With job recruiting season in full swing, Queen’s Law students are turning to the Career Development Office (CDO) to help them make informed career choices. Providing advice for a range of summer, articling and long-term employment opportunities, the CDO offers comprehensive services across all three years of law school to help guide students into the legal profession.

“The Queen’s Law CDO is well-staffed and provides students with very personalized services,” says Gillian Ready, Law’87, CDO Director. “Our goal is to help students first determine their own goals, and then how to reach them so that their career choices reflect their own interests, ambitions and values.”

The Office is proud of its personalized and holistic approach to career planning, which offers students extensive individual counselling sessions. Unique programs include the Shadow Program, in which JD students visit alumni at work for a day, as well as Career Development Student Mentors and Peer Mock Interviews, which pair students together to offer advice or simulate interviews. “These programs allow upper year students and alumni to contribute, reflecting Queen’s supportive community spirit,” says Julie Banting, CDO Career Counsellor.

The CDO also continually adds new programs to meet student needs. “This year, we plan to launch a session on using LinkedIn to help students develop a professional profile and learn about networking online, and are also expanding our programming on professionalism and longer-term career options,” Banting adds.

Every year, the CDO also organizes On-Campus Interviews (OCIs), initial interviews held by employers recruiting from Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa before inviting students to more in-depth interviews at their offices. This year, almost 170 students participated in OCIs, while more than 80 prepared using CDO’s mock interview program. Ready says that the CDO also encourages students to be open to other equally good routes for employment, and even helps fund some students who pursue international or domestic public-interest internships.

Chris Savo, Law’16, worked closely with the CDO last year and has secured an articling position for next year at the Toronto office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. “The CDO is an invaluable resource at Queen's Law and one that I, like many other students, have directly benefited from,” he says. “Whether it’s running seminars, reviewing resumes and cover letters, or providing one-on-one feedback sessions, the people at the CDO are incredibly knowledgeable and all students should seek to benefit from their specialized expertise.”