Dressed for Success: How Boyd Law’s Career Development Office Gives Students an Edge
Written By Mike Weatherford
Anyone feels more confident before a job interview if they can walk in dressed for success — and have a good sense of how the questions might go.
Those are just two of the advantages offered by the Boyd Law’s Career Development Office (CDO), helping explain why 95 percent of Boyd Law graduates were employed within one year of graduation in 2024. (The rate would be even higher, Assistant Dean of Career Development Nikki Harris notes, but a couple of graduates landed jobs just after the reporting deadline.)
The “career closet” and mock interview program were both launched by Harris shortly after she was promoted to the Assistant Dean role two years ago. “Some students didn’t have the means to buy nice outfits and would get creative — wearing the same thing over and over with different accessories,” she says.
To find space to house the career closet, Harris “emptied out some very old file cabinets” to create storage, then put out the call for donations, placing drop boxes in law firms around the city. “Things started pouring in,” she recalls.
The Clark County Bar Association stepped up to help with the mock-interview program, where local attorneys volunteer to conduct 30-minute interviews and give feedback. The range of volunteers — from solo practitioners to corporate recruiters — provides students with a broad, realistic view of the hiring process.
CDO also hosts workshops and networking events such as “Lunch with a Law Firm,” and “Coffee with a Rebel,” strengthening connections with attorneys all across Nevada. “Because the law school’s still young, you have a lot of people who wish there had been a Boyd law school when they were coming up and want to help out,” Harris says.
“It’s a very tight-knit world here,” she adds, “and students can take advantage of so much — whether it’s opportunities, mentorship, or introductions to top officials and firm partners.”
The CDO is always taking professional clothing and accessory donation for the career closet. Donations can be arranged through emailing bslcareerservices@unlv.edu.