Loyola PLIP 2013: Brace yourselves... Forum

[Jsa725]

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[thebigspoon]

I just checked symplicity. It says you can only upload resumes and transcripts. Anything else they want you should just bring in hard copy. This message went away after i started uploading docs though. I can't even click the cover letter option when uploading stuff. no idea what the previous posters were thinking when talking about cover letters

what docs are you uploading? just resume and transcript, right?

yup. btw are you guys just taking screenshots of your transcript? 200kb makes really shitty scans

[Jsa725]

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[thebigspoon]

yup. just click the employer you want and hit apply

[pmench31]

Hey guys. Interested in Patent Lit. BSME undergrad from good public school (high GPA top 10%); 50% at a T1 regional NYC school (B and B+s). No WE (went right from undergrad). Any suggestions on the firms I should bid at for patent lit? I'm assuming since patent bar isn't necessary some of the highly ranked lit firms are going to look T14

[Anonymous User]

does it matter which office you apply for if you are interested in multiple locations for one firm? i.e. i want DC or CA (maybe NY) but do not know which office i should bid to give me the best chance at scoring an interview...for example, Paul Hastings has both Palo Alto and DC locations but it is very difficult to tell by their website which is a better "match" for me (IP Lit only) ... also, PH is ranked in Band 4 in C&P for both places.

two factors leaning me toward bidding Palo Alto are: 1) NALP hiring grid states Palo Alto = 8 expected SA's as opposed to DC = 4 expected SA's, and 2) technical work experience is preferred in Palo Alto.

am i on the right track or am i over complicating this?
thanks again!

[Anonymous User]

does it matter which office you apply for if you are interested in multiple locations for one firm? i.e. i want DC or CA (maybe NY) but do not know which office i should bid to give me the best chance at scoring an interview...for example, Paul Hastings has both Palo Alto and DC locations but it is very difficult to tell by their website which is a better "match" for me (IP Lit only) ... also, PH is ranked in Band 4 in C&P for both places.

two factors leaning me toward bidding Palo Alto are: 1) NALP hiring grid states Palo Alto = 8 expected SA's as opposed to DC = 4 expected SA's, and 2) technical work experience is preferred in Palo Alto.

am i on the right track or am i over complicating this?
thanks again!

Think long and hard, I think almost all that "select multiple cities" stuff is a huge flame. I'd make a play at one only.

PH DC usually takes way more than 4 SA's. I doubt that expected thing is very accurate. And they all have tech backgrounds in their IP department.

I would probably choose the one you have better ties to area in.

[Anonymous User]

does it matter which office you apply for if you are interested in multiple locations for one firm? i.e. i want DC or CA (maybe NY) but do not know which office i should bid to give me the best chance at scoring an interview...for example, Paul Hastings has both Palo Alto and DC locations but it is very difficult to tell by their website which is a better "match" for me (IP Lit only) ... also, PH is ranked in Band 4 in C&P for both places.

two factors leaning me toward bidding Palo Alto are: 1) NALP hiring grid states Palo Alto = 8 expected SA's as opposed to DC = 4 expected SA's, and 2) technical work experience is preferred in Palo Alto.

am i on the right track or am i over complicating this?
thanks again!

Think long and hard, I think almost all that "select multiple cities" stuff is a huge flame. I'd make a play at one only.

PH DC usually takes way more than 4 SA's. I doubt that expected thing is very accurate. And they all have tech backgrounds in their IP department.

I would probably choose the one you have better ties to area in.

yeah, i was not sure what to make of the select multiple cities thing... a way of weeding out indecisive people? anyways.. im from the 'burbs of DC so that is my #1 choice... but i also just want to maximize any potential interview opportunities b/c i am not patbar eligible (have IT WE though) and was not certain how to "attack" the bidding process to maximize my results

for anon full disclosure... not patbar eligible, have IT WE prior to LS, going to transfer out of my current LS... as you can see, ive got a steep hill to climb

[Anonymous User]

Need clarification; the employers are making their decisions off of the resumes only, correct? They will then go ahead and decide who to pre-select/alternate based on the info there.

If so, what are we uploading the transcripts for? Do they receive them at a certain point?

Thanks

[Anonymous User]

I used PDF Merge to combine my law school and undergrad transcripts, but the file's too big to load. I think that I need to include my UG coursework since I'm not patent bar-eligible, but I have a lot of science classes (and want employers to know that I have those skills). But I also have an SA with an IP firm this summer. Should I even bother worrying about including my UG transcript, or will the SA on my resume signal to other firms that I have the pre-law coursework to work in IP law?

[Jsa725]

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[Bumi]

UG Courses: relax. Unless it changed this year, they don't want your UG transcript right now. Some firms will ask for your UG transcript in the interview. Some won't. If you're really concerned about them seeing that you took some science courses outside your major, put a "relevant coursework" line on your resume under your UG school. That's what I did.

[Anonymous User]

can anyone who has attended in the past explain the multiple office thing? is it a good thing or a bad thing to state that you are interested in multiple offices?

Pick your #1 office and say that's what you want. I was successful with this strategy last year and saw others do poorly with the opposite strategy. Some people don't follow this advice and do fine, so I'm not saying I know everything, but I think it's the safer bet.

