As law students progress through their second semester of school, they invariably worry about obtaining a summer job after their first year.
Andre Bacchus, former Acting Director of the Career Development Office at Osgoode Hall Law School, provided some tips for first year law students. Mr. Bacchus is the Assistant Director of Professional Development Heenan Blaikie LLP.
The complete slides are available here.
(Reproduced with Mr. Bacchus’ permission)
1st Year Summering
Some of the different areas of law where career options can be found include:
- Private Practice
- Government
- Social Justice
- Alternative
Private practice in a full-service firm can include business law, litigaton, labour an employment law, tax law, intellectual property law and entertainment law.
Private practice that represent individual clients or businesses can include real estate, civil litigation, labour and employment law, criminal law, immigration and family law. The difference between labour and employment is that the former are typically unionized.
The government is probably the single largest employer of lawyers in Canada. Lawyers can be found in all levels, including municipal, provincial, and federal governments, as well as crown agencies, institutions and foreign consulates/embassies.
Social justice agencies are always popular options for law students, including not-for-profits, government funded groups, international organizations, or a personally arranged internship.
There are always the alternative careers in law available to law students as well. Some act in teaching or research assistant roles, others work in corporations, for lobby groups, news agencies, travel, or just relax for their first summer. But even if relaxing, it’s usually a good idea to do something that speaks about your personality that you can speak about while interviewing in the future.
Candidate Traits
Employers look for people who demonstrate initiative, who take it upon themselves to come up with creative solutions. Employers highly value initiative because clients require problem-solvers to address their issues proactively in a self-directed manner. Broad background of experiences can be cited to demonstrate iniative; most positions or roles that manifest responsibility and independance require an employee to demonstrate initiative.
Employers look for students that are motivated and follow through on commitments.
Ownership, or taking responsibility for choices, is also important. Decision-making should be preceded by well thought-out processes, and receiving constructive criticism is essential.
Interpersonal skills are required to commmunicate with clients, as well as peers that you work with on a team.
Public Interest Roles
People who work in this sector are also professions, and therefore look for the same qualities that the private sector looks for. From their perspective it is even more crucial to hire the right people because they typically have smaller intakes and less turnover, making human resource activities
There are many myths that abound about public interest opportunities, including a lack of money, prestige, or personal satisfaction. In reality, they get paid well, as professionals who do their jobs well, especially considering other benefits many of these positions offer. Prestige can also be defined in many different ways, including working on precedent setting cases that many public interest groups engage in. And personal satisfaction can often be higher here due to the directness of the work.
Publilc interest groups do not have set hours or are necessarily easy-going. Many people in these roles are advocates that believe in their causes, and therefore give above and beyond in their effort and time.
Knowing yourself, your interests, and current market trends. Employers are looking for people who know what they like and know they want to come to their organization. But certain fields go through fluctuations that require different staffing needs at different times, often dictated by budgetary constraints and availability to interview candidates. Large firms also have prescribed rules for hiring to manage competitive recruitment.
The ideal job does not always come immediately; it may require several intermediate steps to gain skills and experiences that can be leveraged to the next opportunity.
Resources
- Career Services Office job postings, and resources and links on their website.
Government Websites
- Not necessarily geared towards law students specifically, but may allow entry into an area which a student would like to work in down the road.
Not-for-Profits
Create Your Own Opportunity
- Networking with friends, past employers, faculty, etc.
Putting togeter an Application Package
One page cover letter, using the same heading style as your resume. Cover letter should be professional, highly organized and succinct. Font size should not be less than 11 or 12 point, and there should be sufficient spacing. Spell-check and proofread repatedly, and print on white bond paper.
The content information should include name and e-mail an a salutation and Re: line. Discuss in paragraph 1 who you are and why that particular firm or organization is of interest.
Subsequent paragraphs in the cover letter describe your skills and how you acquired them. Personalize the content to make it specific to the organization. Avoid drawing conclusions about yourself without demonstrating how you acqquired the particular trait, but express what makes you unique and demonstrate good judgement. Meticulous and deliberate use of words are used to convey communication skills.
Two page maximum resume should have many of the same sylistic criteria of the cover letter. Sections should be logically ordered, with education first, followed by employment and volunteer experiences, and skills and interests, with items in reverse chronology. Describe duties accurately and honestly.
References are not usually needed for summer positions, but it’s useful to keep 2-3 references on hand. Employment related references and academic references are both needed. Confirm with your referrees that they are willing to act as a reference if there has been a significant lapse of time.
Interview Process
The interview process is conversational in nature. Candidates shoul be prepare to discuss anything, including what is in their package, the job description, material on the company’s website, and current events.
Dress in business attire, and show up at least 5 minutes early.
Ask questions to demonstrate interest.
All post-secondary transcripts
References, including professional and academic.
