Reflections on my OCI experience
Congratulations 2L recruit participants!
Electing to participate in the 2L recruit is extremely brave. The recruit is a very time-intensive and emotionally exhausting process. The fact you were brave enough to put yourself out there is incredible! No matter the outcome, you will have learned many new skills in networking, resumé and cover letter drafting, and interviewing. These skills are highly applicable, no matter what career path you ultimately decide to pursue. The best-case scenario in the recruit is you land a dream job. The worst-case scenario in the recruit is you hone key skills and have application materials pre-prepped that will bring you closer to your dream job in the future.
In this article I hope to inform 1L students about the OCI process, foster comradery among my fellow 2Ls going through the recruit alongside me, and not retraumatize any 3Ls who have blocked out most of their memories of recruit stress.
Helpful Preparation
Preparation techniques are unique to everyone, so take any advice with a grain of salt. With that said, I found the most useful resources to be my recruit buddy, an organized Word document for research and progress tracking, and lots of practice.
Recruit buddies are an incredible resource. Thank you to all the 3Ls who took the time to volunteer to help us 2Ls get through the recruit! Special shout out to my recruit buddy Ayushi— you are the best! It is so useful to have someone who understands the process to ask advice from, celebrate your successes with, and vent frustrations to. I highly recommend signing up for a recruit buddy if you plan on participating in the 2L recruit next year. I cannot wait to volunteer to be a recruit buddy myself!
I find setting timelines and making lists of tasks extremely useful for staying on track. At the top of my “Recruit Survival Guide” document, I created lists of goals and timelines. The recruit is about selling yourself, but it is also about figuring out what you want. I created subheadings for all the firms that interested me and took notes under each as I learned about them. I have been adjusting their preference ranking accordingly throughout the process. This was useful for deciding which firms to devote energy to and gaining a deeper understanding of why I wanted each firm. This both helped to keep firm identities straight and led to a better interviewing experience later on.
Finally, practicing for the OCIs was indispensable. A lot of practice is just dedicating time to reflect on your experiences and journey so far. I did this by writing common questions and my resumé experiences into a list and jotting a few key points I would want to share about each underneath. To track my progress, I participated in several mock OCIs. These were very helpful to evaluate my interviewing strengths and weaknesses. I learned that my greatest strength was that I naturally come across as very genuine. I also learned my weakness was that I can be a little too genuine by oversharing non-flattering details. This focused my practice, and it was great to see my strengths grow and weaknesses shrink with each mock!
My Experience
I was incredibly anxious the first day of OCIs. I spent the morning pacing the apartment and could not bring myself to eat breakfast. I asked myself over and over if I had practised enough, researched enough, lived enough—if I was enough. Thankfully, the process was not nearly as scary as I had anticipated. Once the process began, it became easier and easier with each passing zoom meeting.
I interviewed with a variety of full-service firms and litigation boutiques. Most interviewers were incredibly kind and skilled at fostering interesting conversations. Some interviews were highly structured question-and-answers, some were extremely conversational, and some were clear attempts to throw me curveballs to see how I would react. Personally, these curveball firms immediately dropped in my preference lists—thanks, but no thanks.
I was lucky to have twenty-minute detox sessions between each 17-minute OCI. It was important to enter each new interview with a clear head. You will not always say the right things in every interview, and that is okay. During one interview I was asked, “When have you received criticism that was difficult to hear and how did you handle it?” At that moment the only story I could think of was my chicken barn story. I had already attempted the chicken barn story in multiple mock OCIs and quickly learned it never landed. In my head I kept telling myself, “Do not tell the chicken barn story Olivia, DO NOT tell the chicken barn story.” After a pause that was way too long, I opened my mouth and told the chicken barn story. It did not land. Each interview is discrete, so you must shake off your blunders and approach each interview afresh.
After the first day, I completely crashed. I felt like I had run a marathon. My body hurt, and my head could not hold any thoughts. I had no idea I had been in fight or flight the entire day. I took the evening off and went to bed early. Luckily, the next day I was able to bounce back and enter each interview with a smile and mostly authentic enthusiasm. Finishing the recruit felt amazing. It was a challenging two days, but I had survived!
What I Learned
First, do not put your cat in your resumé if he is unhinged like my cat, Pringles. I love Pringles, but he is a lot of work. Interviewers use your interest section to start on a high note. Responding to a question about your cat with, “Well, he attacks if you look at him funny, only poops once a week, and keeps eating all my clothes,” is NOT a good way to start an interview. I started instead referring to him as a special needs rescue and this worked a bit better. My advice is only put things in your interest section that will bring exclusively positive vibes.
Second, have a clear narrative about your whole life you want to get across figured out in advance. I had a narrative for my story since starting law school, but people questioned further back. I did not expect people to ask how I ended up in law with my agricultural degree. By the end of the OCIs, I was able to succinctly explain my pivot from biology to law, but I wish I had ironed it out in advance.
Finally, practice lots of self-care in the process. The OCIs are a marathon. Drink lots of water and have lots of snacks on hand. Between interviews I debriefed with my boyfriend, and he helped gas me up for the next one. If you live alone, maybe schedule a call with a friend not participating in the recruit who can help you vent out the first day to refocus for the second. Be kind to your own physical limits, and only accept as many interviews as you can confidently handle. Declining interviews feels stressful, but you will perform best with your favourite firms anyway—it is okay to focus on them.
Conclusion
Recruit pressure is instilled in us early on. We enter U of T hearing false promises that everyone will want to hire us. I personally felt a bit blindsided when I learned in 1L that summer jobs were far from certain and that the 2L recruit only secured jobs for a fraction of the participating U of T student body. An unfortunate consequence of being in the most competitive law school in the country is that your greatest competition for jobs is literally all around you. This obviously fosters an incredibly competitive environment, but it does not have to be this way.
I think the best way to approach the recruit is to stay focused on your own personal growth rather than comparing yourself to others, to support and encourage your fellow classmates through the process, and, most importantly, to stay kind to yourself. Good luck to everyone participating in in-firms next month! Do your best! Your best is enough!
