One of The Most Competitive Career Recruitment Journeys In The World…
The current legal job market in Canada is looking grim. Here’s what you can do about it so you’re prepared.
FREE INFORMATION SESSION
Watch a full length presentation on the breakdown of the legal recruitment process and what it really takes to land at top-tier firms in Canada or the US.
CURRENT 2L HIRING STATS MARKET WIDE:
20-25%
of Canadian law students secure a 2L Summer Job.
Learn why this is critical to your career success by reading below.
One of the most common mistakes that law students often make is waiting until they finish 1L final exams to start looking to secure their first jobs.
By then… it’s already far too late.
If a candidate waits to apply for a 1L summer job until after first-year exams or attempts to apply to articling positions when they are in their third year, or worse, when they’ve completed their schooling…
The chance of getting hired in a top-tier legal role is less than 5%.
And many would-be lawyers fall into this gap in the system, because this knowledge is not well distributed by the schools and career services advisors.
The reality is that top-tier firms typically hire associates who have worked for them in 2L and who subsequently excel during their articling year post-graduation.
Not every 2L summer student is guaranteed an articling position. And not every articling student is guaranteed a first year summer associate job. You have to be at the top of your game at each step. Here is a quick overview of what you need to know:
Canadian Pathway
Step 1
Secure a competitive first year (1L) job.
Step 2
Leverage the 1L work experience to land a second year (2L) summer student role at a top firm.
Step 3
Convert the 2L summer student role into an articling position.
Step 4
Convert the articling position into a full-time associate position.
New York Pathway
Step 1
Secure a competitive 1L job.
Step 2
Leverage the 1L work experience to land a second year (2L) summer student role at a top firm.
NOTE: In the US there is NO articling requirement. And the conversion from a 2L summer associate role to a full-time role is almost 100%.
You need to know more than just these steps, however… because it’s not enough for candidates to simply “land a summer job”. Law students require self-awareness to know what their strengths and weaknesses are, the practice areas they want to specialize in, and the professional skills they require to hit the ground running and make a lasting impression. They must also have the brand-building tools and communication skills to articulate their unique value proposition to the firms.
The remaining 75% of Canadian law students who fail to secure a 2L position (Step 2) are left to secure the few roles available in the Articling Recruit in their third year of law school or must accept less prestigious jobs in ‘law-related’ fields, including document review, compliance analysis and legal administration which not only pay significantly less… but make transitioning into future prestigious, high-paying legal roles much more difficult.
This is the case for 50% of law graduates in Canada who have an average student loan debt load of $100K+ with no meaningful way to pay it back.
For most law school students, getting a top-tier legal job isn’t a preference. It is necessary for them to pay back their student loans.
Here are the facts and statistics from the 2024 legal recruitment process:
2023 SUCCESS RATE AT TOP TIER FIRMS:
As you can see from the statistics above, there is a crisis in the legal profession in Canada. It’s not an employment problem, it’s an economics problem.
Without sounding like a doomsday prophecy, the stark reality of failing to land at a top tier legal firm in Canada or at a prestigious firm in New York, will only saddle young candidates with a lifetime of expensive debt that will take them a decade or longer to pay back off.
Landing at a top tier legal firm is no longer an “aspiration” for most Canadian law school students… but rather essential for their financial well being.
To make matters worse, the schools while they do their best in preparing the students for the career from an academic standpoint. They do not equip young candidates with the skills, tools, and confidence that they need to both land the job that they need, and excel once they’re in that career.
Things such as:
- Navigating the complex and competitive legal recruitment journey
- How to network with recruiters and/or partners of prestigious legal firms
- How to negotiate employment terms and salary
- How to perform with day-to-day skills the career demands of Associates and much more.
It isn’t hard to see why only 25% of Canadian law students successfully land positions in the 2L recruit. Yet armed with exactly these skills, practical tools, and strategic knowledge their documented success rate shoots up to an alarming 87%.
Together we can remove as much of the gamble from the legal recruitment process as possible.
