Skills Workshops and Programs

OCS conducts and sponsors a series of information sessions designed to educate students about the job search process, including:

• Business Etiquette
• Career Conversations
• Effective Resumes and Cover Letters
• Government and Public Interest Job Search
• How to Succeed in your Summer Job/Getting a Jump on the Fall Job Search
• International Job Search
• Interviewing Tips
• Mock Interviews
• On-Campus Interviewing Introduction
• Targeting the Hidden Job Market

Speakers and Panel Discussions

Each semester, attorneys representing a broad range of employment settings and practice areas are invited by OCS to speak with William & Mary law students. Panelists describe their career paths, provide candid insights about their work and offer career planning and job search suggestions. Students have the opportunity to meet and network with panelists during lunch or at informal receptions following the programs.

Recent speakers have discussed substantive practice areas, including:

• complex litigation
• criminal law
• election law
• environmental law
• family/child advocacy law
• franchise law
• health-care law
• in-house counsel
• immigration law
• intellectual property law
• international law
• international trade law
• internet law
• labor and employment law
• lobbying/government affairs
• mergers and acqusitions
• national security law
• patent litigation
• public interest law
• sports and entertainment law
• tax law
• technology/e-commerce law
• transactional and business law
• trusts and estates law

Other programs have provided overviews of judicial clerkships, post-graduate fellowships, international internships, working on Capitol Hill, federal law enforcement, opportunities with local, state and federal government agencies, and using a law degree in the business world.

Publications and Electronic Resources

Each student receives a Career Planning Manual (covering job search strategies, career satisfaction, resume and cover letter preparation and interview tips), a Government and Public Interest Job Search Guide, information about judicial externships, a first-year resource bibliography, and a list of employers who have hired first-year William & Mary law students for summer positions.

The OCS Resource Library, with several hundred resources for researching a variety of employment options, is an extension of the Law Library and is open to students approximately 90 hours a week during the academic year. Over a dozen customized career bibliographies covering diverse practice specialties are available in our offices and on this site.

Our web site contains current information on summer public service funding and an overview of our services. Student and alumni job listings and the Alumni Directory can also be accessed online.

Human Resources

Accessible faculty members and receptive law school graduates provide students with excellent links to the legal community for students. Faculty regularly assist students in securing judicial clerkships and learning about substantive areas of practice. More than 6,600 graduates around the nation and the world offer a breadth of geographic and career contacts.

OCS's professional staff offers over 40 years of career services experience.