After fall semester, and you survive your 1L finals, you can start thinking about getting a summer job.
Even in the fall, but mostly in the first few months of the spring semester, there are panels during the lunch hour with practicing attorneys from a wide range of practice areas – criminal law, corporate law, public interest law, and so much more. At these panels, you can ask questions and hear about their experiences in the real world – not the tailored 1L classroom world.
Beyond the panels, Loyola offers OCI (on-campus interviews) for a wide variety of interests. I participated in the Public Interest OCI. This session of OCI is a bit different because it’s Southern California wide so the people interviewing me were not just interviewing Loyola students, but also students from other Southern California law schools.
Not only is OCI great experience for interviews, but it’s great practice getting different cover letters done for a wide variety of jobs. One of the best things you can do is write a great cover letter – which the career development office has workshops on if you need help.
The networking events and speaker series that Loyola puts on have looked a bit different this year, as they have still been over Zoom, but the speakers are all too happy to give their emails so you can reach out with follow up questions and potential contacts.
Beyond the Career Development Office, some of the affinity organizations offer dinners and lunches on campus with alums, teachers, and other students – all of which are invaluable connections to make at law school. Some of these events are more formal, but some are casual on a lawn on campus. They are fun and easy ways to make wonderful connections with classmates you see around campus, as well as connections with the world beyond our small Loyola gates.