Start early and give yourself more time than you think. Researching firms is time consuming. You’ll likely go through several iterations and revisions of your application materials before they’re ready to be submitted.

Stay organized and pay attention to details! Make sure every i is dotted and every t is crossed.

Have your brother, niece, roommate, high school soccer coach, etc... read over your materials for clarity and grammar. Don’t count yourself out because of a spelling mistake in your resume.

Apply broadly! Unless you have a specific idea of what you want to spend the next few years of your professional life doing, apply to as many firms as you can with the time that you have (but only if this won’t negatively impact the quality of your application materials).

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Recruit is an inherently challenging process, and it can be tough not to compare yourself to your classmates. Try to find one or two friends who you feel comfortable venting with—even better if they’re upper-year students, or not in law school at all!

Have fun! In a weird way, recruit can be a fun process if you allow yourself to enjoy it.

If there is one piece of advice I recommend more than anything else, it is to make a spreadsheet containing all of the pertinent information for the firms you’re applying to. You can find a template spreadsheet in the next section of this webpage.

Double check recruiters’ names, firm addresses, type of firm (boutique vs full service).

Note any practice areas/groups you’re interested in.

Note any students/lawyers you coffee chat with.

Note any open houses you attend.

Note if any firms need additional application materials.

Note if any firms require applications to be sent by email (instead of viLawPortal).

Note which firms send you ITCs/PFOs (ITC = Intent to Call; PFO = Please F* Off)—this will be helpful for when you start thinking about your in-firm schedule.

As you go further through the process, use the spreadsheet to make your interview cheat sheet:
Who are your interviewers? Try to include a photo, so you know who to look for before you go to your interview!
Where did they go to school?
What are their practice areas?
What are their interests?
How long have they been at the firm?
Did they lateral to the firm? Are they a lifer at the firm?

Use the lists on UTLC and viLawPortal to see which firms are hiring. You can also look at previous years’ recruit numbers through Ultra Vires to get an idea of which firms generally hire through the 2L recruit.

Look at the firms’ practice areas. Some firms are considered boutiques (which generally specialize in one area). Some firms are considered full-service (which will give you the chance to try out pretty much anything during summer and articling).

Make a list of the firms that you’re interested in and note down any specific areas that stand out to you, or any specific application materials they require.

I’d recommend applying broadly and narrowing down your options throughout the interview process. You may as well give yourself as many opportunities as possible now! If you decide later that you’re not interested in securities litigation, you can always pull your application.

Ah, the notorious coffee chat… It can be difficult to distinguish Bay Street Firm A from Bay Street Firm B based solely on their websites, so coffee chats are a good way to make a personal connection and gain more insight into the firm.

If you decide to coffee chat, talk with current summer students! They’re the closest to the process, and they likely have the most time to be able to chat with you. Incoming articling students are generally off for the summer and writing the bar exam, so they may not be the best to reach out to. You can coffee chat with junior associates if you REALLY want to, but no need.

Go into your coffee chats prepared with a list of questions, and take notes! Use what you talk about in these coffee chats to build your cover letters.

Follow up after your coffee chat with a thank-you email.

Coffee chats probably won’t make or break your application though, so don’t feel like you need to do them if you don’t have time. However, in lieu of networking, make sure you research the firm’s website so you can add a line or two about the firm to your cover letter! Spend lots of time on the firm website researching what practice areas they offer, what kind of qualities they look for in a student, what kind of community initiatives they have in place, etc…

Sample coffee chat questions include:
Why did you choose this firm?
What is different/special about the firm?
How is work allocated amongst summer students?
Is there a structured rotation during the summer?
Is there a competitive environment between students?
What have you been working on this summer?
Are there any specific projects you’ve enjoyed?
How does the firm help students find areas they’re interested in?
How does the firm support women?
What opportunities has the firm provided for community-building amongst the summer student class?
Did anything stand out in the interview process with the firm that impressed you?
How did your initial impression of the firm compare to your impression after spending the summer?
Did you use first-choice language with the firm?
Is there a mentorship program at the firm?
What do you like about working in a large firm/boutique firm?

