Educational Debt Relief Webinars

Below is a link to the Equal Justice Works website for information on webinars to explain what options are available to students wanting loan forgiveness.  This website is very helpful in making sure students are informed on the type of loans that can be forgiven and the type of work that allows for loan forgiveness.  I suggest you take a look!

http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/ed-debt/post-grad/information-and-resources/informational-webinars

What is C.O.Y.O.T.E.S.????

As some of you already know, each student at the University of South Dakota School of Law has access to an online job bank and recruiting service known as COYOTES.  I will be utilizing this website to post potential internships for the 2012 school year and summer.  In fact, all of the professional and career development services are coordinated through COYOTES. It's the place to start, whether you're responding to requests for programming RSVPs; scheduling counseling appointments, mock interviews or on-campus interviews; researching employers, or conducting national job searches.


When you log in, you may notice that opportunities already exist; such as an unpaid internship with the Federal Public Defenders office in Sioux City or a 1L internship with Woods, Fuller, Shultz, & Smith, in Sioux Falls. In order to view these employment opportunities, click on the "Employment" tab on the left side of the screen and the page should refresh to reveal all of them to you. 
To access COYOTES, go to https://law-usd-csm.symplicity.com/.  You can also access COYOTES by going to http://www.usd.edu/law/cso.cfm and clicking on the COYOTES hyperlink.


You should be receiving an email shortly with your username and password.  After logging in, please be sure to fill in your profile.  If you are having trouble logging onto the site, please send an email to Dean Ericson.


Let me know if you have any questions!


~Beth

Step One: It's Time to Re-Evaluate

It’s the sad truth that many law students come to the end of their third year of school and think to themselves, “Do I really want to be a lawyer?” Don’t get me wrong, I think it is very important to question it, but at the end of three years and an investment of $50,000 to $200,000 in an educational degree I would hope you have an inkling, a suspicion, that you are on the right track. One thing I would hear time and time again as a law student questioning my decision is, “Hey! At least it’s a professional degree!” What is that suppose to mean?

Exactly. It means absolutely nothing to an individual who eventually elects not to use it.  So where do we go from here? It’s time to re-evaluate. On top of the studying, extra-curricular, volunteering, and anxiety over class recitation, I want each of you to evaluate what you would LOVE to do for the rest of your life. If it’s not related to the law at all, FANTASTIC! If it is, GREAT! This is an opportunity for you to reflect on your life and what’s important to you.

In my line of work we call this “person centered thinking.” I advocate for the rights of individuals with disabilities; making sure their voices are heard around a table of people makings decisions FOR them. With person centered thinking, an individual with a disability is given as much responsibility and independence in making a decision about their life as we can allow. It’s amazing to work with an individual you know has the potential to raise their own concerns, but has never been encouraged to do so, become their own advocate.  This philosophy causes me pause, because I think that we, as advocates for others, forget to advocate for ourselves.

I guess that is what I am asking of each of you, become your own advocate. Push everything else aside; family and friend influence, stress of financial difficulties, location for job security, etc…

Next, think about what you would tell a potential employer in a cover letter for your ideal job.

The following video is narrated by Brad Karsh, CEO of JobBound. Before you get started writing your cover letter I suggest you watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYvKyOQ58tA

Now, write your cover letter.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  My name is Elizabeth Overmoe. I am a graduate of The University of South Dakota School of Law and I am an attorney for a non-profit law firm located in Sioux Falls. I have recently been hired by the law school as a career services specialist.


I hope each of you was able to spend some quality time with family and friends this past holiday season!  Nevertheless, as law students, you are given the sometimes daunting task of always feeling the need to prepare for the next step.  That next step may be buying your books for this semester, looking and preparing for summer employment, or it may be requesting that bar exam application you've been putting off for the last few months.  Hopefully, this site will offer an abundance of resources and useful information to make one of those "next steps" easier; finding summer employment.
 
My part-time position will be dedicated to assisting the Law School Career Services Office (CSO) in all aspects of job placement including: counseling students in career planning skills and job search strategies, coordinating training skills workshops and career forums, managing the spring on-campus interviewing (OCI) program, as well as developing relationships with potential employers.

With that, I would like to hear from you. Please feel free to email me at anytime. I would love to know what the student population of this school would like to see from their career services office. Keep in mind, it is not my job to find you a job, but I will attempt to locate as many opportunities as possible for you to take advantage of throughout the next six months.

Also, please subscribe to this blog as this will be where I post the majority of the information I find.  You can do so by clicking the "Subscribe" link located at the bottom of this page. 

I look forward to meeting and working with each of you.

Beth