POSITION OBJECTIVE
The Director of Private Sector Programs and Data Analysis will play a critical role in supporting the Career Development Office's mission to maximize job placement among law students and law graduates. This position offers a unique opportunity to combine legal career advising with data management and analysis to drive strategic decision-making and help the law school reach its job placement goals. The Director will develop high-impact programs and events that educate law students about private sector law recruiting and career paths and help them obtain legal roles in law firms, for-profit businesses, corporate legal departments, and other private sector workplaces. The Director will provide both general and specialized career advising to individual law students and graduates, offering unique insights into the nuanced timelines and requirements of private sector recruiting. They will collaborate with other staff on employer outreach and develop mutually beneficial relationships with students, alumni, faculty, staff, law firms, corporate legal departments, and other employers to expand professional opportunities and elevate the law school's profile in the private sector. This role will also be responsible for gathering, analyzing, and reporting on employment data to internal and external stakeholders; using data to identify factors contributing to job placement; and improving student and graduate employment outcomes.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
-
Build a culture of support, programming, and resources for students seeking private sector legal roles in a rapidly changing recruiting landscape, to maximize employment outcomes. Curate interactive events including panels, workshops, and networking events focused on law firms, for-profit businesses, corporate legal departments, and other private sector workplaces. Conduct programs that educate both full-time/onsite and part-time/remote law students on the multifaceted world of private sector legal employment, recognizing that different industry segments and job types use different recruiting procedures and timelines, necessitating specialized strategies. (25%)
-
Engage in both general and specialized student and graduate career advising. Conduct one-on-one sessions to help students and graduates identify their career goals and navigate the evolving recruiting cycles of law firms, for-profit businesses, corporate legal departments, and other private sector workplaces. Provide expert critique of application materials, ensuring that applicants effectively articulate how they will add value to these workplaces. Deliver tailored coaching on interview strategies for these competitive roles. Guide candidates through the rigors of law firm recruiting during their first academic year. Directly assist students and graduates with networking and introductions to private sector legal practitioners when appropriate. Stay up-to-date on best practices in legal career advising and legal market hiring trends for students and new graduates. Also maintain a working knowledge of public interest, nonprofit, government, and judicial clerkship roles and hiring trends, to provide comprehensive advice to law students about all JD career options. Keep contemporaneous records of advising appointments. (25%)
-
Collect and analyze graduate employment outcomes data to identify trends and patterns related to graduate success and job placement. Prepare reports and presentations summarizing findings. Collaborate with staff to interpret data and inform program improvements. Collect information on students¿ summer employment and analyze data to identify employer preferences and trends. Compare actual outcomes with students¿ stated preferences to identify areas that may require additional support or education. Track student participation in career fairs, interview programs, and other recruitment activities. Analyze data to assess the effectiveness of recruitment programs and identify areas for improvement. Collect data on students¿ geographic and practice area preferences and use that data to inform employer outreach and job placement efforts. Regularly report data on job placement to the Dean and the Associate Dean of Career Development. Prepare data reports for faculty, staff, media and marketing purposes, external surveys, and other stakeholders, as directed by the Associate Dean of Career Development. (20%)
-
Structure and coordinate the department's specialized advising to ensure that all JD students and graduates pursuing private sector roles receive guidance tailored to their specific interests. Continually build knowledge of law firm, corporate counsel, and 'JD advantage' roles and market trends. Periodically educate colleagues to ensure that all career advising staff are trained on the shifting timelines and unique resources available for private sector hiring. Maintain or create resources for students such as dynamic lists of private sector positions and deadlines. Create student-facing content related to private sector recruiting for department newsletters. Develop and/or identify tools and resources to strengthen the office's career advising efforts. Establish departmental standards for the review of private sector job application materials. (15%)
-
Actively recruit and maintain partnerships with law firms, corporate legal departments, for-profit businesses, and other private sector employers to increase participation in on-campus interviews (OCI) and other recruiting events. Build employer relationships that may result in post-graduate fellowships in for-profit workplaces. Collaborate with colleagues to respond to inquiries from law firms, businesses, and other private sector employers. Build and maintain a network of recruiters and alumni to stay informed on private sector hiring preferences and vacancy trends. Connect students with external mentors who can support them while applying for and working in private sector jobs. Partner with faculty to identify and champion high-potential candidates for competitive positions. Coordinate with staff focused on "online JD" programs to ensure that remote students have equitable access to private sector networking and application resources. (10%)
NONESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
-
Serve as a representative of the career development office to prospective students, current law student organizations, and law alumni. This includes responding to inquiries, meeting with prospective students and alumni individually, and presenting the office's services to groups of prospective or current students. (2%)
-
Perform evaluation of the department's private sector career advising practices on an annual basis to measure the success of strategies implemented and identify areas for improvement. Ensure that critical information is uniformly provided, gathered, documented, and kept confidential as required. (1%)
-
Perform annual evaluation of data management strategies and identify areas for improvement. Ensure data confidentiality. (1%)
-
Handle other data-related projects as assigned. Assist with occasional department events and initiatives as needed. Perform other duties as assigned. (1%)
CONTACTS
Department: Daily contact with the Associate Dean of Career Development and all office staff. Regular contact with Dean, faculty, staff, and departments, including but not limited to Academic Affairs, Experiential Education, and Alumni Relations and Development.
