Importance of Work Experience in OCI's/Biglaw Jobs

[Andalusian2400]

Hi,

Im a 4th year undergrad student majoring in history. I have very good grades (4.04/4.33 GPA), have done volunteering as an associate editor of an undergrad academic journal and mentoring students with essay writing.

 

My problem is I don't have very strong work experience. I've worked as a tutor and a very part time as an administrative assistant. I also plan to do the jet programme for 1 year before going to law school.

 

Will this lack of work experience inhibit my ability to get top internships and summer placements in biglaw? I know some undergrad business students planning to go to law school who have already interned at big companies like rbc, Intel, bcg, etc.

 

Tldr: how much does undergrad work experience matter if I want to get into Canadian biglaw

[CleanHands]

Your 1L grades will be more important than any other individual aspect of your profile. So this factor isn't worth spending any time thinking about before you see how 1L goes--it will be essentially moot unless you wind up a bubble candidate.

Edited September 26, 2021 by CleanHands

[jlaw]

3 hours ago, CleanHands said:

Your 1L grades will be more important than any other individual aspect of your profile. So this factor isn't worth spending any time thinking about before you see how 1L goes--it will be essentially moot unless you wind up a bubble candidate.

What is a bubble candidate?

[CleanHands]

17 minutes ago, jlaw said:

What is a bubble candidate?

What I'm driving at is that if the OP's 1L grades are too low to be competitive, their work experience wouldn't help overcome that even if it were great (note: for BigLaw OCI jobs specifically I mean, which is what they asked about--there are specific areas of law where certain prior work experience will be very useful and marketable irrespective of grades), and if they knock it out of the park in 1L they won't need great work experience to land such a job.

By "bubble candidate" I mean someone with a high B/low B+ sort of average (around top half to top third of the class), who is still competitive for OCI jobs but far from a lock. That's where other aspects of one's profile and application package will really matter.

But anyways my point is that there is absolutely no point worrying about this before having any law school grades.

[Andalusian2400]

57 minutes ago, CleanHands said:

What I'm driving at is that if the OP's 1L grades are too low to be competitive, their work experience wouldn't help overcome that even if it were great (note: for BigLaw OCI jobs specifically I mean, which is what they asked about--there are specific areas of law where certain prior work experience will be very useful and marketable irrespective of grades), and if they knock it out of the park in 1L they won't need great work experience to land such a job.

By "bubble candidate" I mean someone with a high B/low B+ sort of average (around top half to top third of the class), who is still competitive for OCI jobs but far from a lock. That's where other aspects of one's profile and application package will really matter.

But anyways my point is that there is absolutely no point worrying about this before having any law school grades.

So there's nothing I should be doing before law school to improve my OCI chances save get good grades?

 

Also, do you think knowing a foreign language would make any difference? I can speak French, Turkish and German 

[CleanHands]

4 minutes ago, Andalusian2400 said:

So there's nothing I should be doing before law school to improve my OCI chances save get good grades?

 

Also, do you think knowing a foreign language would make any difference? I can speak French, Turkish and German 

What you should be doing to improve your chances is "relax."

In addition to the most important part of your profile for OCI purposes being completely outside of your control right now, OCI interviews are conversational and those hiring want to hire people they will enjoy working with who won't transmit second-hand stress to them. If you're this much of a gunner and prepper and nervous wreck right now, it does not bode well for how you're likely to carry yourself by the time your OCIs actually roll around.

I know this sounds trite and unhelpful but seriously you are getting way ahead of yourself.

[Andalusian2400]

3 hours ago, CleanHands said:

What you should be doing to improve your chances is "relax."

In addition to the most important part of your profile for OCI purposes being completely outside of your control right now, OCI interviews are conversational and those hiring want to hire people they will enjoy working with who won't transmit second-hand stress to them. If you're this much of a gunner and prepper and nervous wreck right now, it does not bode well for how you're likely to carry yourself by the time your OCIs actually roll around.

I know this sounds trite and unhelpful but seriously you are getting way ahead of yourself.

Thanks for the advice.

 

I'm generally quite chill. I suppose I just got freaked out by the accomplishments of my peers.

 

 

[CleanHands]

45 minutes ago, Andalusian2400 said:

Thanks for the advice.

 

I'm generally quite chill. I suppose I just got freaked out by the accomplishments of my peers.