General Tips

Spend more time on these than you think you need to! Revise, revise, revise!

Don’t be afraid to leave white space.

Formatting is SO important—make sure your fonts, text sizes, indents, bullets, etc… are consistent throughout your resume and cover letters.

Resumé Tips

You’ll likely use the same resumé to apply for every job, so spend a lot of time working on it and making sure it looks polished.

Keep a consistent narrative, tone, and voice throughout your resumé.

Make good use of the limited real estate that you have—every line should tell a story.

For jobs/positions with multiple lines, make sure that each point is different, and speaks to a different competency/skill/experience.

Cover Letter Tips

Make one really strong cover letter, and then use that as a template for all your cover letters—you’ll likely only need to change the intro paragraph for each.

Go through firm websites, see what they're looking for in a student (i.e. team player, collaborative, entrepreneurial, etc., and then use these words in your letter).

Mention coffee chats, open houses etc.—but don’t just name drop, make sure you have something substantial (e.g. “it was great hearing Shae speak about the firm’s collegial nature, I loved hearing x story, etc...”).

You don’t need to list a specific practice group that you’re interested in, but if you do, make sure you call the practice group the correct thing (e.g., some firms call it litigation, some call it advocacy).

If you know what general area you’re interested in, you can note that (e.g., “particularly interested in transactional work”).

Be SO careful with firm names, recruiter names, and firm addresses—check everything SEVERAL times before you submit!

General Format

OCIs are the recruitment equivalent of speed dating, and generally take place over one or two days, depending on your law school.

Your CDO may schedule OCIs for you—double-check with them!

OCIs run in 20-minute intervals. Each interview is 17 minutes, with a 3-minute break until the next round.

Generally, the first 10–12 minutes will be questions about you, the remaining time will be for you to ask questions.

You’ll generally have two interviewers.

If you don’t initially get an OCI offer with a firm you’re really interested in, you can try reaching out to them to see if there’s any possibility of being offered an OCI slot at a later point—I did this and it worked!

Preparing for Interviews

Go through firm websites, see what they're looking for in a student (e.g., team player, collaborative, etc...) and then use these words in your responses.

Go through your resumé line by line, and make sure you’re able to tell stories for each, what you learned, what was challenging, etc…

They might ask "tell us about a time at X job where you did X."

When discussing your interests section, try to anticipate ways to flip the questions back on your interviewers to be more conversational—e.g., if they ask for a wine recommendation, ask them what kind of wine they like, then tailor your response based on what they tell you.

Go through question banks and practice, practice, practice!

For behavioural questions (e.g., “imagine you’re in x situation, what would you do?”), answer using the STAR method.

General OCI Tips

Be positive—look like you’re having a good day! Say things like I’m excited to be here, excited to be interviewing with X firm, etc…

Highlight things like team-member, non-competitive, resilient, etc… in your responses—look at the keywords on the firm’s website!

Keep answers story-specific and try not to ramble.

Research your interviewers beforehand—keep a cheat sheet (but be flexible because interviewers may change at the last minute).

Jot down a quick note about something specific after each OCI to include in your thank-you note.

If interviewing virtually, keep in mind good lighting, good internet connection, etc. You can also take advantage of the format—have some of your interests visible in the frame! E.g., plants, sports awards, instruments, art, etc…

Common Questions to Prepare For

Tell me about yourself, why did you decide to go to law school?, etc…
Have an answer for this ready to go, but keep it short and sweet. Try to find a balance between sounding prepared and sounding scripted.
E.g., open to opportunities, experience in clinic work led me to X, excited to be interviewing with your firm for X, etc…

Why corporate law?
E.g. Interested in the work environment, problem-solving, client interaction, variety of work, fast-paced, etc…

What practice area are you interested in?
It’s okay if you don’t know a specific answer to this (unless you’re interviewing with a boutique that only offers one type of law)! Just convey that you’re excited and willing to try things.

Less Common Questions

Tell us something that isn't on your resume.

Tell us about a time when you failed (talk about receiving constructive feedback, making improvements, etc…).

Tell us about a proud moment.

