Cold-calling for summer Jobs

[RIP-Joel]

Hey everyone!

Since the 1L recruit is right around the corner, I was thinking that I would like to apply to small/mid size firms that dont take part in the official recruit as I plan to work in the GTA/Hamilton. Many people told me that the best way to apply to these firms is through cold-calling/emailing. I was just wondering, when is a good time to start doing that? If someone is hoping to secure a position for the summer, when should someone start cold-calling firms? Should it be now or closer to the summer like in February/March? 

Also, how does a cold-call/email look like? Can someone just provide a sample email? What should the title of the email be as well? 

Thank you! 

[Ramesses]

Don't call. Email a cover letter and resume.

Ask your career service for a template or review the email for you.

Do it earlier than later. They earlier you are on their radar the better. 

[RIP-Joel]

46 minutes ago, Ramesses said:

Don't call. Email a cover letter and resume.

Ask your career service for a template or review the email for you.

Do it earlier than later. They earlier you are on their radar the better. 

Alright awesome I'll talk to my school's career services office. 

When you say start earlier, do you think I should start cold-emailing now? 

[LMP]

I used a different tactic. I would find someone who worked at the firm, arrange a call or chat and in the process of the call ask about working at the firm. 

This way I'd know who it is that handles the hiring or who is supposed to receive the application. In these smaller firms it's normally an unofficial role, so this saved my email from getting lost in the wrong inbox. 

I'd also leverage the conversation I had with whoever it is I talked to. I'd normally include their name somewhere in the email I send and they usually liked me enough to follow up with my application.

 

[Ramesses]

13 hours ago, RIP-Joel said:

Alright awesome I'll talk to my school's career services office. 

When you say start earlier, do you think I should start cold-emailing now? 

I would say so. I know this does not directly apply but when a friend of mine struck out for articling recruit he networked for six months before he got a position. The firm that hired him was one of the first ones he talked to. With smaller firms they are not always ready to hire but they keep a list of interested candidates to go back to when they are ready. In my friend's case, he spoke with them in October but the firm did not know whether they had the budget for a student until April. The moment they did, they called in the candidates that reached out to them in the last few months and within a week they hired my friend. 

[Vizslaw]

I can add anecdotally that our small firm (6 lawyers) hired a 2L summer student the past summer (who will also article with us next year) after being cold-emailed, so it does happen! We were originally looking for an articling student but we weren't impressed with the applications we received and decided we would post again a few weeks later. Then we received an e-mail from this 2L, who acknowledged we did not post for a summer student but felt they could contribute just as much as an articling student and their interests, ECs and everything else just lined up so we took the chance.