Each year public interest and government employers take advantage of the opportunity to interview students from ABA-accredited Massachusetts law schools for summer and permanent positions through the Massachusetts Law School Consortium (MLSC) Job Fairs (the Fall & Winter Government/Public Interest Programs): one for the fall, and another for the winter. The interviews for the winter program will be conducted virtually on January 26 & 27, 2023.
J.D. students from all of the Massachusetts ABA-accredited law schools can participate. Participating employers include government and public interest organizations from around the country, with a high percentage of employers hailing from Massachusetts. All materials students submit are pre-screened by the participating employers.
You may “bid” on (meaning, apply to) participating employers through the Consortium’s Symplicity CSM.
Review the step-by-step below for logging-in and bidding procedures. Email Micah Nemiroff if you have any trouble logging in or any questions about the process.
Massachusetts Law School Consortium Winter 2023 Program Timeline
- Wednesday, November 9 at 12:00 PM – Student bidding opens for VIRTUAL INTERVIEWS – January 2023 & RESUME COLLECTIONS – JANUARY 2023
- Monday, December 5 at 12:00 PM – Student bidding opens for Gov/PI Program VIRTUAL INTERVIEWS – January 2023 ADDITIONS
- Monday, December 5 at 12:00 PM – Student bidding deadline for VIRTUAL INTERVIEWS – January 2023 & RESUME COLLECTIONS – JANUARY 2023
- Tuesday, January 3 at 12:00 PM – Student bidding deadline for Gov/PI Program VIRTUAL INTERVIEWS – January 2023 ADDITIONS
- Tuesday, January 10 – Students are notified if they’re selected for interviews
- Wednesday, January 25 – Deadline for students to sign-up for interviews
- January 26 & 27 – Dates of virtual interviews
1. Materials Review
Before submitting your materials, we encourage you to review our resume and cover letter tips and samples in our Job Search Toolkit.
2. Accessing MLSC Symplicity CSM
Symplicity CSM accounts exist for every Harvard Law student. Please use the following information to access your account:
- Username – Your HLS email address (e.g., jsmith@jd25.law.harvard.edu)
- Password – Your HUID
Note: Your password was originally set as your HUID, but is customizable once you login. You can use the “Forgot Password” link on Symplicity CSM homepage to recover your password, or if you are having trouble logging in for any reason.
Please contact Micah Nemiroff in OPIA if you have questions about your MLSC Symplicity CSM account.
3. Create Profile
When you enter the site, click on the “OCI” tab. You will be required to create a profile and enter the required information if it is your first time logging in. You will also have to agree to the Massachusetts Law School Consortium interview policy before you can submit bids/applications for participating employers.
4. Select Recruiting Event
Select the recruiting event by clicking on the “OCI” tab on the top navigation menu.
- Under the “Session” dropdown menu, select one of the following to view the different employers participating through the program:
- “Gov/PI Program RESUME COLLECTIONs– January 2023” – This is for employers who are not conducting interviews the MLSC program, but rather will collect application materials and contact students directly about interviews.
- “Gov/PI Program VIRTUAL INTERVIEWS – January 2023” – This is for organizations participating in virtual interviews on January 26 & 27.
- The list of public interest employers participating in the program will appear once you make your selection. You will only see the employers interviewing students in your class year.
5. Review and Apply
Select “Review” on the left to learn more about the organization, bid requirements, and the position(s). Then select the appropriate documents you want associated with your bid (such as cover letter, writing sample, etc.). Click “Apply” on the right to submit your information. Please be sure you have uploaded the documents under the “Documents” tab before submitting your bid. If you are submitting multiple applications, provide a unique label to each document so you are associating the correct documents with your bid (i.e., “Organization Name_Document Type”)
Please note on the Consortium site, under “Review”, 1L = 1LD, 2L = 2LD/3LE, 3L = 3LD/4LE.
All materials requested by an employer (resume, cover letter, etc.) are due by the consortium’s bidding deadline. You will not be able to complete your bid until you have uploaded all required materials for each employer you are bidding on.
6. Employers Notify Interviewees
Employers will review materials submitted to them and make their selections. If selected for an interview, students will be notified by the employer on or around January 10 and will have until January 25 to select or decline an interview. Interviews will be managed and hosted by the employer through a third party interviewing platform.