Employer Exploration

Research Your Interviewers

Before the interview, ask for the names of your interviewers.
If available, explore the background of your interviewer via the employer's website and LinkedIn. At a minimum, know your interviewer's law school, undergraduate school, and practice areas.
Respect boundaries! If not easily accessible and professional information, don't use it in the interview.

Research the Position

Start with the job posting. If no longer available, but was posted on Symplicity, reach out to your career counselor.
Identify the main skills and qualities the employer is seeking in the posting and be prepared to address how your experience and interests fit the role.

Research the Employer

Explore the employer's website and publicly available information, looking for information on their structure, stated purpose and focus, highlights, and overall work within the legal profession.
Know what legal services the employer provides and what clients they serve. If applicable, explore pro bono and community involvement showcased by the employer.
Check LinkedIn for students and alumni who have worked with this employer in the past. Ask about their experience, including their interview process.

Research Tools

Student Employment Survey Responses: Use this spreadsheet to see where current Minnesota Law students have accepted positions. All students included are open to connecting, so we encourage you to reach out to learn more about their experiences!

LexisNexis Job Search Resources & LexisNexis Law Firm Research

Legal Employer Pronunciation Resource: Use this resource to learn the firm's preferred way of being addressed.

Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory: Use search filters to find firms based on practice areas, location, size, and peer reviews, along with information on individual firm members and representative clients.

NALP Directory of Legal Employers: This directory tends to include the larger law firms, but some smaller employers will be listed if they are NALP (National Association of Law Placement) members.

ALM Legal Compass & Corporate Counsel Profiler: ALM Legal Compass provides access to detailed law firm, corporate, and attorney profiles and reports, surveys & trends. (No login required if you are on the UMN campus, otherwise contact Connie Lenz in the Law Library at lenzx009@umn.edu for an account.)

Vault Law Firm Rankings: As a Vault campus partner school, students have access to additional resources using their UMN email address.

Flo Recruit Forward: Public database for virtual law firm events and big law job postings. After you apply to jobs through this system, you can very easily track them afterwards. Also, a very good site for law firm research.

Firm Prospects: The best site for law firm research. This site also features an excellent tool for looking up alumni and other attorneys for networking purposes.

Summer Associate Hub: This is an excellent mailing list to be on for events. They also have a library of recorded presentations from the previous school year, highlighting practice areas, markets, and how to be successful in your 1L year.

The Law School Library: The Law School Library staff has access to many directories that list employers, including government and corporate counsel.

Other on-line research resources: Lexis and Westlaw (www.westlaw.com OR http://lawyers.findlaw.com/), and LinkedIn have numerous databases that will help identify and research potential employers.

Help your classmates by sharing your own experiences in the Student Employment Survey and Interview Feedback Form.

EXPLORE. ENGAGE. TRANSITION.

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