How Important Are Firm Tours?

[Debtful]

How important is it to go to firm tours in Toronto for the 2L recruit? 

I have a law related summer job outside of the city thats in person and cannot attend these events. 

 

 

[Jaggers]

Not important in any way, shape or form.

[QueensDenning]

Yeah big waste of time. They all say the same thing. No one important will remember you. 

[Turtles]

Their true value lies in the free food, booze, or swag you get.

Or if you want to see what their office is like, pick up subtle cues about what people are wearing, how people in the halls are acting, how people interact, etc. Nobody will remember you, but even if they do, the fact you can dress yourself and sit for 1 hour quietly will not impress them into giving you a job you otherwise couldn't have gotten. They know everyone who applies is interested (or at least, feign interest) in their work and they know many star candidates won't be able to attend tours due to capacity limits or prior commitments (seven sister firms give out >200 OCIs, but they may cap firm tours to like 30 or 60 people, so no, it's not a prerequisite to landing an interview.)

In the case of Canada's best law firm, Wildeboer, you can sometimes even pick up a gift card or two to help sharpen your pool cue. That's not enough to get me in their office, though.

[chaboywb]

Just now, Turtles said:

Their true value lies in the free food, booze, or swag you get.

This is true. I still use the water bottle I got from a firm in 1L. I'm grateful every day that I approached their booth for that reason.

[Jaggers]

You can learn things that will help you understand the firms, but you will not meet anyone who will help you get a job.

[Pantalaimon]

I don't know, I found that I picked up a lot of cues on my tour just by getting to interact with lawyers who aren't put in front of the candidates. Obviously everyone is told to play nice and whatnot, but personalities still shine through and it's nice to see the personalities that congregate at each firm.

In terms of landing the job, it's completely unimportant.

[Hegdis]

28 minutes ago, Turtles said:

Their true value lies in the free food, booze, or swag you get.

I gave all my swag to homeless people. That year McCarthy's had a nice stainless steel water bottle, and Blakes gave us all a shoe horn. I think there was a tote bag in there somewhere too. there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the people I gave these things to got more out of them than I did.

[CleanHands]

17 minutes ago, Hegdis said:

I gave all my swag to homeless people. That year McCarthy's had a nice stainless steel water bottle, and Blakes gave us all a shoe horn. I think there was a tote bag in there somewhere too. there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the people I gave these things to got more out of them than I did.

Also a nice middle finger to the firms, because you were able to use a ridiculously small fraction of their resources to provide more social benefit in three seconds than their lawyers do in 30 year legal careers.

[Hegdis]

I wouldn’t go THAT far. I know quite a number of big firm folks who do amazingly philanthropic things with their money, if not their time. 

[Psychometronic]

I went on a few firm tours and didn't find them very useful. Most of the firms felt the same, told us the same stuff, and had the same kind of people. I doubt anyone really remembered me. 

I suppose it's an opportunity to decide if you're up for working in a fishbowl or an open-concept, or whatnot, but tours ultimately don't give you any advantage during the recruit.