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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2005)
Law center career services help students secure jobs Counselors give tips on how to develop marketable skills during law school and choose a career path BYGABE BRADLEY NEWS EDITOR The complicated process of career planning is really trying to answer just one question, according to Jane Steck beck, associate director for career serv ices at the law school. “How do I want to spend my time and my life energy?” This question, Steckbeck says, is the jumping off point in a law student’s search for a fulfilling career. “I help students find their own ca reer paths,” Steckbeck said. “It’s a building process.” To this end, career services main tains a number of resources for law students including mentor programs in Eugene and Portland as well as alumni networking throughout the country. “The process really starts build ing when you’re a first-year,” Steckbeck said. All first-year law students attend mandatory meetings in the career serv ices office to become'familiar with the center’s resources. “We encourage first-year students to get work experience,” Steckbeck said. “That’s what helps them market them selves to employers.” This can give a job-seeker a vital competitive advantage. “Just having a law degree in and of itself isn’t going to open doors,” Steck beck said. “It’s so important for stu dents to be involved in their own ca reer development. ” Helping students get involved in the process is a big part of the advice Steckbeck gives. “Get experience,” Steckbeck tells students. “Even if you have to volunteer.” Having long-range goals is also help ful in developing marketability as a law student. “It really helps to have a sense of what you want to do when you come in.” Steckbeck gives the example that a student interested in prosecution ought to volunteer to work in prose cution, take prosecution clinics and do writing assignments on prosecu tion-related topics. “You can use that as a marketing tool,” Steckbeck said. “You need to show ... that you really are dedicated to this path.” Similarly, a student interested in public interest law should focus on get ting public interest experience. “They want to know that you have the heart and soul of a public interest lawyer,” Steckbeck said. “Those jobs are very hard to get even thought they’re low-paying and very intense.” Steckbeck, a graduate of the Univer sity’s law school, shares an example from her experience in developing her own marketability. “I saw where my weaknesses were and I felt I needed to do better giving oral presentations.” So Steckbeck argued before moot court and eventually ended up joining the national mock trial team. Steck beck encourages other students to practice skills in the areas where they are weak. Also, while it’s good to have goals coming in, students should be willing to adjust them, if necessary, according to Steckbeck. “Halfway through I completely shift ed gears — that’s normal,” Steckbeck said. “There’s never really any place or time when you end up at a wall. ” Flexibility can be just as important as focus in developing marketability as a law student. “I actually recommend that students develop a dual career path.” An example would be a student who wants to work in land-use law but also enjoys making presentations. For this student, Steckbeck said she would recommend taking some crimi nal prosecution classes in order to de velop a second set of skills. Resources galore Most students who graduate from the University’s law school will end up working at medium or small firms, ac cording to Steckbeck. However, the resources available through career services can help students regardless of their eventual career goals. One place where University law stu dents often volunteer is the Oregon De partment of Justice. “It’s amazing the experience they get with the Oregon Department of Justice,” Steckbeck said. “It’s just tremendous broad-based experience.” This can lead to third-year students being court-certified to argue cases. Also among the resources and con tacts career services maintains is a le gal job search database for students and alumni. Employers can post jobs directly to the database, which allows career services staff to focus time and energy on finding even more listings. Newsletter editor Kay Bailey main tains the database. “Kay goes out of her way to search other legal databases,” Steckbeck said. Because of this, Steckbeck said she often hears from students that the database is extraordinarily comprehensive. Interview programs are good oppor tunities for law students looking to get hired right out of school. “There’s a variety of different inter view programs,” Steckbeck said. The Northwest Public Service Ca reer Fair is one such program, which will be held in Portland and Seattle in February. “The employers that come to that are strictly public service employers,” Steckbeck said. “Currently we are kicking off our fall on-campus interview program.” Participation in this program is re served exclusively for second- and third-year students. “It’s primarily large firm employers that are going to hire second-years for next summer.” Resumes for the on-campus pro gram are being accepted now. Ca reer services will conduct mock in terviews before the event in order to prepare students. “We give them lots of support so they’re successful in their activities,” Steckbeck said. Steckbeck also recommends sev eral books to students looking to de velop their marketability, including “What Can You Do With a Law De gree,” by Deborah Arron; “Guerilla Tactics for Getting the Legal Job of Your Dreams,” by Kimm Walton; and “The Official Guide to Legal Specialties,” by Lisa Abrams. “They are kind of starting points,” Steckbeck said. gabebrajdLey@dailyemerald.com FUJICOLOR IP R 0 C E S S I H G. I NCJ PHOTO SPECIALS August 15 - August 21 PRINTS FROM SLIDES 35mm only. 3x5 2 for $1.00 • 4x6 2 for $1.50 5x7 1 for $1.50 8x10 1 for $4.00 Please allow 5-7 days for 3x5 and 4x6, 5-10 days for 5x7 and 8x10 prints. UOBookstore.com UNIVERSITY OF OREGON BOOKSTORE from books to bed: ^ - $$$£'' Get the items you need at the prices you can afford. ,4$gjmKd furniture and re built with 90-day 6 locations in Eugene to serve you: • 555 High St, 344-2115 (our closest location to campus) • 1880 W. 11th, 683-8284 (great selection of appliances and new furniture) • 705 S. 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