue to take foundational courses that will help build your legal analysis and reasoning and prepare you for the rigors of the bar exam, and to continue to take skills classes, participate in journal and moot court, and take clinics, externships, and other opportunities that will allow you to build your lawyering skills.
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Q: What type of job market are we expecting, and should we expect it to become more competitive?
A: It is too soon to know at this point, although we are certainly seeing firms furlough staff and cut partner and associate pay. As noted above, we haven’t yet heard of offers being rescinded for the class of 2020. We won’t know the impact on recruiting for future classes until we come out the other side of the pandemic and see how the summer goes. We will of course keep you posted and will be here to help you however we can.
Back to questions.
Anne Newton McFadden
Assistant Dean, Career Services
Indiana University Maurer School of Law
211 S. Indiana Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405
(812) 855-0259
(812) 855-4840 (fax)
anmcfadd@iu.edu
cc: Law School faculty and staff |
