Three-Year J.D. / M.B.A. Program | Columbia Law School
Career Services
The Three-Year J.D./M.B.A. Program at Columbia Law School and Columbia Business School offers a career plan mapped to best suit the anticipated needs of both students and employers.
The career resources offered by the program are most effective when students have a concrete grasp of their professional trajectories and can clearly articulate their career goals. Students should consult with designated career advisers from both schools at the outset of the program to discuss their career objectives. The intensive and highly structured nature of employer recruiting in both programs necessitates that students conduct self-assessments before entering the program. Career advisers from the Law School—including those at its public interest law center, Social Justice Initiatives—will be available to meet with applicants during the admissions process and assist them in that self-assessment process. Career advisers from the Business School will be available to meet with committed students prior to their matriculation in the program. Students may further refine how they utilize their time during each year of the program to best match their career aspirations.
Year 1
In their first year, students will work with the Office of Career Services and Professional Development, as well as Social Justice Initiatives at the Law School. Beginning on Nov. 1, admitted students will participate in a series of mandatory professional development programs to prepare them for recruitment by, and to make applications to, legal employers. Students will be assigned individual counselors and will have the opportunity to attend numerous events with employers, as well as professional development programming focused on various practice areas, practice types, and geographic settings. Three-Year J.D./M.B.A. students will also participate in the Spring On-Campus Interview Program, with the goal of securing a summer position for the summer following their first year. Columbia Law School will work with employers to consider students enrolled in this program for permanent employment at the completion of their first-year’s summer employment. First-year students in the Three-Year J.D./M.B.A. Program will also be eligible for Guaranteed Summer Funding if they desire summer employment in the government or public interest arenas and will have access to the New York City–based Public Interest Career Fair in February.
Three-Year J.D./M.B.A. students who want to secure a business internship during the second summer of the program should not participate in the Law School’s private sector Early Interview Program (EIP) in August following their first year. Instead, they should attend orientation at the Business School and go through the steps necessary to identify and present themselves as suitable for an M.B.A. summer internship in the summer following the second year of the program. Three-Year J.D./M.B.A. students who wish to secure summer employment in law during the second summer of the program may participate in EIP (to the extent that the dates do not conflict with Orientation at the Business School).
Year 2
In their second year, students will work with the Career Management Center at the Business School. Committed students will be invited to Pre-M.B.A. Career Days, whih offers an introduction to key principles for a successful job search in business, and may be offered in advance of orientation. At orientation, students start the formal process of career education and advising that is structured to support them in identifying an appropriate M.B.A. summer internship. Preparatory work, some of which is required to participate in either first- or second-year recruiting, takes place throughout the fall semester, with formal interviews designated to start over winter break in early January. Interviews take place throughout the spring and early summer. The clubs and cluster structure in the first year of business school supports students with their career management and job search. Note that employers wish to meet with candidates as part of formal on-campus recruiting once for first-year internships and once for full-time jobs. At the Business School, internships are used to identify talent for the full-time positions the following year. Therefore, the internship should take place the summer before a candidate graduates, which is the second summer of the program.
Year 3
Students may have secured either a full-time law or business job through their summer internships. Students who have not, or those who wish to continue looking during their third year in the program, can participate in second-year on-campus recruiting at the Law School for full-time jobs in the private sector and/or the public sector/public interest arenas. Those pursuing positions in law may continue to work with their individual career advisers and may avail themselves of all the resources available from the Office of Career Services and Professional Development, and Social Justice Initiatives (including the job database and alumni mentors). In addition, these students will have special access to employers hiring for permanent positions during the Spring On-Campus Interview Program during their third year of the program. For those pursuing positions in business, interview refreshers take place in September preceding the start of interviews for full-time jobs beginning in October of a student’s third year in the program. In order to participate in business campus recruiting, students must have completed M.B.A. Recruitment Prep in their second year.