Career Alternatives, Job Searches, Law Schools

Maryland Law's Response Highlights Career Services 'Expertise'

On Tuesday, we brought you news of a job opportunity that is currently available on the University of Maryland School of Law's Symplicity job bank. When we first wrote about the listing, we called it a "career services nightmare." After all, the job had more to do with orange parking cones than the law. Instead of hanging their heads in shame for trying to sell a job as a parking garage manager to its students, the career development office issued a vigorous defense of this exciting opportunity in vehicular supervision and coordination. The email was written by the assistant dean for career development herself. What did she have to say?

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Yesterday, we brought you news of a job opportunity that is currently available on the University of Maryland School of Law’s Symplicity job bank. When we first wrote about the listing, we called it a “career services nightmare.” After all, the job had more to do with orange parking cones than the law.

As it turns out, the powers that be at Maryland Law weren’t very happy that Above the Law called them out. Instead of hanging their heads in shame for trying to sell a job as a parking garage manager to its students, the career development office issued a vigorous defense of this exciting opportunity in vehicular supervision and coordination.

The email was written by the assistant dean for career development herself. What did she have to say?

As a refresher, here’s the UMB Law job listing that we’re talking about:

Note that there is no indication as to who this full-time, evening position is geared toward. In fact, the division listed is “N/A.” We assumed that this job was meant for alumni or students graduating this spring. (Remember, the ABA frowns upon full-time students working in excess of 20 hours per week.)

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All that being said, here’s the email that was sent out by Dana Morris, Maryland Law’s Assistant Dean for Career Development:

From: Morris, Dana
Date: February 14, 2012 5:20:10 PM EST
To: LAW-All Students
Cc: LAW-Career Development, LAW-All Faculty, LAW-Admissions Group, LAW-Office of Student Affairs, LAW-Deans
Subject: Job Posting Reference on ATL

Dear Students:

As you may know, our school was mentioned on the Above The Law blog because of a job listing in the Symplicity job bank. There are some important facts that were not mentioned in the ATL post: First, most of the jobs that are posted in the job bank are from legal employers or are positions where JD training provides a competitive advantage for our students and graduates. Second, we also post a limited number of non-law-related jobs that provide opportunities for day and evening division students to make money while attending law school. Third, the job listing that was posted for an assistant parking manager at the University of Baltimore was geared to evening students (not intended for graduates) and was in a category eligible for employee tuition remission.

We know that students are anxious about the uncertainty of the job market. I am writing to assure you that, contrary to the impression portrayed by the ATL blog post, the Symplicity job bank lists hundreds of excellent opportunities that are available to you. And as always, if you need help with your job search, please feel free to contact me or any of our counselors in the CDO.

Best regards,

Dean Morris

Okay, let’s get a few things straight. The most important “fact” detailed in the dean’s email — the claim that this job was geared toward evening students — is not explicitly stated in the job listing itself, which lists “N/A” under “Division” (as in “Full-time Division” or “Evening Division”). And even if this illustrious job opportunity had been geared toward evening students, need we even bring up the fact that it would be near impossible for an evening student to take a full-time evening position? One that runs from Monday through Friday, from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.?

That right there is some real career services expertise. No wonder Maryland Law students are “anxious about the uncertainty of the job market.”

Earlier: Maryland Law’s Tuition Is Down, But So Is the Quality of Its Job Listings

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