Reimagining paths to a successful legal career
The 2L recruit is exhausting, to say the least. Regardless of the outcome, it can leave you feeling drained. Coming out the other side without a job offer is even harder; it might feel like all that effort went nowhere.
Even if it feels like it, you are not alone. Many incredibly successful people found themselves in your exact position in 2L. The fact of the matter is that most students secure 2L employment outside of the formal recruit—even if we are hesitant to openly talk about it.
We asked three 3L students and Hannah Johnson, an alumna who wrote the poignant and widely shared “What Not to Say to Someone Who Didn’t Get a Job in the Recruit” in last year’s UV recruit special, to chat about continuing the job hunt after the recruit.
How did you end up securing a 2L job?
Adrienne Ralph (3L): After the Law School Summer Employment Program (LSSEP) recruit, the Hatchery posted on UTLC, seeking out additional law students to hire. I applied, interviewed, and was hired within about a week at the beginning of April. They also hire through the LSSEP but I did not apply to them then.
I had also applied to a few Ontario government positions in March, which I found on the Ontario Public Service Careers website. A director at the Ministry of Health reached out to me in mid-June saying she came across my resume and that they were in need of a policy intern on one of their teams. My job at the Hatchery was very flexible so I took this on a part-time basis. While it was a policy position, most of my work was doing jurisprudence-related research and presenting my findings to a team of policy advisors.
Hannah Johnson (JD ‘21): I found my 2L position by Googling “summer law jobs Toronto”. I checked the postings on UTLC as well, but I would recommend taking this into your own hands. Whenever I saw a posting that interested me, I reached out to someone who worked there (usually a U of T grad) so I could name drop in my cover letter. I later applied to Goodmans on viLaw during the articling recruit.
Alexa Cheung (3L): I got my 2L job at Advocates for Injured Workers (AIW) through the LSSEP recruit. The LSSEP interviews are more structured and substantive, so I spoke to classmates who had worked at AIW before to prepare. It also helped that I secured my 1L job through the LSSEP recruit the previous year, so I was more familiar with the style of questions and with the overall interview process.
Jaime Corbett (3L): Despite the creative network I spun in my post-rejection days, my job came from a posting on UTLC. I ended up employed a month or so after OCIs. By the odd human experience of time, that month felt like eternity but passed in an instant. After identifying as Rejected for a month, I received two offers—one to work in a clinic and another to work for a union. It was a great day.
If you could go back and say something to your 2L self, what would it be?
Adrienne: I’d tell my 2L self that 1) everything is going to be okay, 2) there are so many cool opportunities out there that you don’t even know about yet, and 3) you don’t need to settle for a job you have no interest in. I applied broadly for OCIs, including to places I had little interest in, because I was so scared by the prospect of not getting a job. Going through the post-OCI recruit and then the articling recruit, I learned about many interesting opportunities that I was far more happy with. Because I could demonstrate much more genuine interest in these positions, interviews went far more smoothly and I ended up with far more success.
Hannah: Keep believing in yourself. You are a qualified candidate, and that does not change just because you didn’t get a Bay Street job in 2L. Keep focusing on building the kind of career that you want to have, and you don’t need to apply to just anything. You can be choosy. This is a detour; this is not the end of the road. Lean on your non-law school friends. It will be very refreshing to hear from someone who has never heard of an OCI.
Alexa: Be more confident. I spent a lot of the OCI process doubting myself and my accomplishments, and those insecurities and self-doubts probably came through in my interviews. I also thought that failing to get a 2L job meant that I was a failure as a person, which in hindsight, is a ridiculous mindset.
Jaime: I’d tell her to take it easy. I spent a lot of time stressing about never getting a job (and other odd fictions I told myself about my life, my worth, my choices, and so on). I wish I had directed that energy into something less horrible for myself and better for those around me.
Do you have any advice for people trying to support friends who are still job hunting?
Adrienne: I think it’s great to let your friends know that you’re available to help them with whatever they need—whether that’s editing a cover letter, interview preparation, or even just being someone to vent to. But once you’ve offered this once or maybe twice, don’t keep bringing up their job hunt every day. When I was still looking and spending most of my days writing applications, the last thing I wanted to do was spend all my free time talking about jobs with people who had already secured them. They’ll let you know if they need help or if they have news they want to share!
Hannah: Your friend does not want your pity. Like you, your friend is a law student at the best law school in the country. They are investing (so much!) into their legal education, presumably to create the kind of legal career that they want. Not getting a 2L summer job in the OCI process stings. It will be a stressful and frustrating time until they secure summer employment. If you are going to say anything, tell your friend you believe in them. Otherwise, just listen.
Alexa: Be supportive. Applying for jobs and writing more cover letters is stressful and tedious, and it’s probably the last thing that people want to do after already doing it a million times during the formal recruit. You can make that work less difficult by offering to read over cover letters or resumes.
If you are still looking for a job and your friend is too, I would recommend pooling your resources. Job postings will be more scattered and will pop up at random times, so tell each other about new listings when they come up. Read over each other’s cover letters and prepare for interviews together—it will make the process seem less difficult, and at the very least, you can always vent to the other person about how stressful this all is.
Adrienne Ralph (3L) summered at the Hatchery and will be articling at MAG – Constitutional Law Branch.
Hannah Johnson (JD ‘21) summered at the Ministry of Finance – Legal Services and is currently articling at Goodmans LLP.
Alexa Cheung (3L) summered at Advocates for Injured Workers and will be articling at Goodmans LLP.
Jamie Corbett (3L) summered at AMAPCEO and will be articling at CaleyWray.
