Ok, dumb question, but once I click to bid and have used all 32, that's it right? There's no like "submit bids now" thing I have to do after? I'm paranoid that I've done it wrong...

No, it's done. Just make sure you associate the right resume with the right firm. When it closes tonight, employers will be able to start review resumes.

Does anyone know how to handle current grades that are coming in, specifically that are raising my gpa?

I have 10/13 hrs reported and a gpa increase worth reporting, but I don't know where my new class rank will be. Any advice?

Just make a new resume and update the default the resume on there (don't create a new one, just update it). Or just bring updated transcript with you. I assume if the numbers go up, then you update.

Update. Better grades will make a huge difference in how many interviews you get. On the flip side, if anyone has a GPA decrease, don't update and justify it to yourself as wanting to report the whole semester.

Is there any advice there on how to handle it if grades drop? Right now I'm top ~15% at a T30 and so that's what they'll see on my resume. Anything to say in interviews if I don't do as well this semester? (but say, remain in the top 25% or so)?

Don't sweat it. Can almost guarantee you the difference between my 1st and 2nd semester grades was bigger than anyone here will see and I didn't hear about it in a single interview. Had a few instances where the interview was obviously over once I handed them the updated resume, but less often than you'd think and not always from who you'd think.

as i understand it for UGPA, if you don't put it on there, it's assumed to be <3.0. so, probably no reason to put it on there unless it's a 2.99 or something

Plenty of firms never ask about it, so definitely don't put it if it will harm you.

Question for 2Ls and 3Ls: If I bid on firms that indicate no specific offices--firmwide listing--will the interviewers ask me which office I prefer in the interview? Should I indicate that somewhere? Or should I accept any office?

This is different for every firm. There are special instructions for each firm if you look on symplicity.

yes, there are firms that provide instructions. Some others like finnegan or fitzpatrick do not say any thing specifically.

Yes, they will.


An explicit indication is not really expected at this stage, but I suppose you could add an "objective" line to your resume if you wanted.

At the interview, I think it's best to specify one or two offices you'd prefer. They need to pick an office to send you to for a callback. Saying "oh, any office is fine" suggests that you don't know about or care about the firm and doesn't make their decision any easier. When I've waffled between two offices in the past one firm really pressed hard for me to specify a single office.

You should choose carefully - some offices are small and/or don't have much patent practice, and if you say you prefer those offices a callback is less likely.

Something like this is what you should aim for: the firm has a large/growing in Megalopolis in your technical area, so you say "I'm particularly interested in your Megalopolis office because your Megalopolis partner John Smith's sprocket litigation work and your Megalopolis clients like Spacely Sprockets would fit well with my background in widget design. I really loved my time in Megalopolis working for Cogswell Cogs. If your firm has a special need elsewhere, though, I'd be happy to consider your other offices, perhaps Smallville."


Finnegan's largest presence is in DC, so in the interview you may want to focus on that office. Fitzpatrick is mostly NY, with a small DC office and a tiny CA office. If you want Fitzpatrick your chances may be best if you say you want NY.

ty

Agree w/ yuzu, but don't be afraid to ask about a secondary market you have ties to - they can give you a leg up on getting into that firm if that branch is hiring because the majority of your competition will likely be gunning for the home office, particularly if the HQ is in DC or NY.

I thought I knew how to do this but I seem to have forgotten. Is there a way to export the list of my current bids on to excel so that I can take a look? Thanks.

just click "show 50" or whatever so you can see all your bids on the screen, highlight everything and paste it into excel. it'll work.

so the waiting begins...

and so it begins...

just out of curiosity, do people spread their bids around or focus on couple markets? I used a majority of my bids for two markets but spread around a little bit with whatever left.

Exactly what I did. But I focused more on the type of firms than markets.

I remember reading that last year interviews showed up on symplicity before the final interview schedule came out in June. Where would they show up? Under the "Bidding" heading where it currently says "applied?"

That's where it said last year. Hopefully this year it's all at once. That was terrible.

I have not had any true summer time yet since finals, so hope I would not get distracted and continuously check symplicity.

How many here are planning to take the patent bar this summer?

I am planning on taking it I need to call tomorrow to apply it was kind of confusing what I needed to pay... any clue out there the difference was 200 vs 1600 I think....

I only vaguely remember the application, but for most people, the ~200 is the price. I believe the ~1600 are for people who committed some specific type of criminal offense? Not sure.