No Summer Job :(

[TruthHandlingAbilities]

I'm a 2L without a summer job lined up.

I struck out at OCIs (didn't make it past the few screeners I had), have cold emailed dozens of firms, solos, and companies for in-house positions, had coffee chats with lawyers in the community in practice areas I was interested in, gone to networking events, do volunteer work in the legal community, applied for near everything posted by career services (including research positions), and applied for whatever I could find on LinkedIn/Indeed/etc. I've tried branching out of my practice areas of interest and have applied to positions outside of my city. 

I have an opportunity to go back to my old non-law related job over the summer and make decent money. At this point I'm not opposed to doing so, nor am I too bent out of shape about it. I feel like I've been doing everything right so far and want to focus on the articling recruit, take some summer courses, and maybe volunteer at the legal clinic. 

I'm wondering if anyone has any insight into how much not having a law summer position will put me at a disadvantage when looking for an articling position? Most info I can glean is from Reddit and based on the US experience - and from what I understand it's different shades of absolutely critical, which I'm taking with a grain of salt. 

Also, does the market suck right now? Or do I? Or is it a bit of both?

For context - I'm in Vancouver, my 1L grades were median, my 2L grades are much higher, I have a bit of legal experience before law school (not at all related to the area I want to practice in), some research experience from last summer. I'm looking for something business related, but am open to near anything. 

[acatinthesun]

I didn't have a 2L summer law job and it was absolutely fine. There was a pretty solid chunk of people at my school that had 0 legal work experience throughout law school and secured articles throughout the 3L year. I think legal related work is a bit of an advantage but it shakes out fine for most people. A lot of places that will take articling students are not interested in summer students. Just keep at it! 

I found this thread really helpful when i was facing a similar kind of situation in the articling hunt. It can be a hustle finding the right fit. 

That being said, if you have good grades and are having the level of strike outs I would do an application review/practice interview with your career counsellor if you haven't already. It's probably not a you problem but if it is you want to get ahead of it before you head into articling recruit season. 

[LMP]

Obviously it would be nice and helpful to have had a summer job, but it doesn't sink your chances of finding anything in articling. 

I was able to see the applicants to our firms articling position and I'd say a third had no legal summer job. In fact I think we need up hiring at least two who hadn't had a 2L legal job (though I think at least one had done a clinic). 

Your big disadvantage is you have less to talk about. You can circumvent that by having examples ready from your other job and law school experiences. You should also be ready to do a little extra research on the firms you apply to. You don't get the easy out of "oh yeah I had the chance to a do a bit of this work at my old firm and I really enjoyed it". So spend a bit of time really learning about the firms practice areas and why you might like working there. 

[halamadrid]

I was able to secure articling before the end of the fall semester (I'm in 3L) so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If your old job pays well, it wouldn't hurt to go back there and possibly look for some part-time or volunteer legal work if you can for your resume. There were several positions posted throughout the year. I am in Toronto so I can't exactly comment on opportunities in BC but I did notice a few listing on the career job board for listing out West. 

[canuckfanatic]

1 hour ago, TruthHandlingAbilities said:

I'm wondering if anyone has any insight into how much not having a law summer position will put me at a disadvantage when looking for an articling position

It won't disadvantage you. Having summer experience doesn't make a student more "valuable". Most smaller firms don't hire summer students because summer students cost money and don't generate revenue - it's not worth the financial burden. Larger employers hire summer students because they can afford to and they've built it into their business model.

When I worked in BigLaw, the summer students' job was largely to hang out and build relationships internally. Just get a feel of the place.

If you really want some sort of legal experience, volunteer with LSLAP during the summer. A lot of students in BC do it (as did I).

Also, if you're dead set on working at a Vancouver "BigLaw" firm, you can get there without having summered/articled there.

[Aschenbach]

You'll be fine, everyone I know in law school landed an articling job, regardless whether they got a summer job in 2 L or not. Like others have said, get some clinical experience that you can talk about and focus your 2L summer in preparing for articling applications.

[Propertylawnotmything]

Hi i am also a 2L, i am also going back to my old non-law job this summer. Money is money! We got bills to pay.

[Renerik]

The discussion split towards justifying the salary summer students are paid. I've moved that discussion here: