An Overview of the OSCAR Application Process

An Overview of the OSCAR Application Process Although applying for positions in OSCAR may seem complex at first, it is a straightforward process that can be broken down into four basic steps: Upload Documents Identify Recommenders Research and Manage Positions Submit Applications A basic understanding of the application process will allow you to more effectively use the OSCAR system in your goal of securing a federal clerkship position. Step One Upload Documents Before you can begin building your applications, you will need to upload the documents cover letter, resume, grade sheet(s), and writing sample(s) you plan to submit. The number and type of documents you submit with any given application packet will vary depending on the position requirements; however, a resume is always required. 1. Log into the OSCAR system by going to the https://oscar.uscourts.gov/ website, entering your OSCAR username and password, and clicking the Go button. Figure 1. Login Prompt 1 OSCAR Tip Sheet

2. Click on My Documents on the Main Navigation Bar. Figure 2. My Documents Tab The My Documents tab is where you will upload or create all of the applicantgenerated documents that you will include in your application packets. The process of uploading documents to OSCAR is simple and straightforward, but there are certain restrictions you must be aware of: All documents uploaded to OSCAR must be in PDF format. Note: OSCAR does not currently support the newest version of Adobe PDF. However, the system will run a script to convert any documents created with this software to an earlier, compatible format. To avoid this delay, you may wish to use another PDF conversion tool. All documents uploaded to OSCAR must be less the 300KB in size. Grade sheets cannot be uploaded to OSCAR. They must be created using the grade sheet online form. Note: Judges and staff attorney offices are aware that these are not official transcripts. OSCAR restricts the total number of documents you can have uploaded at any one time. Restrictions vary by document type and are listed on the My Documents tab. 3. To upload or create a document, click the Add New button at the bottom of the My Documents screen. Figure 3. Click Add New to Upload/Create a New Document 2 OSCAR Tip Sheet

4. OSCAR will display the Document Details tab, where you can upload or create new application documents, including resumes, cover letters (judge or staff attorney), writing samples, and grade sheets (law, undergraduate, and other). To create a cover letter with the online editor, please see the How to Create a Cover Letter Using the Online Editor tip sheet in the Applicant Resources section of OSCAR. To create grade sheets, please see the How to Create a Grade Sheet tip sheet in the Applicant Resources section of OSCAR. 5. To upload a resume, cover letter, or writing sample: Enter a name for your document in the Document Label Field and choose the document type from the pull-down menu. Enter a name for your document and choose the document type. Figure 4. Enter Label and Select Document Type If you are uploading a resume or writing sample, you will then click the Browse button in the gray file box. Figure 5. Click Browse to Locate File for Upload 3 OSCAR Tip Sheet

In the pop-up window that displays, navigate to where the file is stored on your computer or network, select the file, and click the Open button. The file path will appear in the browse box. Click the Upload button to upload the selected document. Figure 6. Click Upload If you are uploading a cover letter, OSCAR will display the online editor screen. In the area immediately below the Document Type pull-down menu, choose the.pdf file option. OSCAR will then display the same file browse box shown above. Click Browse to locate your file and click the Upload button. Figure 7. Choose.pdf file and Click Browse Your new document will be available in the list on the My Documents tab. 4 OSCAR Tip Sheet

Step Two Identify Recommenders Selecting your recommenders is a crucial part of the application process. You must identify all of your recommenders before submitting applications just as you must upload all your application documents before applying to a position. Please note that simply identifying your pool of recommenders does not generate recommendation requests. Recommendation letters are associated specifically with an application packet, so you must actually apply to and associate recommenders with an application to generate recommendation requests. 1. Place your mouse cursor over the My Recommendations tab on the main menu bar. Click on Choose My Recommenders in the menu that appears. Figure 8. My Recommendations/Choose My Recommenders Tabs 2. You will use this tab to select and add your recommenders. There are three options for adding a recommender: Select from your school s Faculty Recommenders List: For each law school participating in the OSCAR program, the law school administrator uploads a master directory that contains a list the school s faculty recommenders. Search this list if you wish to select a recommender on the faculty of your law school. Choose faculty recommender from the pull-down menu. Figure 9. Select Faculty Recommender 5 OSCAR Tip Sheet

Search the OSCAR database for a recommender: If you cannot find your faculty recommender on the pull-down menu or you are including non-faculty recommenders in your clerkship applications, you can search OSCAR to see if your recommender has already been added in the system by another law school or another applicant. Figure 10. Search OSCAR for your Recommender Create a new recommender: If you are unable to find your recommender in OSCAR using the options listed above, you may enter the name and contact information (recommender email address, phone number, and assistant s email address) for your recommender to add him/her to OSCAR. Figure 11. Create a New Recommender Click Create Recommender and enter name & contact information. 3. The recommenders you select and/or add will be displayed at the bottom of the screen in the Current Recommenders section. (For recommenders you select from the pulldown menu, the phone number and assistant emails will not be displayed to you publicly but are stored within OSCAR already.) Figure 12. Current Recommenders List 6 OSCAR Tip Sheet

