Meet Vivian: Firm Prospects' New Head of Student Engagement

Firm Prospects is a data company first — but data means nothing without someone who understands what students and career services offices are actually up against. That's where Vivian comes in. She joined Firm Prospects over two years ago, straight out of college, and spent that time on our data team before stepping into a brand-new role: Head of Student Engagement. We sat down with her to talk about the transition, what she's hearing from law schools right now, and why this work matters to her.

You've been at Firm Prospects for two years — how did you end up in this new role?

“I've been with Firm Prospects for just over two years now — I started right after graduating college, so this has been my entire career so far. I spent that time on the data team, mostly focused on batch processing and data cleansing.

I don't really think of Head of Student Engagement as a pivot — it's more the next step, built on that foundation. When I'm doing demos or trainings and talking to students and career services offices, I know what's on the platform and why it's there. It's not me reciting a features list — I've worked with this exact data for two years, so I know what it means and how it can actually help people.”

What are you most excited about with this role?

“I want to get into the nitty-gritty of what problems students are actually facing, and figure out what we can do about it — whether that's product development, webinars, or trainings. Whatever it is — a time saver, an anxiety reducer, whatever it may be — I want to actually tackle that for students and the career offices supporting them.”

What are you hearing from career services offices right now?

A few things keep coming up.

Early hiring is the big one. “Big Law has pushed the recruiting timeline up so far that by October — after maybe a month of classes — students are already forced to apply. And because Big Law moves its deadline up, everyone else has to follow: public interest internships, DA's office roles, all of it gets pulled earlier. Everyone's feeling the pressure.”

There's a real confidence gap. “Some qualified students don't apply because they've psyched themselves out — they assume their grades aren't good enough, because it's been a month and they don't have enough information yet. And on the flip side, some underqualified students apply with total confidence. So firms aren't always getting the applicants they actually want, and students aren't always feeling prepared for the applications they're submitting.”

And two-summer commitments are raising the stakes further. “Firms are locking students into committing to two summers before they've even done the first one — some are offering stipends up to $50,000 to commit. That's a lot to weigh when you're one month into your first semester.”

Why does this work matter to you personally?

“No matter what kind of student you are, you're inundated with conflicting advice — 'this is the right path,' 'no, actually, this is.' You get so much information that it becomes convoluted, right when you're facing this really high-stakes question of what to do with your life. None of the options feel right in the moment, because so many people can see themselves doing so many different things.

To be there for a student or a school in that moment — when the stakes feel enormous and the information is genuinely hard to navigate — and to say, 'here, look at this, it might help' — I think that's genuinely meaningful.”

How is this different from a firm just trying to recruit students?

“It's not like I'm a recruiter trying to get you to come work at my firm. It's neutral. I'm not building up one path over another — I'm just trying to make sure students actually have the information they need to make the decision that's right for them.”

What does day-to-day look like for you right now?

“Honestly, there's no playbook yet, so a lot of it is figuring it out as I go. I'm expecting a lot of career services office trainings — mostly virtual — answering questions, doing outreach to schools, and getting out for campus visits. I've already got four or five scheduled, which is exciting.”