University: Contact with administrative departments throughout the university (such as University Marketing and Communications and University Technology) as required to perform essential functions.
External: Daily contact with employers, alumni, attorneys, judges, government officials, nonprofits organizations, courts, law firms, and corporations.
Students: Daily contact with law students, including both in-person and online students.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
None.
QUALIFICATIONS
Experience: 5 years of professional experience in a law school career development office, law recruitment, law practice, or law teaching is required. Law practice experience in the private sector is preferred. Technical writing and editing experience are required.
Education: JD degree from an ABA-accredited law school and admission to the bar of any U.S. state are required.
REQUIRED SKILLS
-
Proven abilities as a creative, innovative, self-motivated, and team-oriented administrator with demonstrated abilities to establish priorities and maintain focus on goals while managing various projects.
-
Deep knowledge of the legal hiring market. Ability to draw on legal market knowledge and legal employment experience to counsel students and graduates on career decision making.
-
High emotional intelligence. Ability to mentor a diverse student body. Ability, both in demeanor and experience, to successfully engage with current law students, prospective law students, and law alumni in career advising and coaching.
-
Ability to interact effectively with colleagues, supervisors, employers, and students face-to-face and remotely.
-
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including strong public speaking skills and superior writing skills. Attention to detail and ability to accurately advise students and alumni on resume and cover letter formatting, grammar, and verbiage. Ability to communicate clearly and market the services and programs of the career development office to students, prospective students, alumni, employers, faculty, and staff.
-
Strong problem-solving, organizational, and time management abilities. Ability to handle multiple priorities and meet deadlines. High motivational and follow-up skills. Ability, desire, and strategies to process, organize, and timely respond to a large volume of email messages.
-
High degree of detail orientation. Demonstrated ability to notice, identify, and correct grammatical and formatting issues in students¿ resumes and cover letters.
-
Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively with students, alumni, staff, faculty, and employers.
-
Ability to exercise good judgment and display a professional business manner in all interactions.
-
Ability to quickly learn the details of the career development office's employer management and student advising software platforms and databases. Competent with spreadsheet and presentation software (e.g., Excel and PowerPoint). Ability to function in a Google Suite-based and Windows-based environment and to effectively and efficiently utilize email and listservs. Strong internet search skills.
-
Willingness to learn and utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies.
-
Ability to demonstrated successful support, education, and advocacy for all students, aligned with the values, mission, and messaging of the university, while adhering to the staff policy on conflict of commitment and interest.
-
Ability to meet consistent attendance.
WORKING CONDITIONS
Office setting with frequent interaction with students, faculty, and staff. Domestic travel may be required. Evenings and weekends are a part of this position's responsibility on an as-needed basis. This position is eligible for a hybrid/remote work arrangement of up to 1 remote workday per week after successful completion of a 90-day orientation period. Remote work may be restricted during certain weeks to enable in-person participation in certain programs (e.g., presentations to students and on-campus interview programs), but advance notice of remote work restrictions will be provided by the Associate Dean of Career Development.