Here's why. If it's the wrong decision and the firm really wants you somewhere else, or if they don't care, they'll tell you. I had a firm say the city I picked in April or whatever was not where they needed IP litigators anymore and asked if I was open to another city 500 miles away. I said sure, got a callback at the new city, got an offer. I had another firm ask me in the interview (they didn't ask in advance) which city I wanted out of their four cities all over the country. I picked one, but they made it very clear when they gave me a callback that I could take my callback to any of the four cities. I got an offer there too.

Meanwhile, I saw a kid in a hospitality suite get asked by the recruiter where he wanted to work. He said he'd work anywhere. She started listing cities: DC, Palo Alto, New York, Houston, San Diego, Chicago? Yes, he said. Any of those, I'll do anything. The recruiter cut him off and said, "Never do that. Don't do that. Pick a city. We can use IP associates anywhere so you aren't helping yourself. Instead, you are hurting yourself because you sound to me like someone who will leave whenever you get a better offer."

It's stupid, I know, but pick a city. Maybe if it's San Francisco and Palo Alto that you can't decide between that's fine, but you can say you're open to either, but I'd be nervous about the message you'd send if you're saying DC or California. If they try to steer you elsewhere, go with it enthusiastically, but don't seem like you can't decide.

[Anonymous User]

UG Courses: relax. Unless it changed this year, they don't want your UG transcript right now. Some firms will ask for your UG transcript in the interview. Some won't. If you're really concerned about them seeing that you took some science courses outside your major, put a "relevant coursework" line on your resume under your UG school. That's what I did.

Anon from above -- thanks for the advice; I just added a line about my relevant coursework to my resume.

[bigredforlaw]

UG Courses: relax. Unless it changed this year, they don't want your UG transcript right now. Some firms will ask for your UG transcript in the interview. Some won't. If you're really concerned about them seeing that you took some science courses outside your major, put a "relevant coursework" line on your resume under your UG school. That's what I did.

I agree with this. I've always been told not to provide anything that was not requested. Supposedly it shows an inability to follow directions. Employers get especially annoyed when you attach a cover letter to your resume file because now they have to scroll through text they never intended to read to get to your resume. Also, you should not be scanning your official transcripts to PDFs. I thought all schools had some standard unofficial grade report word doc format. It should be simple and include all the same info as your transcript (including semester GPAs). You should bring actual copies of your official transcript to interviews though.

[Anonymous User]

Resume question: I have a 2L SA at an IP firm that I am obviously putting on my resume for the time frame "Expected Summer 2013." I also have a Fall 2013 externship at a really cool and well known company, and was wondering if I should include it too. Since it is later than my SA it would be at the top of my Work Experience section. Also, since the company is so large and diverse, I thought indicating the externship department would be good to show that it's IP related. However, I'll be in the marketing department doing 100% trademark work, so I'm not sure if that would send the wrong message to PLIP employers. FYI I'm interested in litigation only.

[Anonymous User]

So for PLIP, I know Loyola said to put your uGPA on the resume ("All students should include their GPA and Class Rank (if available) for their undergraduate/graduate institutions on their resume. Employers are very interested in this information; if you fail to provide it, employers may assume that your grades were too poor to include."), but for those of us that has sub-3.0 uGPA, is it better not to include it and hope they dont ask for transcript? Or just suck it up and include it.

[Anonymous User]

I would not put a sub-3.0 ugpa on your resume. Most (patent lit) firms don't care about ugpa. I only had one patent lit firm ask about my ugpa last year. If you put your ugpa on your resume, you're going to raise some eyebrows about why your gpa was low.

[09042014]

I would not put a sub-3.0 ugpa on your resume. Most (patent lit) firms don't care about ugpa. I only had one patent lit firm ask about my ugpa last year. If you put your ugpa on your resume, you're going to raise some eyebrows about why your gpa was low.

I left mine off. True, those firms that care about UGPA will correctly assume it's low, but that is unavoidable. But it doesn't show the firms who don't really care.

Though, do note you will get some interviews at firms who care, will ask, and then will ding you. There isn't really anything you can do. So if you get 15 interviews, 5 may be total dead ends. So don't get to too cocky if you get a lot of interviews.

[Anonymous User]

I left mine off. True, those firms that care about UGPA will correctly assume it's low, but that is unavoidable. But it doesn't show the firms who don't really care.

Though, do note you will get some interviews at firms who care, will ask, and then will ding you. There isn't really anything you can do. So if you get 15 interviews, 5 may be total dead ends. So don't get to too cocky if you get a lot of interviews.

Sound advice, thank you.

[Jsa725]

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[swoozie]

So...I realize I probably should've done this the first few days, but does anyone know if bidding closes at midnight on the 2nd or like 5 pm? I was planning on doing research/bidding the past two days since I thought I had an "easier" final tomorrow but then I realized I was wrong. My last final is the 2nd so I'm wondering if it would be really bad to try to do all my bids after that exam...

[Jsa725]

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[thebigspoon]

any of you guys planning to do SFIPLA too?

[chem]

any of you guys planning to do SFIPLA too?

Me. Do you know when the registration deadline is? Zero information on their website, last time I checked