Happens to most people entering law school. You'll be surprised at how much the dynamic shifts once the post-OCI dust settles, and how little most people's pre-law school experience ends up mattering in the end.

Law school truly is something of a clean slate. Just try not to blot out all the noise.

[Pendragon]

1 hour ago, Andalusian2400 said:

Thanks for the advice.

I'm generally quite chill. I suppose I just got freaked out by the accomplishments of my peers.

 

Most of the people that land OCI jobs are going to be those closer to the KJD age range with little to no work/life experience. I don't think your classmates are as accomplished as you think they are. When I went to law school, I found that most of my peers were from higher socioeconomics and a lot of the experiences they had were due to their connections and upbringing. I don't know how you're measuring your peers' accomplishments prior to law school, but I imagine hiring employers won't have the same perspective. 

[Andalusian2400]

10 hours ago, Pendragon said:

Most of the people that land OCI jobs are going to be those closer to the KJD age range with little to no work/life experience. I don't think your classmates are as accomplished as you think they are. When I went to law school, I found that most of my peers were from higher socioeconomics and a lot of the experiences they had were due to their connections and upbringing. I don't know how you're measuring your peers' accomplishments prior to law school, but I imagine hiring employers won't have the same perspective. 

What's KJD range? I'll be 22 when I start law school.

[Zarathustra]

22 hours ago, Andalusian2400 said:

Hi,

Im a 4th year undergrad student majoring in history. I have very good grades (4.04/4.33 GPA), have done volunteering as an associate editor of an undergrad academic journal and mentoring students with essay writing.

 

My problem is I don't have very strong work experience. I've worked as a tutor and a very part time as an administrative assistant. I also plan to do the jet programme for 1 year before going to law school.

 

Will this lack of work experience inhibit my ability to get top internships and summer placements in biglaw? I know some undergrad business students planning to go to law school who have already interned at big companies like rbc, Intel, bcg, etc.

 

Tldr: how much does undergrad work experience matter if I want to get into Canadian biglaw

I did the JET programme for a few years before going to law school. So worth it, but it likely won't help you much in terms of big law placement. Grades is king.

[Andalusian2400]

1 hour ago, Zarathustra said:

I did the JET programme for a few years before going to law school. So worth it, but it likely won't help you much in terms of big law placement. Grades is king.

Cool.

Where was your placement? I'm hoping for kobe, matsuyama, Kanazawa or nara

[abogada]

3 hours ago, Andalusian2400 said:

What's KJD range? I'll be 22 when I start law school.

Kindergarten to JD (law school) aka not taking any time off from school where they would have worked. 

[Zarathustra]

2 hours ago, Andalusian2400 said:

Cool.

Where was your placement? I'm hoping for kobe, matsuyama, Kanazawa or nara

Kochi. Been to all four, all really cool places. Kanazawa rains a ton though. 

[Andalusian2400]

4 hours ago, Zarathustra said:

 

 

2 hours ago, abogada said:

Kindergarten to JD (law school) aka not taking any time off from school where they would have worked. 

I see. So would spending one year in Japan teaching English hurt my chances then?

[Rashabon]

37 minutes ago, Andalusian2400 said:

 

I see. So would spending one year in Japan teaching English hurt my chances then?

No.

[Zarathustra]

The end goal to show the interviewer that you are a pretty interesting person, assuming your grades are good. 

[abogada]

16 hours ago, Andalusian2400 said:

 

I see. So would spending one year in Japan teaching English hurt my chances then?

No. I should clarify that I don't think KJD is a good or a bad thing, it's just a personal choice. Some people know what they want to do and know law school is right for them, so taking time off doesn't make sense for them.  I took 2 years off between undergrad and law school mostly because I didn't even realize I wanted to go to law school until I was out in the real world, and then decided to take time to save some money living at home and working full time.

But as others have said, law school grades are the most important factor for getting summer and articling jobs. Once you get that interview, your work experience could be one thing, among many, that set you apart. Work experience doesn't have to be related to law/business, e.g. maybe you will be able to answer an interview question using something you experienced during your time teaching in Japan that demonstrates qualities that would make you an asset for the firm. Also sometimes interviewers pick up very random things on your resume they want to ask you about, so you never know- maybe they've been to Japan and will want to talk about it and now you've made a connection with that person.