Amicus is mentoring you want, when you want it.
Whether you want to get quick advice from someone who has come before you, or develop a long-term relationship with a trusted adviser, Amicus can help you tap into the experience of the HLS alumni community in the way that best suits you.
How long should each meeting be?
15 Minutes: For Discrete Questions
Examples
- Targeted questions about a practice area
- Seeking opinion on discrete career decision
- Tips for a successful summer
30 Minutes: for a More Traditional Informational Interview
Examples
- Clerkship advice
- Interview advice
- Navigating law school
- Hear about career paths
- Managing work-life balance
- Starting your career off on the right foot
- Learn more about a particular practice area
60 Minutes: for in-depth Discussion or Advice
Examples
- Career planning
- Discussion of diversity issues in the profession
- Considerations for transitions between public and private sector
- Managing work-life balance
- Discussion of a particular legal market
How To Be Mentored
- Login to Amicus
- Update your Amicus profile and fill out the registration page
- You will be matched with a mentor in the Amicus system based on your interests and past work experience with a mentor with similar interests.
- When inviting a mentor to speak, you should: a. clearly articulate your goals for the mentoring relationship and b. the option you have chosen (15, 30 or 60 minutes) to the mentor.
Sample Message:
Dear Ms. Lynch:
My name is Jane Doe, and I am a 1L at Harvard Law School. I wanted to thank you for your willingness to serve as a mentor. My goals for a mentoring relationship are to get advice on how to navigate the legal profession as a first generation law student and also on how to succeed in my job this summer. I would like to schedule a 30-minute meeting by phone or Skype if your schedule can accommodate that.Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Jane Doe - Mentoring conversations can take place by video conferencing, messages through Amicus, email, phone, or in-person as mutually agreed upon by both parties.
- Students are responsible for “running” the calls or meetings and should be prepared with goals, expectations and questions. In order to be helpful, mentors need to know what you need and how they can be of help.
- Students should be respectful of the mentors’ time and end the call as scheduled unless the mentor offers to extend the meeting.
- After the conversation, students should send a thank-you email to the Amicus mentor. If you hope to have an ongoing relationship with the mentor, indicate in the thank-you note a desire to speak again at some point if the mentor would be willing.
- Students are responsible for ongoing communication and management of the relationship. See OPIA’s Networking Tips page and/or OCS’ Networking & Informational Interviewing page.
Best Practices
- Follow all the Amicus Guiding Principles.
- Be flexible in scheduling (but you should not miss class) and be respectful of your mentor’s time and busy schedule.
- Be responsive and reply promptly to all mentor communications.
- Review your mentor’s Amicus profile and become familiar with their career path so you have a sense of their background and experiences.
- Send an agenda before the meeting clearly setting out what you hope to accomplish.
- Be on-time for meetings.
- Be respectful of your mentor’s experiences and perspectives and respect the boundaries set by your mentor.
- Be receptive to feedback.
- Keep perspective that while your mentor’s input is valuable, it is but one person’s advice. Advice on topics like resumes, interviews, and courses can vary by practice area, practice setting and personal preference.
Student Resources
Articles on Mentoring
Using Amicus
- Log in to Amicus
- Click on the “Mentoring” tab in the Amicus navigation bar
- Click on your mentor’s “View Profile” button to view their information
- Click on “send message” to send a message to your mentor