But in a more difficult economy, firms have trouble predicting their needs and subsequently hire only students they interviewed earlier in the fall.
“A lot of these firms meant to hold spaces for our students,” Weber says. “But by the time our students interviewed, the slots had been filled.”
According to Wilkins, the recession has also pushed firms to move away from the “lock-step” model of promoting associates on a regular schedule, requiring instead that they demonstrate “competency.”
This could also disrupt the normal hiring process for new recruits, Wilkins says, since entry-level positions may not open up with the same regularity.
The OCS has aggressively launched new initiatives and created new resources for struggling students, Weber says.
In an effort to increase the number of avenues students have to find jobs, the OCS has begun utilizing technology to connect students to opportunities.
The OCS records weekly podcasts with a unique focus each week, created a virtual map of the United States with firms scattered across the country, and uses Twitter to post job leads and opportunities in real time for students still on the market.
“We’re leveraging technology to assist our students as best we can. It’s a new generation,” Weber says.
According to Weber, the OCS has begun to reach out directly to Law School alumni at the firms, sending books of students’ resumes to firms to assist second and third year students who are still on the job market.
Last summer, the OCS started a mock interview program to prepare students for the job search process.
The OCS also expanded its spring recruiting session.
Though in the past the spring session was predominantly aimed at first year students, in the past two years, second and third year students have also begun to take advantage of the new program.
“We knew the market would be challenging, and we wanted to make sure students were putting their best foot forward,” Weber says.
Though some students have struggled to find jobs, they say they are aware that Harvard students have been insulated from the worst of the economic turmoil.
“We are lucky enough to be at this school—people will want Harvard lawyers even during bad times,” Dein says.
—Staff writer Zoe A. Y. Weinberg can be reached at zoe.weinberg@college.harvard.edu.