June VIP and the Summer Internship

After June VIP interviews, firms select students to invite for “callback” interviews, and invited students coordinate directly with firms to schedule callbacks. Callbacks will likely begin immediately after June VIP ends and continue for about two or three weeks, but the specific timing is unpredictable, and some callbacks might occur later in the summer. As in recent years, we anticipate that most firms will offer students the option to conduct callbacks virtually or in-person, and that the mode of callback selected will have no bearing on student success. In recent years, students have conducted an average of four callback interviews.

When invited to schedule a callback, you may want to take a moment to consider your interest in the opportunity. If possible, you may decide to schedule callbacks with firms of greater interest to you earlier than firms of lesser interest. That way, you may secure a summer offer that allows you to cancel callbacks you’ve scheduled for later. Click here for additional advice on callback interviews.

In summary, the June VIP process involves two distinct rounds of interviewing: (1) screening interviews during the four days of June VIP; and (2) callback interviews in the weeks following June VIP. The key differences are shown in the chart below.

After extending offers, some firms may coordinate offer events. Firms will dictate the structure and timing of these events, which may be during the weekday and in-person. Firms offer these opportunities to convince students to accept their offers and help students in their decision-making process. If a firm invites you to an offer event and you are unable to attend due to work commitments or otherwise, that’s perfectly okay. Just be sure to RSVP promptly and communicate your unavailability. In addition to these events, with an offer in hand, you may wish to ask a firm to meet with additional attorneys for further conversations as you embark on the decision-making process—a practice known as having a “second look.” You can request that these conversations take place virtually if that better suits your schedule.

If you plan to participate in June VIP, you should inform your 1L summer employer prior to commencing work that you will need some flexibility in your work schedule and/or assignments during the interview process. Your 1L summer employer will appreciate an early and open discussion about how you can best navigate your work demands successfully while participating in June VIP. Make sure your 1L employer knows that you care about your work and that you will be responsible and engaged as you navigate potential scheduling conflicts. You do not need to disclose the details of your job search, but you should be transparent about your interview schedule and proactively work with your summer employer to minimize disruption to your work. Your relationship with your 1L summer employer is important to your professional reputation, especially for students who are working in public interest or government and are considering public interest or government careers after graduation!

Employers are unlikely to be familiar with the specific structure or timing of June VIP. Some employers may be generally aware of the need for law students to interview during summer internships. (One such employer recently prepared a helpful guidance document on this topic for its interns.) Many employers, especially those that have not hired many law students in the past couple of years, may not be aware of the relatively recent trend toward early-summer recruiting or the need for interns to interview with other employers during their summer internship. To avoid misunderstanding, you should proactively communicate with your summer employer. Don’t assume that your summer employer knows anything about current trends in legal recruiting or the June VIP interview process.

Consider discussing the following topics with your 1L summer employer:

• The basic structure of June VIP (four days of prescheduled screening interviews, then a couple weeks of unpredictable callback interviews);
• Whether the employer would prefer you to take days off during June VIP and callback interviews (offer to add days at the end of the summer) or would prefer that you take breaks during the workday as needed to conduct interviews;
• With whom at the organization should you communicate interview scheduling issues (e.g., with a centralized person, or with each individual supervisor)? Does the organization have physical, private space and reliable internet sufficient for you to conduct interviews during the workday, as needed? If not, what is the best approach to conducting interviews from your home? (E.g., should you work remotely that entire day, or come to work in the morning but leave with sufficient time to travel home for interviews?);
• How to handle potential conflicts of interest that may arise from interviewing (e.g., if you are working on a matter during your internship that involves a law firm with which you intend to interview); and
• Discuss your plans for completing work assignments during the interview process in a timely and successful manner (e.g., offering to work before and/or after hours, including on weekends).