If you got a work assignment from a lawyer and later realized you didn’t understand the assignment, what would you do?

Asking Questions

As mentioned, your interview should be two-thirds about you, and one-third about the firm.

Three main points you should know about your interviewers:
1) Are they alum of your law school? You can talk about profs, student groups, courses, etc…
2) What is their practice area?
3) Are they a partner or an associate? For partners, you can talk about the business of the firm, e.g., the firm's trajectory, practice groups that are busy, practice areas they're looking to grow, etc… For associates, you can ask how they chose x firm, chose x practice, what courses they took in law school that they find helpful in their practice, etc…

Sample questions to ask firms during OCIs (and in-firms!):
I saw x firm did XYZ deal, or worked on XYZ case, etc… how were students involved in that deal/case?
Tell me an experience you had with a mentee.
Tell me about an informal mentorship relationship that you have with a summer student.
If a student was having a bad day, how would the firm support the student?
What are the biggest challenges/opportunities/emerging areas with the law in the next X years, and how does your firm plan to adapt to those changes?
What equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives are in place at the firm?

Thank you Emails

Send by the end of the day!

You can write out a template thank-you email before OCIs—this makes it much easier to send quickly after your OCI when you only have to fill in one or two lines!

Do your best to include a line referencing something notable or memorable from your conversation.

You can send the thank-you note to both interviewers in a single email.

The order of (allegedly) preferred times to schedule in-firms: 10 am, 12 pm, 8 am, 2 pm, 4 pm (i.e. scheduling a firm at 10 am would indicate you are highly interested—but don’t get too hung up on this).

Calls will start at 8:00 am sharp and run until roughly 8:15–8:30 am.

It is possible to receive ITC emails anytime from the end of OCIs to the day before call day.

Prioritize employers in advance, but try to be flexible with scheduling.

You may run into conflicts and have to rebook an interview. You should ask the caller for their name and contact number while you’re on the phone. If a conflict arises in scheduling, call back ASAP.

The CDO recommends moving forward with 4–6 employers max, but do what’s best for you.

First interviews are generally two hours long, and subsequent interviews will likely be shorter.

In-firms are kind of like OCIs all over again, but you actually get a chance to really show who you are—take advantage of that!

In-firms start on Monday and end on Wednesday. See the LSO website for the exact dates.

Preparing for in-firms is almost identical to OCI prep—go through the question banks, and make sure you have questions prepared to ask the firms too.

As you progress through the week, the interviews are much less formal (i.e., less structured interview questions) and more personality-based (i.e., feels kind of like a coffee chat).

Your interview host (if you have one) will be your friend* and will likely be an articling student. You can talk things through with them, ask them if there's anyone else at the firm you should talk to, ask how they think things are going, ask for advice, etc… *That being said, you still have to always stay professional in your interactions.

Send thank you emails after your interviews. You can send one mass email addressed to everyone you met that day.

You can ask where you stand.

If they haven't invited you back for a second (or third, or fourth) interview yet, invite yourself (e.g. "I would love to come back tomorrow and meet more people").

If a firm asks who you want to see, generally they’ll ask for a practice group, but you can ask for a junior lawyer, first-gen lawyer, female lawyer, 2SLGBTQI+ lawyer, someone who studied at X school, etc…

You only get one “first choice” – so make it count!

You can use first choice language in a thank-you email or do it over the phone.

You can say "I haven't given first choice to anyone, but I'm leaning toward this firm."

Once you use first choice language with a firm, do it in all your subsequent interviews with that firm. Let your host know and especially let the recruiter know!

Once you drop first choice with one firm, be very careful with other firms. Use any other language but "first choice" with other firms (e.g. "really enjoying my time with x firm", "love this firm", etc…).

Offers are made by phone at 5 pm on the final day of in-firm interviews.

You can only accept one offer.

If you get an offer from a firm that isn't your top choice: ask for time to think about the offer (technically they have to give you 24 hours, but firms may start calling you back earlier), then call your first choice firm and let them know you have an offer from another firm, but you'd like to know where you stand with them.

You’re done! Time to celebrate!