Best Practices for the Postgraduate Public Interest Job Search
In the wake of the recent economic recession and the lumbering recovery, law students and recent grads attempting to forge public interest career paths have experienced an array of adversities. As is well-known, we as job seekers are all subject to the prevailing economic winds. We can’t control the macro-level economic realities that influence our job markets. However, in the context of the public interest job search, we can control the strength with which they present themselves–in both written and in-person presentation.
Here is an article I recently wrote for the NALP Bulletin that highlights tried-and-true tips and best practices for the postgraduate public interest job search. The article includes wisdom gathered from Jennifer Thomas, Director of Recruiting at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, as well as Charlene Gomes, Senior Program Manager at Equal Justice Works, and Jarrod Shirk, American University Law’s Public Interest Coordinator. The advice offered by Jennifer, Charlene, and Jarrod is extraordinarily valuable, and I encourage those who are setting out on public interest career paths to give the article a read. (Frequent PSLawNet Blog readers will recognize some of these tips from a series of blog posts we did earlier this year for summer job seekers. This time we’ve retooled the information for those seeking postgraduate jobs.) The article includes tips on:
- Cover letter and resume drafting;
- Interviewing; and
- Networking.
I hope you find this useful, and good luck in the job search! We’re doing our best to post as many jobs as we can find on PSLawNet, so that’s a great starting point. (And note that you can find even more job application guidance on our Job Search Fundamentals page.)
– Steve Grumm
