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School Counselors' Frequently Asked Questions

Over time, as NALP staff answer questions from school counselors over email, we add the answers we rely on frequently to this page. If you have a question that isn’t covered below, you can always write to us at [email protected]. (You can write to us regardless, but to save ourselves some time if your question is one we answer on this page we may refer you here as a first step.) You can find a list of questions in the menu bar above labeled “Choose a different article section…”

What are the benefits of a PSJD Subscription for my school?

You can find a detailed description of the various benefits you and your school's students and alumni can access via your PSJD subscription at https://psjd.org/subscriber-benefits (this page is also listed in the "About PSJD" menu on the site, under the heading "What is Included in a PSJD Subscription?").

What is a PSJD “school administrator” account? Why can’t I just sign up as a regular jobseeker?

If you are a member of the career services team of a law school that subscribes to PSJD, you are entitled to a school administrator account for your employer law school. It’s very important that school careers staff access PSJD using administrator accounts, rather than jobseeker accounts–both because PSJD’s Terms of Use require advisors to use this account type and also because these accounts include additional features available only to school administrators.

Only school administrators can use their access to PSJD to advise others on their job search.

These accounts are the only ones, per PSJD’s Terms of Use, that can access PSJD job announcements in order to help others find public interest law jobs.

School administrators can export data from PSJD for use elsewhere in their advising.

PSJD started, many years ago, as a collective endeavor among law schools. Schools still help us keep our job database vital by forwarding us information about job openings of which they become aware (we recognize school contributions on the PSJD Honor Roll). While we expect jobseekers to do most of their job search work within PSJD, as schools play a role in getting data into our system, it only seems fair we allow them to take data out as well. School administrator accounts can download lists of job search results or employer directory results in spreadsheet form in case you want to cross-post opportunities on your law school's internal career board, include them in a mail merge to students or alumni, or for other purposes.

Screenshot of a school administrator user clicking the "Export Job Notices" button available at the top of the job search sidebar.
Screenshot of a school administrator user clicking the "Export Job Notices" button available at the top of the job search sidebar.

School administrators can review affiliated jobseekers’ activity on PSJD

School administrators have access to a variety of tools to help them understand how the students and alumni they advise are using PSJD. They can review the accounts of jobseekers (students and alumni) affiliated with their subscriber law school. They can block jobseekers if they are not properly affiliated with that school and also review some basic information about how frequently jobseekers affiliated with a subscriber law school are using the service–both as individuals and in the aggregate.

School administrators can propose changes to the PSJD Resource Library

PSJD’s Resource Library is maintained by the NALP Public Service Section and represents the collective wisdom of public service career advisors across all of PSJD’s subscribing law schools. Users who log in as school administrators will notice icons to the left of PSJD’s resource articles inviting them to “Edit in Google Drive”. These links allow school administrators to jump over to the shared documents that the NALP Public Service Section uses to maintain PSJD’s resources. School administrators can make comments and suggest edits to the documents for NALP’s Public Service Section to review as community. (Don't worry; your changes won't show up on the public versions of these documents until they're approved and NALP staff push them through our publication pipeline.)

Screenshot of a user clicking on the "Edit in Google Drive" button on PSJD's "Informational Interviews" resource.
Screenshot of a user clicking on the "Edit in Google Drive" button on PSJD's "Informational Interviews" resource.

School administrators can use PSJD to access important resources for the NALP Public Service Section

The NALP Public Service Section is experimenting with using Google Drive to manage more than just PSJD's public resources. We've also begun storing a variety of materials relation to the section's collaborative work in a shared Google Drive area. It takes a bit of setup to access (there's documentation on the site to help you), but directly within PSJD you can begin to browse the private materials available to section members on Google Drive to get a sense of what you might want to look at there. (You can get started by visiting psjd.org/files, once you’ve logged in with a school administrator account.)

School administrators can check their school’s PSJD subscription status and download unpaid invoices.

Finally–and crucially–these accounts are also able access PSJD subscription invoices in order to renew a school’s PSJD subscription. (You can get started by visiting psjd.org/subscription, once you’ve logged in with a school administrator account.)

How do I get an administrator account on PSJD?

The fastest way to get a school administrator account on PSJD is to ask one of your colleagues who already has a school administrator account to set one up for you (they should be able to do so via the “Manager Accounts” menu available to them at psjd.org/account). If no one at your school has an administrator account set up, you can get in touch with us at [email protected] to request that we create one on your behalf. After we’re able to verify your staff status at your law school employer, we’ll set you up with the credentials you need. From then on, you’ll be able to create additional school administrator accounts for your colleagues, as necessary!

Help! I’ve already created a jobseeker account for myself on PSJD and now my colleagues can’t create an administrator account for me.

