Passport to Success - Professional Development Series
Sponsored by the
University of Houston Law Center
Career Development Office

The Passport to Success - Professional Development Series (Passport to Success) is a comprehensive professional and career development program developed by the University of Houston Law Center’s Career Development Office (CDO) to achieve its mission to equip students and graduates with the resources and skills to successfully identify, generate, and navigate professional opportunities.

Passport to Success consists of four (4) mandatory 1L learning sessions, one (1) optional 1L training session, specialized sessions for Transfer, 2L, and 3L students as well as year-round advising and 30+ networking and recruiting events for all students.

1L Year: The Essentials
The four (4) mandatory 1L learning sessions focus on the essentials: exposure and access to career options, employers, and experience:

Session I: "The Map to Career Success: Exactly Where are YOU Headed?"
- Understanding legal career resources & options; determining the skills that you need to make an impact from Day 1

Session II: "That's the Ticket! Getting to your Destination" 
- How to create and market a strong personal brand based on prior work experience, practice area interests, and targeted legal employers to land the legal job you want. Understanding Career Destination Options

Session III: "Charting the Course: Communicating Where You Are Going and Why You Want to Go There"
- How to research and understand employers and their hiring processes

Session IV: "You've Landed: Making the Most of Your Dream Destination"
- Tips for a successful summer legal employment experience and strategies for gaining legal experience as a part-time student.

The Comprehensive Job Search– 1L Applications, Networking, & Interviewing

This is an optional program for 1Ls discussing the basic steps for securing a summer legal internship, including follow-up, applying to posted positions, networking, and cold calling (applying directly for a position when there is no posting).

1L Year to Graduation: Advising, Training, Networking, and Recruiting

The extended professionalism programming of Passport to Success guides students and graduates in the use of tools and strategies for successful career development from 1L year through graduation by providing advising, training, networking, and recruiting opportunities for all legal and JD Advantage employment environments:

Passport to Success – Advising: One-On-One Tailored Career Counseling

• Career and Professional Development
• Identifying/Applying to Targeted Employers
• Interview Training (year-round)
• Résumé and Cover Letter Building/Review
• Salary Negotiations

Passport to Success – Training: Mandatory Upper-Level Specialized Passport Sessions

• 2Ls: Gaining Professional Legal Experience as a 2L
  Second-year students learn how to gain experience to ensure they are competitive candidates for permanent positions, search for positions to gain experience in their chosen field, etc.
• 3Ls: Securing & Preparing for Your First Professional Post-Grad Job
  Third-year students learn how to search and prepare for positions that could transition to post-graduate positions, negotiate summers off to study for the bar, etc.

Passport to Success – Networking: Building Professional Relationships

• Informational Interviews
• Judicial Panel
• Lunch/Dinner with a Lawyer
• Meet the OCI Employers
• Professional Mentoring Program

Passport to Success – Recruiting: Experience, Experience, Experience!

• Apprentice Program Positions
• Externships/Internships/Clinics
• GPITT
• Job Bank
• Judicial Internships
• OCI: Sessions, I, II, III, & IV
• Small & Midsize Firm Open House