What's the supply and demand for articling in BC like?

[wine for lunch]

Hey yall. Have graduated, seeking an articling job in BC, no specific area I'm limiting myself to. It seems like every job has 10+ people vying for it, each with a stellar background. Is there a glut of graduating students? I thought the herd would have thinned out by now. 

[canuckfanatic]

1 hour ago, wine for lunch said:

Is there a glut of graduating students?

Not really. This is, however, a tough economic year so smaller firms may have decided not to hire students this time around.

1 hour ago, wine for lunch said:

I thought the herd would have thinned out by now. 

Most firms aim to hire students before they graduate. So while the number of students job hunting at this stage has decreased, so have the number of job postings.

Where in BC in particular are you applying?

[wine for lunch]

1 minute ago, canuckfanatic said:

Not really. This is, however, a tough economic year so smaller firms may have decided not to hire students this time around.

Most firms aim to hire students before they graduate. So while the number of students job hunting at this stage has decreased, so have the number of job postings.

Where in BC in particular are you applying?

Van and Vic. I know the default answer is to look outward toward the rest of BC but I'm not at all excited about doing so, most of my friends live in or around Van. I've also postponed moving to Van for years now, so pushing it over for at least another year feels ughhhhh.

[canuckfanatic]

12 minutes ago, wine for lunch said:

Van and Vic. I know the default answer is to look outward toward the rest of BC but I'm not at all excited about doing so, most of my friends live in or around Van. I've also postponed moving to Van for years now, so pushing it over for at least another year feels ughhhhh.

I mean, Vancouver and Victoria are the two most sought after locations in BC for prospective articling students, and you're looking for a job in those cities a bit late.

You can probably find something in the suburbs around Vancouver/Victoria (think Saanich, Richmond, Surrey, Burnaby, New West), but for smaller (<10) lawyer firms you'll probably have to reach out to them directly and ask if they're hiring.

[chaboywb]

Just to touch on one point that has been discussed a lot on this forum - at this stage, where you are past the general, full-service firm recruits, it becomes less advantageous to go in with the approach of having "no specific area I'm limiting myself to". Smaller firms will likely want to see demonstrated and tailored interest in their practice area. You should probably drill down on one or two specific areas of interest and be able to strongly justify why you are a fit for such a role.

[wine for lunch]

7 minutes ago, chaboywb said:

Just to touch on one point that has been discussed a lot on this forum - at this stage, where you are past the general, full-service firm recruits, it becomes less advantageous to go in with the approach of having "no specific area I'm limiting myself to". Smaller firms will likely want to see demonstrated and tailored interest in their practice area. You should probably drill down on one or two specific areas of interest and be able to strongly justify why you are a fit for such a role.

I have a few areas I can say I'm interested in based on my previous summer work, but no luck so far in reaching out to firms that fit my profile 😞