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I'll be enrolling this fall at Cornell, and I'm quite interested in working for the SEC when the time comes to get working. I'd appreciate any advice that one can give that may help make me a more attractive candidate, if I decide to take this route. Thanks in advance!

The SEC almost never hires right out of law school (look at the SEC honors program threads to see how competitive it is). Your best bet is to do securities litigation at a Biglaw firm in a major market and then apply to openings at the Commission once you have around 3 years of experience. You also might want to do an internship at a regional office during 1L summer so you can make some contacts. In my opinion, the regional office internships are much more substantive than those in DC. The internships are unpaid and not very hard to get. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

lapolicia wrote:The SEC almost never hires right out of law school (look at the SEC honors program threads to see how competitive it is). Your best bet is to do securities litigation at a Biglaw firm in a major market and then apply to openings at the Commission once you have around 3 years of experience. You also might want to do an internship at a regional office during 1L summer so you can make some contacts. In my opinion, the regional office internships are much more substantive than those in DC. The internships are unpaid and not very hard to get. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

Thanks for the advice! Pretty much exactly what I was thinking of doing