The Career Brief
What is an OCI? On Campus Interviews 101
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You may have heard the term “OCI” during your time at Lewis & Clark and wondered what on earth that is and why/when/how you should be preparing for it. We break that all down for you below.
WHAT AND WHERE: OCI is the acronym for “On Campus Interviews” and broadly defined, it is a process where law firms and other legal employers visit the law school (virtually or in person) and interview potential candidates for summer jobs, post grad jobs, and even immediate hires.
There are four OCIs held throughout the year. There is the Summer Recruitment, Autumn Interviews, Northwest Public Service Career Fair, and Spring Recruitment. You can find more detail on these events here.
HOW DOES IT WORK?: A few months before OCIs take place, your Career Services Office works with employers to determine their hiring needs, prepare job announcements, and to post them so you can view them and apply. Each job posting will have separate criteria and documents that the employer wants to see to determine who they think will be a good fit in their office. It varies widely, but the most common documents requested are a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and unofficial transcript. You apply for these great jobs by submitting your materials that you create, tailored to each employer’s needs. Your trusty Career Services office will compile the materials, deliver them to the employers and the employers will decide who to interview. Career Services will then reach out to all students to inform them of employer decisions and create a schedule.
WHEN: All the interviews take place across a set time (one week, or two days, depending on the style of OCI), but individual employers are usually on campus for one day, one morning, or one afternoon, and will conduct a set number of interviews within their selected time frame that last 20 or 30 minutes each.
MORE WHAT: OCI is the easiest way to get a job if you are seeking a position at a Portland area large firm, a nonprofit organization, a small or midsize firm or a government agency. Not that it’s easy, it is just the easiest way. You will have a bunch of potential employers gathered together to conduct grueling back-to-back screening interviews of law students. As a candidate, you will have several days of rushing from one employer interview to another and then you will have call backs and follow up interviews and then a potential job offer, all in the span of a few weeks. As I said, this is easier than the alternative, which is being hired the traditional way that other fields of employment find employees: the grind of networking, online applications, and sending out cover letters individually (which still totally works, too).
HOW DO I FIND OUT ABOUT OCIs and APPLY? Full timelines for the OCIs are found here. Career Services will send out emails to alert you when each OCI is coming up and the application periods are opening. You will find jobs that are open to you based on your academic standing (1L, 2L, 3L, recent grad or alumni) for each OCI in Career Connect. Keep in mind that most jobs are not open to 1Ls until after the fall semester. Determine which postings look interesting to you. Update your materials. It is a good idea for you to make an appointment with Career Services to look over your packet before you submit, especially if you have made any major changes since the last time they reviewed it. Remember, these materials are your gateway to these interviews and jobs, so you want them to be as perfect, professional, and formatted appropriately as possible. Also keep in mind that many students wait until the last minute to ask Career Services to review materials right before the application deadline, so it’s a really good idea to request a review well in advance of that to ensure we have time to review your materials.
IF OCIs ARE NOT MY THING OR I MISS THEM: Everyone’s career path is different. OCI is important, but it’s not the only way to go. Career Connect is a huge database of job postings from employers who do not participate in OCIs with new jobs posted daily. Many people do not get hired through OCIs, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still try. It’s great practice even if it doesn’t yield a job.
Questions? Make an appointment with your career counselor using the Appointments tab on Career Connect or email lscs@lclark.edu.