by Kristen Pavón

Last month, CareerBuilder.com released Jobology: 153 Ways to Improve your Job Search. The colorful, easy-to-read 20-page guide is full of quick tips on all stages of the job search — resumes, cover letters, tools for job searching, networking, interviewing, following up and what to do once you get a job offer.

Here are a few of the “nice-sounding (but empty) words” they say to avoid in your resume:

• meticulous
• motivated
• detail-oriented
• flexible
• independent
• innovative
• successful
• team player
• people person
• ambitious
• creative

I’m guilty of using one or more of these words in my resumes and cover letters — I guess they are pretty overused…

Career Builder suggests using keywords from the job description and nouns rather than action verbs (Ex. “communications specialist” or “computer proficiency” over “managed” or “developed”).

Are you guilty of using these words in your applications? What are some alternatives to the words on this list?

Vera Institute is looking for a graduate-level intern to work with the Center on Sentencing and Corrections staff in Vera’s Washington DC office to begin in January and work until June 2012.

Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections (CSC) provides non-partisan support to judges, corrections administrators, state legislators, and other officials who are seeking to improve their systems and outcomes. CSC provides an integrated mix of research, technical assistance, and planning services to advance criminal justice policies that promote fairness, protect public safety, and ensure that resources are used efficiently.

This is an extraordinary opportunity for a motivated student to join a dynamic and innovative staff on a cutting edge project. The intern will work closely with Vera’ Segregation Reduction Project (SRP) staff.

The SRP partners with state’s departments of corrections to reduce their reliance on segregation, transfer prisoners in segregation to other levels of security safely, and improve conditions of confinement for prisoners who remain in segregation.

The position may include conducting literature reviews and best practices searches, doing legal research, tracking litigation filed in partner states, drafting findings and recommendation memos, and performing basic tasks to assist with quantitative analysis of large administrative data sets.

If you’re interested, check out the listing at PSLawNet!

Equal Justice Works seeks a visionary manager from the public defender community to join them in expanding employment opportunities in indigent defense across the country. Currently, there are 18 Public Defender Corps (PDC) fellows working in the northeast and southeast United States.

The PDC is a partnership with the award-winning Southern Public Defender Training Center, a visionary organization dedicated the changing the culture of indigent defense from one which processes individuals quickly through the criminal defense system to one of client-centered representation and zealous advocacy. The manager will be a key leader in improving indigent defense by bringing talented new lawyers into the field.

The Program Manager’s primary function is to help create public interest law opportunities in indigent defense and provide programmatic support to host sites, the Southern Public Defender Training Center and other stakeholders of the newly-inaugurated Public Defender Corps. The Program Manager reports to the Federal Programs and Strategic Initiatives Director. Some travel required.

Additionally, the fellowships manager will also be involved in program development, fundraising, and program management.

If you’re committed to public interest work, find out how to apply at PSLawNet!

Manhattan Legal Services is looking for a dynamic and experienced attorney to serve as the Deputy Director of the Housing Unit for its borough-wide program. This office is part of Legal Services NYC (LSNYC), the largest provider of free civil legal services for low-income people in the country.

The Manhattan office is dedicated to providing high quality legal services in the areas of housing, family law, public benefits, employment, immigration, consumer, and disability rights. The Manhattan program also has special units serving particular vulnerable populations including domestic violence victims, people with HIV, and SRO tenants.

The Deputy Director of the Housing Unit will work under the direct supervision of the Housing Unit Director. The responsibilities of the Deputy Director of the Housing Unit will include assisting with the supervision of the housing and benefits unit (currently 8 staff members). In addition, the Deputy Director will carry a reduced caseload and will co-counsel complex cases, develop and file affirmative litigation and work on furthering collaboration with community-based organizations.

The Deputy Director will also assist with grants management and management of the intake process of the unit. The exact division of the duties will be determined by the Housing Unit Director in consultation with Project Director. This is a four day per week job which includes all benefits (pro-rated).

Interested? Check out the listing at PSLawNet!

Thinking about working for the federal government? Well then, the Partnership for Public Service’s new report on the best places to work in the federal government is worth a look.

The report rates agencies on 1) employee skills/mission match, 2) strategic management, 3) teamwork, 4) effective leadership, 5) performance based rewards and advancement, 6) training and development, 7) support for diversity, 8 ) family friendly culture and benefits, 9) pay, and 10) work/life balance.

However, one caveat is that the report does not reflect data on attorney satisfaction. It gives a broad look at the agencies. A quick glance at the percent change column shows that most agencies’ scores went down a bit. Hmm.

Check out Partnership’s list here and make sure to browse through the scores by category (or view the list with all the categories on one page here).

