OCS

Polish Your Online Presence  Throughout your law school and professional careers, you should be mindful of how you present yourself online. Good judgment is critical…

Most prospective employers will ask you to provide a piece of legal writing at some point in the recruitment process. A writing sample should demonstrate…

When choosing your writing sample, keep in mind the following key suggestions: Getting Your Writing Sample The development of a writing sample should be deliberate,…

How to Get your Transcript Providing Transcripts to Employers Employers usually want an unofficial copy of your Harvard Law School transcript for applications and during…

Sample Resumes Legal resumes have a few basic formats that include the same information. We suggest using one of the formats in the sample resumes…

Your resume is one of the most important documents you will draft during your time at Harvard. It is the first and only impression a…

Length Space Saving Tips Education Section 5 to 7 Years after Graduation Between 7 and 10 Years after Graduation 10 Years or More after Graduation…

About References What? Who/How Many? How? Alumni Concerns While Working Reference Sheet Information and Formatting  Your reference sheet should include: Staying in Touch/Following Up Before…

Your references should not appear on your resume, but instead, be listed on a separate sheet of paper and provided when requested by an employer.

Note: If you are applying to public sector jobs, submit your materials to OPIA for review. Take care before you submit as OPIA’s requirements for…

Cover Letter Basics Necessity Cover letters are necessary for most 1L job applications and are generally required for many job postings – you should expect…

As a general rule, whenever you send a resume to an employer it should be accompanied by a cover letter. The main purposes of a…

Cover Letter Structure The simple part of cover letters is the structure which can be summarized with a few short guidelines: While it is easy…

Judges generally require a writing sample as part of the initial application. They are particularly sensitive to demonstrated research, writing, and analytical skills; bluebooking, typographical,…

If, after you have submitted clerkship applications, you have a new round of grades or other new information potentially of interest to judges who have…

Judges always require your law school transcript as part of clerkship applications, and some judges want your undergraduate and other graduate school transcripts as well. (For federal judges, refer to OSCAR…

While some clerkship applicants are lucky to have immediate success, most need to be persistent about their searches over time to get payoff. We emphasize…

You are almost there!  A few final tips . . .  Have Someone Else Proofread Enlist help in advance for careful proofreading. An example of…

Number Judges tend to require a minimum of either two or three letters of recommendation. Enough judges require three that you will need to arrange…

All applicants are encouraged to have a clerkship advisor review their materials before submission. Please plan ahead because at busy times of the year, many applicants tend…

Most general guidelines for other resumes carry over into the context of judicial clerkships. Then, some more specific points come into play as follows. Overall Try…