Director of Law Career Services

Job Summary

Career Services is committed to working with a range of constituencies to secure employment opportunities for law students in a wide variety of settings, including private law firms, public interest organizations, government, and business, and in all locations—within the State of Mississippi, across the nation, and beyond.

Reporting to the Dean of the School of Law and serving as a member of the Law School Senior Staff, the Director of Law Career Services provides long-range planning and day-to-day execution of career development and employment services to students. This position communicates extensively with students, legal employers, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Develops strategy and guidelines, administers services, and cultivates relationships for career counseling and employment initiatives within a college, program, or specialized professional area, to ensure students receive quality career counseling services. This individual also provides student career counseling services.

Job Description

• Identifies, proposes, and implements new or revised operational guidelines and procedures for career counseling and post-grad employment.
• Directs strategic planning initiatives and establishes career development unit objectives to ensure appropriate use of financial, administrative, staffing resources, and alignment with the strategic plan.
• Serves as the institutional liaison to internal and external stakeholder groups to provide information on career services.
• Identifies, promotes, and maintains external partnerships to understand employment needs and encourage recruitment of the institution's students.
• Provides oversight of day-to-day operations and leads staff in planning and implementing of long- and short-term strategies.

Job Responsibilities

• Meets and develops strong relationships with students to provide overarching guidance on individualized career goals and planning.
• Educates students on employment opportunities within the legal community, as well as leveraging their legal education within the broader world of work.
• Provides students with specific guidance on individual application materials, job search strategies, networking, interview skills, offer decision-making and negotiation, career/job search ethics, and professionalism.
• Communicates and operates with a student-led mindset, while also guiding students through challenging or delicate job search circumstances.
• Oversees planning and execution of virtual and on-campus interviews (OCI).
• Researches, produces, and delivers engaging programs/discussions to major stakeholders on a variety of career topics.
• Engages with legal employers and makes outreach to law firms, the judiciary, public interest organizations, government agencies, and businesses; serves as the public face of Career Services to the legal community.
• Advises employers on hiring timelines/strategies and offers guidance on competitive employment offers.
• Collaborates with employers and alumni as well as faculty/staff to plan and organize career programs and networking/mentoring opportunities.
• Gathers, audits, and accurately reports annual post-graduate employment outcome data to the American Bar Association, National Association for Law Placement, and US News and World Report.
• Works with law school administration on budget, purchases, related contracts, etc., in accordance with university and statewide policy.

Preferred Qualification: A Juris Doctor (J.D.) is highly preferred.