Student Outreach Committee Hosts Successful Mock Interview Workshop in Collaboration with Columbia Law School APALSA

On Monday, January 4, 2021, AABANY’s Student Outreach Committee hosted its first virtual Mock Interview Workshop in collaboration with Columbia Law School APALSA, AABANY Career Placement Committee, and the Columbia Law School Alumni Association. The event was part of the Student Outreach Committee’s pre-OCI series, held to prepare students for the interviews during a time of great uncertainty. 90 students from various law schools in and outside of New York received mock interviews and OCI advice from over 40 practitioners, public servants and general counsels from diverse backgrounds.

Prior to the workshop, Columbia Law School APALSA initiated the pairing of students and attorneys according to their availability and shared practice interests. Once the student-attorney pairings were solidified, students connected with attorneys via email. This advance preparation made for a smooth and timely transition to the event.

The workshop began promptly at 6:00 PM with a panel discussing interview tips, dos and don’ts, and Zoom etiquette. The panel, moderated by Margaret Ling, AABANY’s Development Director, featured esteemed speakers Rudy Carmenaty, President of the Columbia Law School Alumni Association, and Yen Chu, Secretary of the Columbia Law School Alumni Association. An OCI tip sheet carefully prepared by the members of the Student Outreach Committee was circulated to the students for review prior to their mock interviews. Starting at 6:30 PM, students met with their paired attorneys for one-on-one 30-minute mock interview sessions through the Remo platform and received invaluable feedback. Many students and attorneys expressed how beneficial the event was and that they appreciated AABANY for organizing such an event where attorneys could pay it forward and students could gain unique interview experiences from well-regarded practicing attorneys and public servants. One student, Eleen Zhou, a 2L from Cornell Law School, commented that she found the mock interview extremely helpful in preparation for the OCI season. Despite a few technical difficulties, members of the Student Outreach Committee worked diligently and promptly to ensure that no attorney or student was left without a mock interview opportunity.

The Student Outreach Committee would like to thank the participating attorneys for generously contributing their valuable time to help our students practice their interview skills. For students entering the interviewing season, best of luck! Please do not hesitate to reach out if AABANY’s Student Outreach Committee can ever be a resource for you. For more information about the Committee go to https://www.aabany.org/page/121

Student Outreach Committee Hosts Highly Successful Inter-APALSA Resume Review Workshop on Nov. 12

On Thursday, November 12, 2020, AABANY’s Student Outreach Committee (“SOC”) together with NYU APALSA as co-sponsor were thrilled to host over 110 attendees in its annual resume review workshop on the virtual platform, Remo. The event was particularly exciting this year because we invited APALSAs locally and outside of New York. We were pleased to see students join us from different states representing fifteen APALSAs who got to meet numerous attorneys in diverse sectors ranging from law firms to General Counsels of public companies.

Before the date of the workshop, Blair Hu and Jeong Hyun Hwang from NYU APALSA helped us pair the students and attorneys according to their shared interests in practice areas, school, time availabilities, etc. Once the student-attorney pairing information was sent to all the participants, the students sent in their resumes and connected via email in advance. This preparation contributed to the smooth and timely transition into the start of the event. 

At the beginning of the workshop, students waited in a virtual assembly room where they had the opportunity to join different tables and network while waiting for their turn. Each student met with their paired resume reviewers for a one-on-one 20-minute session and received personal feedback on their resumes and career paths. One of the students, Ashley Wong, a 3L from Boston University School of Law, commented that she loved the waiting room feature for the students and that her paired attorney was able to review her resume prior to the event. Ashley commented: “I loved the event and found it super useful.” Despite the initial technical difficulties with Remo, the platform created a unique space for students and attorneys to meet, network, and potentially create meaningful relationships in the community. Based on the feedback that we received from the students and attorneys, we are delighted to know that folks found our event to be useful and had a great time meeting their partners.

We hope everyone enjoyed themselves that night and continue to nurture the connections that they have made. Thank you to the students for joining us, the attorneys who graciously donated their time, and everyone who helped make this event a success. We hope everyone continues to stay safe and we look forward to seeing you in our future programming!

— Lia Kim, Student Outreach Committee Co-Chair

To learn more about the SOC go to https://www.aabany.org/page/121