What is bidding?
“Bidding” means selecting employers to whom you want to submit your resume. Beginning with the bid opening date, you will be able to indicate which employers with whom you are interested in interviewing.
1. Go to the Symplicity “OCI” tab
2. Select a Session from the drop down menu and view the list of employers for that Session.
3. Click on the “Review” button beside each employer name to place your bids.
4. Select the correct resume, cover letter, transcript, etc. to attach to your bid from the drop down menus (See below).
5. Click on the “Apply” button to submit your bid for that employer. (NOTE: Symplicity will not allow you to bid for an employer unless you have uploaded all documents required by that employer.) If the “Apply” button does not appear, you are missing documents required by the employer.
6. You must rank every employer you bid for within each Session. You should rank your first choice employer “1,” your second choice “2,” etc. (Rankings can only be viewed by the CC, Employers will not know the order in which you ranked them).
How & Where do I upload documents?
All documents required by the employer must be uploaded to the specific Symplicity site (WashULaw, MCGC or SEMW) before you will be allowed to place your bids. Upload resumes, cover letters, unofficial transcripts, references, and other materials by clicking on the “Add New” button. You only need to upload one general resume to Symplicity, but you may upload specialized resumes if you choose (i.e. public interest resume, firm resume, etc.). All documents are uploaded to the “Documents” tab in your Symplicity account, so you must label them carefully and make certain to select the correct document when you attach it to a bid. These documents are all saved in both their original format and the PDF converted form. Please review the PDF format to ensure that it looks as it should. Because the PDF will be the version sent out to employers, make changes to the original and re-save if necessary. Once you have uploaded your documents under the “Documents” tab, go to the “OCI” tab to actually place your bids for the employers.
Are Resume and Cover Letters required?
Most employers do not require a cover letter, however if you still choose to submit one and the employer has not requested it, you can simply do so by creating a two page resume document, the first page being your cover letter. All documents, including cover letters, must be uploaded to Symplicity by the close of bidding. For help with preparing your cover letters and resume schedule a time with a CC staff member.
How do I create a grade sheet or get a transcript?
Unless an employer specifically request an official transcript, a grade sheet will do. Your “grade sheet” or “unofficial transcript” should include all of the information that would be on your WebSTAC printout for grades. An easy way to create this is to cut or copy the data from your WebSTAC record and paste it into a MS Word document. DO NOT CHANGE ANY DATA. All of the following information should be included on your grade sheet: your name, course names with professor names and grades listed by semester, individual semester GPAs, and your cumulative overall GPA. If you choose to scan your transcript, save the document in a low resolution.
Who can view my rankings?
You must rank every employer you bid for within each Session. You should rank your first choice employer “1,” your second choice “2,” etc. (Rankings can only be viewed by the CC Staff). Resumes collects and Direct Sends should be ranked last.
Is there an advantage to bidding early?
While there is no advantage to bidding early (employers will receive all resumes at one time when bidding closes), please do not wait until the last minute. The Symplicity system can become slow when inundated with last minute bidders (wireless connections can also slow down the process).
How do I make changes to my bid?
Changes can only be made while bidding is open. If you need to make changes to your bid before bidding closes, you can delete your bid by changing the bid status to “no bid”, make the change then bid again.
Bidding for most interview programs will open Saturday, June 1, 2019. Links to the MCGC and SEMW Symplicity sites to follow.