No need to fret. If you find yourself stuck like this, just write to us at [email protected] and ask us to switch your account type from jobseeker to school administrator (this is something only NALP staff can accomplish). After we’re able to verify your staff status at your law school employer, we’ll make the change for you.

Should I get a PSJD account for the school I graduated from, or the school where I work?

As an alum, you are entitled to create a PSJD jobseeker account with your alma mater law school (if they subscribe to PSJD). But in your capacity as a school administrator, you’ll want to create an account with the school where you work. Only a school administrator account affiliated with your employer law school will give you access to the variety of tools PSJD provides to help you understand how the students and alumni you counsel are using PSJD.

Can I see which students at my school are using PSJD?

If you have a school administrator account, you will be able to review some basic information about how frequently jobseekers affiliated with a subscriber law school are using the service–both as individuals and in the aggregate.

Individual Information about Jobseekers’ Use of PSJD

As a school administrator, you can browse a list of all students and alumni affiliated with your school who have accounts on PSJD. You can also view the last five dates and times on which a particular affiliated jobseeker used the service. Here’s how:

  1. Log in to PSJD as a School Administrator.

    If you don’t have a school administrator account, please write to us at [email protected] and we will work with you to create one if you are entitled to one. (You can also ask one of your colleagues who already has a school administrator account.)

  2. Navigate to “Jobseeker Accounts” via the sidebar menu in your “My Account” page. If you aren’t rerouted to your “My Account” area after logging in to PSJD, you can just visit psjd.org/account directly. From there, you should find a sidebar menu with various options. The one you want is “Jobseeker Accounts”.

    Screenshot of a user clicking the "Jobseeker Accounts" button (in the sidebar menu at psjd.org/account).
    Screenshot of a user clicking the "Jobseeker Accounts" button (in the sidebar menu at psjd.org/account).

  3. Browse affiliated jobseekers.

    From this page, you’ll be able to look over a list of all jobseekers that have accounts on PSJD affiliated with your employer law school’s subscription. You can tell which accounts are active by looking at the “Status” icon. You can also make changes to a jobseeker’s account or get more information on any individual person’s use of PSJD by clicking on their name.

    Screenshot of a school administrator reviewing affiliated jobseeker records at psjd.org/account/jobseekers (personal information blurred).
    Screenshot of a school administrator reviewing affiliated jobseeker records at psjd.org/account/jobseekers (personal information blurred).

  4. Click a jobseeker’s name in the list to make changes to their account or see some additional information about their use of PSJD

    Most of the “Edit User Profile” form is self-explanatory, but at the bottom of the form is a field called “Recent Logins”. This is a read-only form field that will show you a list of the last 5 times a jobseeker logged into PSJD.

    Screenshot of the "Edit User Profile" menu available to PSJD School Administrators, showing the "Recent Logins" display expanded (personal information blurred).
    Screenshot of the "Edit User Profile" menu available to PSJD School Administrators, showing the "Recent Logins" display expanded (personal information blurred).

Aggregated Information about Jobseekers’ Use of PSJD

As a school administrator, you can access interactive dashboards that show you how many students and alumni from your school are logging in to PSJD each month or are creating new PSJD accounts, broken down by class (e.g., 1Ls, 2Ls) or alumni status (e.g., alumni 3-6 years after graduating). Here’s how:

  1. Log in to PSJD as a School Administrator.

    If you don’t have a school administrator account, please write to us at [email protected] and we will work with you to create one if you are entitled to one. (You can also ask one of your colleagues who already has a school administrator account.)

  2. Navigate to “Reports & Analytics” via the sidebar menu in your “My Account” page. If you aren’t rerouted to your “My Account” area after logging in to PSJD, you can just visit psjd.org/account directly. From there, you should find a sidebar menu with various options. The one you want is “Reports & Analytics”.

    Screenshot of a user accessing the "Reports & Analytics" button in the sidebar menu (available at psjd.org/account).
    Screenshot of a user accessing the "Reports & Analytics" button in the sidebar menu (available at psjd.org/account).

  3. Choose either “Jobseeker Use - Logins” or “Jobseeker Use - New Accounts” to view statistics about how your affiliated jobseekers are using PSJD, overall.

    These dashboards include introductory text that explain what they are measuring and how they work. The data goes back five years, for reasons explained on those pages. In addition to viewing statistics about your school’s users generally, you can also view statistics that cover PSJD’s entire audience–in order to help you compare patterns of use at your employer law school to patterns we observe across the site as a whole.

    Screenshot: Dashboard graph showing the number of jobseekers accessing PSJD one or more times each month, broken down by class year or alumni status (specific information blurred).
    Screenshot: Dashboard graph showing the number of jobseekers accessing PSJD one or more times each month, broken down by class year or alumni status (specific information blurred).

How do I check on my PSJD subscription & pay my PSJD invoice?