Department of Justice, the largest employer of attorneys in the nation, made it to #11 on the overall score list — out of 33 large agencies.

Also, check out score analysis over at The Washington Post.

The LGBT Bar Association Foundation of Greater New York (“LeGaL Foundation”) judicial fellowship program remains one-of-a-kind by providing fellows the chance to rotate for the 10-week summer among several different judges from varying courts and tribunals.  

The fellow gets a first-hand look at the work of openly gay and lesbian and other judges in federal, criminal and state civil courts, and administrative tribunals, providing an insider’s understanding of the judicial system and the opportunity to work alongside openly lesbian and gay judges.  Additionally, depending on the assignments selected by the fellow, students can expect to complete 1-2 written assignments consisting of draft decisions and/or memorandum.

The fellowship is intended for law students with a demonstrated interest in, and commitment to, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.  The program values diversity.  All interested students are encouraged to apply.
A $4,000 stipend will be awarded to a qualified law student to support a 10 week summer judicial fellowship in New York City under the auspices of the LGBT Bar Association Foundation of Greater New York (“LeGaL Foundation”).
Interested? Check out the listing at PSLawNet!

This public interest law firm is looking for a senior attorney with 5+ years of experience practicing civil complex litigation and class actions.

The Legal Advocacy Center of Central Florida, Inc. (LACCF) is a non-profit non- Legal Services Corporation restricted law firm dedicated to enforcing the legal rights of eligible low-income clients and disabled persons in Florida Legal Services Region III by providing advice and counsel, legal representation on “impact matters” and class action lawsuits, community education and outreach, and legislative advocacy.

Sound interesting to you? Check out the listing at PSLawNet!

by Kristen Pavón

Cover letter endings are tricky. In my PR courses, professors advised me not to leave the ball in the employer’s court at the end of my cover letter. So, I usually ended my cover letters with something like this:

I will contact you within a week to follow up on my application. However, you may contact me at blah, blah, blah. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

After starting law school and getting some feedback on my resumes/cover letters, I stopped being so “aggressive” and to the chagrin of my PR profs, ended my letters by gingerly placing the ball in the employers’ courts with the shamefully passive “thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

Now, I’m rethinking this whole thing again.

I came across a post on The Nonprofit Times’ Jobs Blog about this very issue.

One of the most common mistakes people make when writing an ending is using passive language.  Here are a few examples:

• “I look forward to hearing back from you in the near future.”
• “If you wish to discuss my qualifications further, get back to me.”
• “I think you will find that my qualifications really fit well with your position, and I hope to hear back from you.”

For me, the problem with these endings is that they show no initiative, no assertiveness, and no glimmer of perseverance!

On the other hand, I’ve heard that more assertive endings can give the employer the idea that an applicant is conceited.

The NPT Jobs blog suggests ending your cover letters on a confident and respectful note, like this:

• “I will contact you within the week to follow up on my application.  Meanwhile, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or requests.  Thank you for your time and your consideration.”
• “I have enclosed my resume, which will contain additional details about my qualifications.  If you have any additional questions, please contact me.  I look forward to discussing the job with you in the coming weeks.”
• “Thank you for taking the time to review my credentials.  I would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have at your convenience.”
• “I appreciate you considering me for this position.  I will contact you soon so we can discuss my qualifications further, and see if we can find a time to schedule an interview.”

I tend to agree — by keeping the ball in your court (can you tell I miss basketball? When will this lockout end?!), you’ve set yourself up with an opportunity to talk with an employer and make another good impression.

What do you think? How do you end your cover letters?

Brooklyn Defender Services is looking for full-time summer law interns with a commitment to public defense! The internship program is a ten-week program and duties include legal research and writing, representation of clients in arraignments (under supervision), court appearances, client and witness interviews, trial preparation and investigation assistance.

Brooklyn Defender Services protects the legal rights of poor Brooklyn residents who are charged with crimes and have nowhere else to turn for help. They believe all people—regardless of economic means—deserve respect, individualized care and the fullest extent of legal protections when accused of a crime. They are one of the largest NYC legal service providers, serving 18,000 people each year!

If interested, check out the listing at PSLawNet!

International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) is looking for a full-time associate to work on its international human rights cases, which employ legal strategies to hold multinational corporations accountable for human rights abuses. All cases are administered through the Washington, DC office of Conrad & Scherer, LLP.

International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) is a new organization that is the successor to the litigation department of the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF).

IRAdvocates is dedicated to the expansion of ILRF’s successful efforts to use innovative legal mechanisms to hold corporations and governments accountable for human rights violations worldwide.

If this interests you, check out the listing at PSLawNet!