4. OSCAR automatically sets the recommenders selected from your school s database as Default Recommenders, which means that they will automatically be checked as selected recommenders when you create a clerkship application. This is purely a convenience, and you are not required to associate default recommenders with a clerkship application. Default recommenders are identified by a green check ( ) in the Default column of your Current Recommenders list. To change a recommender s default status, check the box next to his/her name and select the appropriate function from the Batch Options menu. Figure 13. Default Recommender 5. Repeat the above process as necessary to add all of your recommenders before proceeding to the next step in the application process. If a recommender is not on your Current Recommenders list, you will not be able to associate that recommender with a clerkship application. For more detailed instructions on adding recommenders, see the How to Identify Your Recommenders tip sheet in the Applicant Resource section. 7 OSCAR Tip Sheet

Step Three Research and Manage Positions Now that you have uploaded all necessary application documents and created your pool of recommenders, it is time to begin searching for positions. OSCAR allows you to search for both law clerk and appellate staff attorney positions. You cannot search for both concurrently. Instead, you will search for each in a separate process. There are several tools at your disposal for narrowing the field to just those positions that fit your particular goals and interests. Additionally, OSCAR provides you with the ability to organize positions into folders to better manage your application process. You have two basic options when searching for law clerk or staff attorney positions: (1) Search using the Basic Search box in the Judges List or Staff Attorney Office List subtabs, and (2) Use the more detailed search available on the Advanced Search tabs. To Search for Law Clerk Positions 1. Move your mouse cursor over the Search For Positions tab in the main menu bar. Click on the Judges sub-tab in the menu that appears. Figure 14. Search For Positions/Judges Tabs 2. To use the Basic Search functions: From the Judges List sub-tab, scroll down to the gray Basic Search box. Select your search criteria and click Apply Search. Note: Click the Clear button to reset the search. Figure 15. Judges List Basic Search Box 8 OSCAR Tip Sheet

Judges fitting the search criteria will be displayed in the list at the bottom of the Judges List sub-tab. You can manipulate the list using the column headings to further refine your search. Click on a column heading to sort the list by that heading, and click the delta icon ( ) to sort in ascending or descending order. The default view is by judge s last name in descending (A-Z) order. Figure 16. Sort List by Column Headings Click on a judge s last name to view judge and clerkship details. Use the Batch Options menu or the Copy to Folders button to save a clerkship to a custom folder. (See How to Copy Positions to Folders tip sheet for a detailed review of this process) Figure 17. Click on Judge Name to View Details 3. To use the Advanced Search: Select the Advanced Search tab for judges. This tab provides numerous search criteria to allow you to execute a finely targeted search. For a detailed discussions on how to use this function, see the Using the Advanced Search Feature tip sheet in the Applicant Resources section Figure 17. Advanced Search Sub-Tab 9 OSCAR Tip Sheet

When you have selected your search parameters, click the Submit button to execute the search. OSCAR will display your search results in a new Search Results sub-tab. Note: Your search results will only remain available until you log out of OSCAR or conduct another search. Figure 18. Search Results Sub-Tab Click on a judge s last name to view judge and clerkship details. As with the Judges List, your search results can be sorted by column header in ascending or descending order. You can also save clerkships to folders using the Batch Options menu or the Copy to Folders button. (See How to Copy Positions to Folders tip sheet for a detailed review of this process.) Figure 19. List of Search Results 10 OSCAR Tip Sheet

To Search for Staff Attorney Positions 1. Move your mouse cursor over the Search For Positions tab in the main menu bar. Click on the Staff Attorneys sub-tab in the menu that appears. Figure 20. Search For Positions/Staff Attorneys Tabs 2. To use the Basic Search functions: From the Staff Attorney Office List sub-tab, scroll down to the gray Basic Search box. Select your search criteria and click Apply Search. Note: Click the Clear button to reset the search. Figure 21. Staff Attorney List Basic Search Box Staff attorney offices fitting the search criteria will be displayed in the list at the bottom of the Staff Attorney Office sub-tab. The list can be manipulated using the column headings to further refine your search. Click on a column heading to sort the list by that heading, and click the delta icon ( ) to sort in ascending or descending order. The default view is by Circuit Name in descending (A-Z) order. Figure 22. Sort List by Column Headings 11 OSCAR Tip Sheet