The easiest way for school administrators to check whether their employer law school’s PSJD subscription is up-to-date–and to get a copy of their school’s invoice if they need to renew their subscription–is via a school administrator account.

  1. Log in to PSJD as a School Administrator.

    If you don’t have a school administrator account, please write to us at [email protected] and we will work with you to create one if you are entitled to one. (You can also ask one of your colleagues who already has a school administrator account.)

  2. Navigate to “Subscription Status” via the sidebar menu in your “My Account” page.

    If you aren’t rerouted to your “My Account” area after logging in to PSJD, you can just visit psjd.org/account directly. From there, you should see a sidebar with various options. The one you want is “Subscription Status”. On that page, you’ll be able to see whether your PSJD subscription is currently in PAID or UNPAID status.

    Screenshot of a user selecting the "Subscription Status" option in the sidebar menu of their account area (available at psjd.org/account).
    Screenshot of a user selecting the "Subscription Status" option in the sidebar menu of their account area (available at psjd.org/account).

  3. Click the “Download Latest Invoice” button.

    If you need one, you can download a copy of your latest invoice for PSJD using the sidebar menu. Once you have your invoice, you’ll be able to follow the instructions on this page about how to get your payment to NALP.

    Screenshot of a user clicking the "Download Latest Invoice" button in the sidebar of the My Account area (available at psjd.org/account/subscription-status).
    Screenshot of a user clicking the "Download Latest Invoice" button in the sidebar of the My Account area (available at psjd.org/account/subscription-status).

How can I set up my students and alumni with access to PSJD?

While it is possible for school staff to create new PSJD accounts on behalf of their students & alumni (more on this later), we try to make it as easy as possible for your students and alumni to get started with PSJD on their own. Anyone can visit https://psjd.org and get started with a new Jobseeker account by clicking the "New Jobseeker" button in the upper-right-hand corner of the site. (Once they have accounts, they can enter their credentials in this same form and click the "Login" button.)

Screenshot of a PSJD user clicking the "New Jobseeker" button.
Screenshot of a PSJD user clicking the "New Jobseeker" button.

When a student or alumni creates a new PSJD account, we ask them to provide us with their name, their class year, and the school they are affiliated with. We make it as easy as possible for new jobseekers to get started by assuming that they are truthful when claiming affiliation with your school. When a person claims to be affiliated with your school, one or more of your colleagues will get an email with the subject line: "[PSJD] New Jobseeker Account Created: (Person's Name)". (You can determine whether you want to receive these messages by changing your account settings at https://psjd.org/account.)

We ask each school to review new accounts and block anyone that they do not think is actually one of their students or alumni. (We have a brief review process after a school blocks someone so that the jobseeker can appeal if they think there's been a mistake—most frequently mistakes occur when people have changed their names since graduation, for example.)

I really want to create accounts on behalf of my students, though. How can I do that?

Even though we don’t recommend that school administrators do this (see the previous answer), it is possible for school administrators to create accounts on behalf of students and alumni affiliated with their school. Here’s how:

  1. Log in to PSJD as a School Administrator.

    If you don’t have a school administrator account, please write to us at [email protected] and we will work with you to create one if you are entitled to one. (You can also ask one of your colleagues who already has a school administrator account.)

  2. Navigate to “Jobseeker Accounts” via the sidebar menu in your “My Account” page.

    If you aren’t rerouted to your “My Account” area after logging in to PSJD, you can just visit psjd.org/account directly. From there, you should find a sidebar menu with various options. The one you want is “Jobseeker Accounts”.

    Screenshot of a user clicking the "Jobseeker Accounts" button (in the sidebar menu at psjd.org/account).
    Screenshot of a user clicking the "Jobseeker Accounts" button (in the sidebar menu at psjd.org/account).

  3. Click the “Create New Jobseeker Account” button in the sidebar menu.

    Screenshot of a user clicking the "Create New Jobseeker Account" button (available from psjd.org/account/jobseekers).
    Screenshot of a user clicking the "Create New Jobseeker Account" button (available from psjd.org/account/jobseekers).

Can I log in to PSJD as one of my students or alumni?

In short: no. For security reasons, no PSJD user can access the service through any other user's account; you will not be able to directly access the accounts of students and alumni affiliated with your school's subscription. That being said, you can absolutely review what users are accessing PSJD as affiliates of your employer law school. You can also create accounts for your students and alumni directly (although we recommend you simply send folks to PSJD.org and let them set up accounts for themselves). Finally, you can also review some basic information about how frequently your affiliates are using the site—both as individuals and in the aggregate.

Is there anything else about PSJD that I should be telling my colleagues or my students?

You can find a detailed description of the various benefits you and your school's students and alumni can access via your PSJD subscription at https://psjd.org/subscriber-benefits (this page is also listed in the "About PSJD" menu on the site, under the heading "What is Included in a PSJD Subscription?").