Every year, Canadian law firms descend on law schools across the country in search of qualified individuals to recruit, and every year thousands of law students scour the internet in search of that one silver bullet that will guarantee their selection. I wish I could tell you that silver bullet existed. It would definitely spare you of the anxiety fuelled roller-coaster ride that will be forthcoming. But although there is no list of actions you can take that will ensure you land a job, there are steps you can take that can maximize your chances of being successful and guarantee you peace of mind. Benjamin Franklin once said, “by failing to prepare, you prepare to fail.” The same is true for OCIs. The most important thing you can do is prepare. Your law school’s career development office should have plenty of sample questions like these that you can use to prepare for your interview. A good exercise to do when considering how you would respond to these questions is to reverse the roles and think about what you would be looking for in your response if you were conducting the interview. A great way to model your answer is using the STAR method. That is, when you are looking to answer a question, describe a Situation or event you were in that is relevant to the question. Explain the Task you had to complete. Outline the specific Action(s) you took to complete the task. Finally, close with the Result of your actions. By following this method, you are effectively demonstrating a skill or characteristic you possess that makes you a great candidate as opposed to just stating it. Having well prepared responses is crucial, but they are only as good as your delivery. It is important to rehearse your answers out loud. You can do this by having a friend conducting a mock interview or by yourself in front of a mirror. You want your body language to be natural and exude confidence. Remember, there is no magic answer or substantive criteria your interviewers are going to be looking for. Rather, they are looking to see how well you can communicate and think on your feet. Try to focus on eliminating any unconscious fidgeting and nervous ticks. Throughout your interviews, try to maintain eye contact and smile as appropriate. Lastly, regardless of the outcome, I urge you to remember that this process does not define you. It is but a grain of sand in the vast desert of opportunity that is your career. To even reach this point, you must be an extremely qualified individual and have accomplished a great many things. I cannot give you a silver bullet to guarantee you a summer job but what I can do is assure you that this process will only be a footnote in what will be a long and prosperous career. Throughout this process, if you need someone to blow off steam to or if you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. Wishing you all the best! By: Jitpal Singh After I was asked to write this piece for Legally Brown, I spent a long time thinking about my experience with the 1L recruit and what tips I could share that would be valuable to other students. If you are looking for specific and substantive advice regarding resumes, cover letters and interviews- you won’t find it here. In my opinion, law schools and firms have already put out a ton of great resources to help you craft your applications and move through the interview process. I think almost everyone applying now knows they need to work on a compelling narrative, and check, double check and triple check their applications for grammatical errors. Instead, I’m choosing to highlight a few concepts you can use to change how you think about the recruitment process. In my view, developing a growth mindset is equally as important as the substantive work you put in for your applications. 1. Shoot your shot and do it unapologetically. If you see yourself working in the Toronto market or it’s an option you would like to explore, apply during the 1L recruit. I have received far too many messages asking me about grades and what I think is competitive. It’s a fair question, everyone wants to set realistic expectations for themselves, but grades are not everything. If your grades are not where you would like them to be, commit to doing better, but don’t count yourself out. The story you tell, and your unique mix of experiences may be exactly what a firm is looking for. More importantly, you have to believe you are the best applicant for the job before you can convince anyone else. In my opinion, you cannot write an effective cover letter or draft a great resume without that level of confidence. 2. Redefine failure and success It is important to recognize how much value you can extract from the 1L recruit just by simply applying. If you don’t get any interviews, at least you were able to test your materials, and now you will undoubtedly know that there is room for improvement. You will have more than enough time to take proactive steps to ensure you are competitive in the future. If you do land an interview, consider the recruit a success. You can confidently assume your resume, cover letter and grades contributed to an effective mix. Going through even a single round of interviews will provide incredible practical experience, an opportunity to gain rich feedback from your interviewers, and quality networking that you will be able to leverage down the line. 3. Enjoy the process Working on applications while juggling course work isn’t a great time, but interviews can be! It is not every day you get to talk to incredible lawyers and gain a candid perspective into a variety of law firms and practice groups. Focusing on the experience and not the outcome is also a great way to settle your nerves and ultimately perform better. Regardless of how the week ends, you will be equipped with valuable insights you can use to inform decisions during law school, life as a law student and future recruits. Why I Chose Dentons: I chose Dentons primarily for three reasons. First, the Firm has two things I never imagined could co-exist together; a massive global presence with all of the advantages that come from having offices in major markets across the world, and an incredibly cohesive and collegial work environment. When I spoke to lawyers, what stood out to me wasn’t the things they said about their practices. Instead, it was how they spoke about their colleagues. I later realized this collegiality also exists between different national and international offices. Second, when I went through the 1L recruit I had no idea what area of law I wanted to pursue. That’s why Dentons’ structured (but flexible) summer program was also very appealing to me. Dentons does a great job at providing students with a huge range of opportunities and helping them explore the many different facets of legal work. The Firm provides students with the opportunity to rotate through six different practice groups as well as secondment options. I still don’t know what I want to do, but I’m grateful to be able to experience a variety of practices at a truly full-service firm. Finally, I’m incredibly proud of the Firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. 2020 forced many organizations to have uncomfortable conversations surrounding racism and discrimination. At Dentons, we had several: amongst the cohort of summer students, across the Toronto office, nationally and globally. I felt the Firm was actively listening at all levels and was serious about implementing change. A great example of this commitment is the Firm’s new Student Recruitment Playbook. Dentons is structuring their interviews to level the playing field. This includes introducing standardized questions and building in breaks to slow down the process and eliminate biases. The new recruitment process is focused on finding alignment through an applicant’s skills, competencies, and values. If you have any further questions regarding recruits or Dentons’ summer student program, connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message.
I wish you the very best this interview season. If you would like to chat, just connect here! By: Jasmeen Kabuli. |
Legally BrownThree Osgoode Hall Law students sharing their lived experiences and providing *unsolicited* advice. Archives
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