Available Resources for your Job Search and How to Use Them

Students and alumni may check out items from the library for free.

Google Alerts

Setting up a Google Alert on a prospective employer allows you to stay up-to-date with the latest company news. You may also find out about new job openings faster.  Remember when setting up your alerts to take advantage of search operators.  Although it takes a little time to think of your search terms, use appropriate operators, and create the alerts, once that's done, the rest is pretty much automatic.

RSS Feeds

Many prospective employers and popular job search engines offer RSS feeds, such as the following example. Subscribing to a website's RSS feed enables you to have job openings automatically sent to your specified reader.  You can even set up an rss reader account specifically devoted to your job search.

Advanced Search

Don't forget to look for the advanced search options on various job search websites to find job openings that match your criteria.  The image below is an example of the advanced job search feature offered on Indeed.com.

Love it or hate it, networking is a vital part of your job search.  Don't wait until after graduation to start networking.  The best time to start is while you're still in law school.  Visit professors during their office hours, interact with your fellow students outside of class and keep in contact with these individuals as you progress in your law school career and beyond.  You never know who may have heard about a job opening that would be a good fit for you. 

• Widener Law Alumni Facebook

• Widener Law Alumni Website

• Career Sonar is a new service that uses your facebook account information to match up job opportunties found on the web with your facebook friends' current and past employers.  The theory behind this is the site connects you to people who work for or have worked for a particular company.  With that knowledge you can reach out to your connection, and you may be more likely to get your foot in the door. 

• Linkedin makes another appearance on this guide and for good reason.  Aside from the mobile app for linkedin, it's a good tool to network generally. 
  • Identify people with whom you want to network, and join some of their groups that fit your interests. 
  • Search for a firm, organization, or company you're interested in and then select people from the options on the left.
    • Identify any connections you have in your network and outside of it who have said company listed.  With that knowledge, a polite email asking for a few minutes to discuss their organization or job may lead you to a new connection and perhaps eventually to a job.
• Twitter is here to stay, and even if you don't want to share every detail of your latest meal, it can still be useful to your job search.  Create an account (it doesn't need to be detailed). 
  • Follow organizations, firms, or companies that interest you.  
  • Once you follow the companies, you can start following some employees.
  • Remember at its core, networking is about building relationships, which is fine to do publicly.
    • However, don't advertise you are looking for a job on twitter if you are already employed and your current job search is not 'public knowledge.'

The following list focuses on free apps that can assist with making your job search process more efficient.

Be sure to take advantage of the resources offered to you through Widener Law's Career Development Office.  Their services include:

• Mentoring
• Mock Interviews
• Reciprocity
• Workshops and Events
• Resume & Cover Letter Writing
• CDO TWEN Page
• Symplicity Job Bank
• Job Fairs

The CDO has also created a Complete Guide to the Legal Job Search Process.  This guide contains sections on:

• self assessment
• resume and cover letter writing
• interviewing tips
• careers in public interest law
• judicial clerkships
• job fairs
• career development websites. 

CDO Contact Information
Harrisburg (717) 541-3958
Delaware (302) 477-2179
Website
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