Public Interest Career Fair facilitates lasting connections
USC Gould School of Law

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Monday, March 27, 2023

More than 40 public interest organizations took part in the annual fall event

By Melissa Masatani

More than 40 public interest organizations logged on to connect with USC Gould School of Law students at the Public Interest Career Fair, held virtually in November. The annual event was sponsored by the law school’s Career Services Office, Office of Externships and the Barbara F. Bice Public Interest Law Foundation.

“Our goal is for students to see that there are many paths they could take in their careers,” said Rachel Kronick Rothbart, director of Career Services at USC Gould. “There is a broad swath of employers in the public sector, not only in Los Angeles County but across the nation, and that could be in government, in nonprofits, in the court system and more.”

For several representatives, the career fair represented more than just an opportunity to talk to students about their work — it was a homecoming of sorts. Recent Gould alumni included Alex Tron (JD ’22), Stacy Wang (JD ’22) and Holly Fena (JD ’22).

“When I was a 1L, I got my first-year summer internship at this career fair for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, and now three years later I’m here representing them,” Fena said. “Since I was new to California, the career fair was a great way to learn about opportunities, priorities and dynamics in different offices around the region, like L.A. County versus Orange County and even San Diego County.”

Rothbart said that students should take advantage of the career fair as an early networking event, meeting with a variety of organizations to learn about what their office does and ask about hiring timelines.

“The employers that come to campus want to make connections with our students,” Rothbart said. “It’s a credit to our student body that so many organizations come to the career fair and keep returning every year, because it speaks to the quality of the students and graduates that we send out to the workforce.”