Don't Forget Federal Legal Employment Opportunities
Although private sector employer hiring seems to dominate this time of year, it is important to also keep track of opportunities to connect with employers in the public sector. Federal agencies present law students and recent graduates with fertile ground for employment. (Indeed, not surprisingly, it is the largest legal employer in the nation.) Although many of these opportunities are located in the Washington, DC area, there are also plenty of openings throughout other parts of the country.
NALP just recently updated its Federal Legal Employment Opportunities Guide for 2007-8. This resource is available as a free PDF download and is chock full of helpful tips, ideas and leads. You may find the document at the following link:
http://www.pslawnet.org/uploads/2008-2009_FLEOG_FINAL_PDF.pdf
In addition, the Law School subscribes to the University of Arizona Government Honors and Internship Handbook, which is updated continuously throughout the year. This is the definitive resource for finding information, including hiring contacts and application requirements, about both federal and state legal hiring programs for both summer and post-graduate employment. If you are interested in accessing the Arizona Guide, please e-mail our office at cpdc@umn.edu
Finally, for those interested in non-legal employment with the federal government, the Presidential Management Fellows program offers students who will be graduating this academic year the opportunity to be hired with one of dozens of federal agencies in what would normally be civil service positions. Although these are not practice positions, many agencies actively seek out law graduates. (Please note there is both a nomination and assessment process.) For full information, please see the following link: