Bidding Tips, Tricks, & Reminders – Part II

The Career Center has received many questions about the bidding process. To answer those questions, and in anticipation of more, this week’s blog post will provide even more tips, tricks, and reminders.

• If you attend a networking event or workshop hosted by an employer, put that in your cover letter! It can only help you for the organization or firm to know you took the time to mingle with their employees and to learn more about what they are looking for during the application process

• If you have a connection with someone who works for, or is connected to, the firm or organization for which you are applying, put that in your cover letter! We know it feels weird to name-drop. They know too. However, who you know is important and can help you get your foot in the door. Firms and organizations don’t want to be embarrassed if they’ve let your materials sit in the pile when your cousin is a managing partner, for example

• “Bidding” simply refers to submitting your application materials. A “bid” is a collection of application materials (ex. a resume and a writing sample; a resume and an unofficial transcript”). You do not have to bid for every employer during a session; you can pick and choose. Not all employers request the same materials for their bid, so make sure you know what they are looking for before you start putting your materials together

• The dates in the session titles (ex. Spring 2016 – Week 4: Mar 7-10) refer to when the interviews are taking place. To the right of the box with the session drop-down, there is another box with important dates. The important dates include the bidding/application timeline and the pre-select sign-up

• Pre-selection means you have been chosen to interview with an organization or firm. Once you have been pre-selected, you will need to sign up for an interview time

• Bidding is always open for one week: from 12pm (noon) on a Thursday to 12pm (noon) on the following Thursday. The Career Center cannot make exceptions to these deadlines

• OCI is not the end-all be-all for summer associate or summer internship opportunities. Firms and organizations are also advertising positions through the job board on Symplicity and sometimes aren’t even advertising the opportunities at all

For questions and/or requests for assistance with the OCI process, please contact a member of the Career Center at umkclawcareer@umkc.edu or 816-235-1668.

Tagged: applications, cover letters, employers, interviewing, job search strategy, networking, opportunities, professionalism, resources, resumes