How do OCIs work?

[Diskbaby997]

I have no idea or understand how OCIs work? Are you guaranteed an interview, how does it work? Is this the make or break moment in ones legal career?

[Psychometronic]

What year are you in? Your career office should be giving you the deets when the time comes. Otherwise, you’ll hear enough about it from upper years that you’ll get a rough picture.

[Ripcord]

@Psychometronic is right, you're going to hear the words "OCI" from your CSO/CDO and from your upper-years so much that it's going to be seared into your soul that try as you might, you're never going to get it out! But I also remember the genuine terror of hearing these short-forms for a bunch of law school stuff so here's a quick (and this is a very quick) run-down of what OCIs are. Do reach out to upper-years and your CSO/CDO to augment whatever you get from this forum. 

 

5 hours ago, Diskbaby997 said:

I have no idea or understand how OCIs work?

OCIs stand for On-Campus Interviews. Essentially, firms and certain governmental opportunities (Crown work, PPSC) come to your school to host a bunch of interviews for candidates that they like. The interviews are scheduled for 20 minutes (realistically around 17 minutes) and depending on the firm/area of law you're interviewing with, you can expect to get asked a wide range of questions. You'll need to submit your resume, cover letter, transcripts, and reference letters (optional). Most often, the firms and the governmental opportunities will have you upload all of your documents into a site called ViLawPortal. Again, check with your CSO/CDO, this could have changed. This has been explained to me as the "speed-dating" part of the recruitment process, where you meet with members of a firm and talk for a quick 17 minutes to see if y'all like each other enough to move to the next stage, which is the in-firms (where the firms invite you back to their place for a longer interview). Again, check with your CSO/CDO for timelines, I believe if you're applying to the 2L recruit, your documents will be due sometime this summer. 

5 hours ago, Diskbaby997 said:

Are you guaranteed an interview, how does it work?

No, you are not guaranteed an interview. The places that participate in this recruit will compile a list of the students they would want to interview from your school and extend OCIs to them. Depending on which school you attend, there can be a max number of interviews that a firm could extend and therefore, not everyone who applies to them from your school will have the chance to OCI with them. On the other end of the spectrum, if you land more OCIs than you can take, then unfortunately, you will have to cut some interviews as well. If you are comparing this to the 1L recruit, then there is likely a better chance that you will get some interviews, as there are more firms/governmental positions for the 2L recruit. And this will be a segue into my answer to your next question, but don't fret if you do not get an interview (which is of course, easier said than done). 

5 hours ago, Diskbaby997 said:

Is this the make or break moment in ones legal career?

In my opinion, this is not a make or break moment in one's legal career. I know of so many amazing candidates that for whatever odd reason, slip through the cracks of the 2L recruit but then find themselves with their phones ringing off the hook for the articling recruit (and yes, there is also a structured articling recruit if you need to/want to participate in it). I will add the small caveat here that if you have been gunning for a certain firm and you're hellbent on only working for them and if you don't land a position with them through the OCIs, it might take you a bit longer to get into that firm. Some of these firms/recruiters don't recruit for articling, as they fill their coffers with 2L summer students and bring the whole compliment back for articles. This does not mean that the door is firmly closed to you, it just means you'll have to take a different route to that place. If you do find yourself on the outside looking in after OCIs (and seriously, don't worry about that until you get there), maintain your contacts with recruiters, upper-years, and your CSO/CDO. It'll all work out! 

Again, these are just my thoughts, which could be radically different from that of others on this forum and even your own upper-years and CSO/CDO. Canvas as many people as you can and get as many thoughts as you can about this! But I do hope this allays some of your burning questions about the OCIs! 

[CheeseToast]

Everything Ripcord says is accurate. However, I'll also say that firm practices with respect to the recruit vary depending on jurisdiction. For example, I know a few of the strong regional firms in AB who only do the 1L recruit. The AB 1L recruit as a whole is also the same size as, if not larger than, the 2L recruit in AB as far as I'm aware and plenty of well-respected midsize firms that don't do use vilawportal (I strongly considered one). Conversely, my BC pals say that there are essentially 0 jobs outside of the 2L and articling recruits for the major players there. 

One thing I'll say that genuinely shocked me when I was going through the process is just how many solid employers were not on vilawportal that were still hiring 1Ls. This sub and CDOs can really make it seem like the formal recruit is the be all end all of law school and that really isn't the case unless you know you are sure that you want to work at one of the big corporate firms. I would expect that the same is true for good 2L summer jobs in ON but can't say for sure. 

All interviews were over zoom/teams/webex this year too, which made things somewhat easier. 

[beyondsection17]

On 4/17/2022 at 2:37 AM, Diskbaby997 said:

Are you guaranteed an interview?

No.

 

On 4/17/2022 at 2:37 AM, Diskbaby997 said:

Is this the make or break moment in one's legal career?

It might be, but it probably isn't.