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Employment Prospects Survey |
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Boalt finds itself in an odd position on the ladder of legal pedigree, a
significant step below certain prestigious schools (at which it is usually
presumed that almost all students will have great many choices upon graduation)
but also a large step above top regional schools and many lesser-known "national"
schools (at which it is generally assumed that students outside the top ten
percent will have relatively few employment options). Thus, the experiences of
Boalt students in their respective job hunts are far-ranging.
The aforementioned "gunners," many of whom are on the California Law Review
and/or have several HH grades on their transcripts, have the same employment
options as top students from top-5 U.S. News & World Report schools. Such
students regularly secure summer and postgraduate positions at Top-5 Vault law
firms, and Boalt places many of its students into prestigious appellate
clerkships. After that, however, the employment issue becomes more complicated.
One reason for the complication is, in a paradigmatic chicken-and-egg situation,
Boalt has a great many students entirely disinterested in large firm practice.
This is due both to Boalt's admission policies and some of the policies
emphasized by the school's placement office (and many of its faculty members).
Such students typically enjoy great success in landing highly competitive
government positions and jobs doing public interest work. Boalt is a great
choice for students interested in performing such work after graduation.
The group that contains members with disparate experiences is the group
consisting of the students with good, but not spectacular grades who are seeking
big firm jobs in competitive markets. The school's leading Law and Technology /
Intellectual Property program places many students into competitive jobs with
large, relatively prestigious firms in the Silicon Valley, and many students are
able to secure top jobs with San Francisco firms specializing in various areas.
Additionally, Boalt students report that employers in the Midwest, South, and
East Coast typically specifically seek out Boalt graduates, particularly those
who have geographic ties to the market in which they are seeking employment. As
one might expect, such ties are less important in the D.C. and New York markets,
in which an applicant's interest in the area is presumed. Boalt also places very
well in Southern California, although geographic ties are at least a middling
concern with L.A. firms and a significant issue with firms in Orange County and
San Diego. Some Midwest markets, along with the Pacific Northwest, also seem to
place an extremely high emphasis on geographical ties to the region.
From discussions with my peers at other schools, as well as my own personal
experiences, it seems that Boalt's placement resources are particularly weak.
The typical firm brochures and placement office handouts are available, but many
of the placement counselors are overburdened during recruiting time and unable to
provide a great deal of help, particularly beyond giving general advice and
looking over one's resume.
This latter problem, however, springs somewhat from what one might find as the
overall descriptor of Boalt: the quality varies greatly. Many Boalt students
have prestigious backgrounds and do quite well academically, whereas others, many
of which also have weaker academic backgrounds in their pre-Boalt endeavors, find
themselves unready for performing well at a Top-10 school. Those expecting the
Career Services department to hold their hands through the recruiting process,
and perhaps to help them overcome weak academic records, are likely to be
disappointed. Those with strong credentials, however, typically find the
On-Campus Interview Program more than adequate to supply them with multiple
offers of both summer and postgraduate employment.
For informative purposes, the OCIP program does not allow employer screening,
allowing students to "bid" on employers of their choice. Securing interviews
with preferred employers can thus be difficult, as those who may be severely
underqualified can nonetheless secure interviews through this process. This can
be positive, however, since candidates who may otherwise be "screened out" may
(albeit rarely) greatly impress interviewers and secure callback interviews, even
if their academic records make them borderline candidates.
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University of California - Berkeley (Boalt Hall) Admission & Application Surveys