Click on the Circuit Name to view office and position details. Use the Batch Options menu or the Copy to Folders button to save a staff attorney position to a custom folder. (See How to Copy Positions to Folders tip sheet for a detailed review of this process.) Figure 23. Click on Circuit Name to View Details 3. To use the Advanced Search: Select the Advanced Search tab for staff attorneys. This tab provides numerous search criteria to allow you to execute a finely targeted search. For a detailed discussion on how to use this function, see the Using the Advanced Search Feature tip sheet in the Applicant Resources section. Figure 24. Advanced Search Sub-Tab When you have selected your search parameters, click the Submit button to execute the search. OSCAR will display your search results in a new Search Results sub-tab. Note: Your search results will only remain available until you log out of OSCAR or conduct another search. Figure 25. Search Results Sub-Tab 12 OSCAR Tip Sheet

Click on a Circuit Name to view office and position details. As with the Staff Attorney Office List, your search results can be sorted by column header in ascending or descending order. You can also save positions to folders using the Batch Options menu or the Copy to Folders button. (See How to Copy Positions to Folders tip sheet for a detailed review of this process.) Figure 26. List of Search Results 13 OSCAR Tip Sheet

Step Four Submit Applications Now that you have identified the positions you will be apply to, you can begin building your applications. You will need to have all your application documents uploaded to the My Documents tab and your pool of recommenders created in the My Recommendations tab. With all this done ahead of time, building the application will be a simple and straightforward process. 1. Navigate to the position you wish to apply for, whether you have identified it on the Judges List or Staff Attorney Office List sub-tabs, through the Advanced Search function, or you have stored it in a folder. 2. For clerkship positions, click on the judge s last name to open the Judge Details sub-tab. For staff attorney positions, click on the Circuit Name to open the Staff Attorney Office Profile sub-tab. 3. For clerkship positions, click on the Clerkships List sub-tab to see a list of the judge s clerkship positions. For staff attorney positions, click on the Positions list sub-tab. Figure 27a. Judge Details Sub-Tab Figure 27b. Staff Attorney Office Profile Sub-Tab 14 OSCAR Tip Sheet

4. You will see a list of clerkship or staff attorney positions. Click the View & Apply button in the Options column to begin assembling your applications. Figure 28a. View & Apply Button Clerkships List Figure 28b. View & Apply Button Positions List (Staff Attorney) 5. The next page will list the clerkship or staff attorney position information (dates, description, location, etc.) and application requirements (documents, recommendations required, law journal/review, class standing, etc.). Preferred method of application will be displayed in the Build an Application box. If a judge or staff attorney office is not accepting online applications, compile your application outside the OSCAR system and submit the materials to the judge or staff attorney office per their indicated application method (e.g., email, FAX, or mail). Figure 29. Judge Accepting Paper Applications 15 OSCAR Tip Sheet

6. If the judge or staff attorney office is accepting online applications, you can begin building an application for submission. In the Build an Application box, use the various pull-down menus to select the documents you wish to include with the application. The [new] option allows you to enter/upload a new document. The documents a judge or staff attorney office requires for a particular position are listed under the Required Documents field. You can add or remove documents until the application is Finalized and visible to the judge or staff attorney office. Select documents to attach to application from pull-down menus. Move mouse over [select] bar to reveal pull-down menu and selection box. Figure 30. Attach Documents (Clerkship Application) If the judge or staff attorney office requires letters of recommendation, identify your recommenders by checking the boxes next to their names. Default recommenders will already be checked. Note: Completing this step and clicking the Create Draft Application button triggers the recommendation requests. You can add or remove recommenders until the application is Finalized and visible to the judge or staff attorney office. Figure 31. Choose Recommenders 16 OSCAR Tip Sheet

If the judge or staff attorney office requires a list of references, enter the names of your references, their telephone numbers, and email addresses in the References section. Figure 32. Enter References (if required) When you have attached your documents and identified your recommenders, click Create Draft Application to store application materials as a draft. As long as your application remains in Draft status, you can continue to add or remove documents and recommenders. If you so choose, you can delete the DRAFT application and still have the option to re-apply to the clerkship or staff attorney position. Figure 33. Click Create Draft Application (Clerkship Application) To release your application to the judge or staff attorney office, you must click the Finalize Application button. Remember: Once you click on Finalize Application, you will no longer be able to make any changes to your application. If you wish to withdraw your application, you will not be able to re-apply. Figure 34. Click Finalize Application (Clerkship Application) 17 OSCAR Tip Sheet

7. You can view your applications, whether Draft, Finalized, or Withdrawn, on the My Applications tab in the main menu bar. Move your mouse cursor over the tab and choose Clerkship Applications or Staff Attorney Applications from the menu that appears. Figure 35. My Applications Tab 8. From either list, you can delete or edit applications in Draft and withdraw Finalized applications. You can also use the Batch Options menu to finalize multiple applications at once. Use Batch Options menu to finalize multiple applications. Figure 36. View and Manipulate Current Applications (Clerkships Shown) Edit, delete, or withdraw applications. For a detailed discussion on how to use this function, see the How to Build an Application tip sheet in the Applicant Resources section. 18 OSCAR Tip Sheet