Interview Programs

Yale students seek employment experiences in private practice, from large firms to solo practices; in federal, state and local government; in public interest; and in business. To facilitate hiring, CDO organizes and cosponsors several interview programs. All employers participating in our interview programs are required to comply with Yale's Employer Recruiting Policies, including our Nondiscrimination Policy.

Our Virtual Interview Program (VIP), held in late summer, is open to all employers seeking to hire 2Ls or 3Ls for summer or permanent employment. Although public interest employers are welcome to participate, this is traditionally a law firm focused recruiting event. VIP interviews are assigned by a lottery algorithm based on student bid rankings and availability. Employers are not permitted to prescreen candidates. Law firms are charged a recruiting fee to participate. Registration opens in late spring.

Our Public Interest Interview Program (PIIP), held early in the fall semester, is exclusively for non-profit organizations, government offices and public interest law firms seeking to hire 2Ls or 3Ls for summer or permanent employment. PIIP is an employer pre-select program enabling employers to select which student(s) they wish to invite to interview. There is no recruiting fee for participating employers. Registration opens in summer.

Our Winter Interview Program (WIP), held early in the spring semester, is open to all employers seeking to hire 1Ls, 2Ls, or 3Ls for summer or permanent employment. This is traditionally a 1L focused recruiting event. WIP interviews are assigned by a lottery algorithm based on student bid rankings and availability. Employers are not permitted to prescreen candidates. There is no recruiting fee for participating employers. Registration opens in late fall. 

Cosponsored Interview Programs - Yale Law School participates in the Equal Justice Works Career Fair in Washington, DC, and cosponsors both the NYU Public Interest Legal Career Fair and the Columbia Overseas-Trained LL.M. Student Interview Program both in New York City. If you would like more information regarding these events, please contact CDO at 203-432-1676, or cdo.law@yale.edu.

Our 2023 Virtual Interview Program (VIP) will be held over 4 weekdays from July 27 - August 1 from 9:00am - 6:30pm ET. 

VIP serves as the primary avenue for rising 2Ls to secure summer internships with larger law firms in major markets for their 2L summer. Public sector employers who have summer opportunities for 2Ls and post-graduate opportunities for 3Ls are welcome to participate. VIP is open to all employer types. Interviews are assigned through a lottery system based solely on students’ ranked preferences with no input from employers. A student’s application materials play no role in the selection process for VIP screening interviews. 

To register:

1. Please request a schedule at https://law-yale-csm.symplicity.com/employers. Click on Interview Programs in the sidebar.  

2. Complete the VIP 2023 Registration Survey.

Interview Date: We use a rotation system for assigning interview dates. Returning employers are assigned the next consecutive day from the previous year. For example, employers who attended Day 1 of our program last year will be assigned Day 2 this year. As we transition to a four-day program, some returning employers will be assigned dates outside of the rotation. New employers will be assigned based on availability. You will be informed of your date starting on April 17, 2023.   

Review YLS Employer Recruiting Policies: Every year we conduct a rigorous review of our YLS Employer Recruiting Policies by engaging with a wide swath of employers and our student community to evaluate our policies in light of the legal hiring market. Please review our Recruiting Policies in full paying particular attention to the following provisions:

VI. No Pre-VIP Interviewing of Rising Second-Year Students - Our elected Student Representatives have reaffirmed our “No Pre-VIP Interviewing Policy” which states that law firm offices participating in VIP shall not conduct initial or callback interviews of second-year students prior to their assigned VIP date (with a few exceptions). 

VIII. Policies for Offers and Decisions - In summary, offers to 2Ls should remain open for at least 21 days following either the date of the offer letter or the last day of VIP, whichever is later. Offers to 2Ls from firm offices with fewer than 10 summer associates in the prior summer should remain open for at least 14 days following the date of the offer letter. 

CALLBACKS  
We invite employers to conduct callbacks with Yale students starting August 2, 2023 – no callbacks are permitted during VIP. We encourage employers to complete callbacks prior to the start of classes on August 30, 2023. 

RESUME COLLECTION  
If you are unable to participate in VIP but are interested in receiving resumes from our students, go to the Employers section of our website (www.law.yale.edu/cdo ) and click Post an Opportunity. This is a free online posting service where you can describe the positions you have available and request that students send their resumes directly to your organization. Click Increase Visibility at YLS for additional methods to attract our students.  

Our Public Interest Interview Program (PIIP) for upper-class students will be held September 18-22, 2023. Registration for PIIP will open in May 2023.

PIIP is open only to non-profit organizations, government agencies, and public interest law firms. Interviews are assigned by employer selection. Employers can request and review student application materials and decide which students they wish to interview. PIIP does not facilitate informational interviews. 

Our Winter Interview Program (WIP) will take place virtually in late January. Information on how to register will be posted here in early November. We encourage all employers with paid or volunteer opportunities for 1Ls or 2Ls for the summer, or 3Ls for after graduation, to participate in WIP. 

WIP Interviews are assigned by a lottery algorithm based on student bid rankings and availability. Employers are NOT permitted to prescreen candidates. Interviews will be held virtually using Flo Recruit.  

 

If you are unable to come to campus but would like to receive resumes from Yale Law students you may post your position opening through our online job posting system powered by Symplicity.