Feeling very anxious about not landing 2l job

[seekingjob 0]

I'm in 2L in an Ontario law school and I haven't landed a 2L job yet and I am extremely stressed out. I've applied to a bunch of places but I haven't heard back and if I did it's all PFO. Will there be more job postings in February and March or am I just done for 2L summer employment? 

[MootPointx 10]

You aren't out of the running for 2L employment yet. Some government law jobs have still not yet been released or are only just being released (Metrolinx, NAV Canada). Many cities/townships hire a summer law student and often post these jobs in the coming weeks so keep checking their websites (even though your CDO often has that information) for job postings.

How about an RA-ship with a Professor who does something of your interest? Reach out to a Professor you had and ask if they need a summer student.

If you aren't too late to apply to an internship or clinic at your school with a potential summer job - is this an option for you?

Edited February 8 by MootPointx

[Luckycharm 1059]

55 minutes ago, seekingjob said:

I'm in 2L in an Ontario law school and I haven't landed a 2L job yet and I am extremely stressed out. I've applied to a bunch of places but I haven't heard back and if I did it's all PFO. Will there be more job postings in February and March or am I just done for 2L summer employment? 

It is not over yet.

There will be more between now to June

[baf 0]

I'm in 3L now and remember feeling the same way last year....lack of employment really cast a shadow over my entire second semester. More job postings continue to be posted throughout this semester - including some government offices whose funding came through late and smaller firms that hire later. 

Keep on checking your school's career platform (if they post jobs) but also indeed and linkedin. And, if you can, have people you trust (I found the feedback from upper years who landed jobs in places I wanted to work the most helpful) review and suggest edits on your resume and cover letter. 

I was offered a job last year around the end of April to begin in May and had already taken RA positions with 2 profs. I ended up keeping the RA positions and declining the law job. Great opportunity to do some interesting research that I won't be able to do as a lawyer and I had the flexibility/time to prep for the articling recruit that I wouldn't have had with a more traditional office job. 

Edited February 8 by baf

[Eeee 971]

4 minutes ago, baf said:

I'm in 3L now and remember feeling the same way last year....lack of employment really cast a shadow over my entire second semester. More job postings continue to be posted throughout this semester - including some government offices whose funding came through late and smaller firms that hire later. 

 Keep on checking your school's career platform (if they post jobs) but also indeed and linkedin. And, if you can, have people you trust (I found the feedback from upper years who landed jobs in places I wanted to work the most helpful) review and suggest edits on your resume and cover letter. 

I was offered a job last year around the end of April to begin in May and had already taken RA positions with 2 profs. I ended up keeping the RA positions and declining the law job. Great opportunity to do some interesting research that I won't be able to do as a lawyer and I had the flexibility/time to prep for the articling recruit that I wouldn't have had with a more traditional office job. 

For anyone in this boat I would take the law job over the RAship unless you think the professor can hook you up with a job. 

[seekingjob 0]

ok thanks for the advice everyone! 2l has been pretty bleak for me but it's comforting to know that other people were/are in the same boat as me. 

[Stark 780]

I'd also suggest not placing too much emphasis on a 2L law job.  I get why people want them in that they often lead to articling offers, but it's certainly not a situation where you're SOL if you don't have a 2L job. 

I personally didn't even contemplate a 2L job, but instead found a job that had little to do with law but that I found interesting and it certainly didn't hurt me when it came down to applying for articling positions.  In fact, I would argue that my 2L non-law job actually helped me get my articling position as the hiring committee found the job interesting and we spent a lot of time discussing it. Remember that a huge part of getting that articling position is "fit".

I'm not arguing against a 2L position, but there's also value in spending your last summer before a long career in law doing something you find interesting, whether that be a non-law job, research for a prof, travel etc.  What I'm trying to get at is don't put too much pressure on yourself.  When I was in law school, I don't think any of my friends worked a law job during their 2L-3L summer and we all managed to find articling positions just fine.

[seekingjob 0]

46 minutes ago, Stark said:

I'd also suggest not placing too much emphasis on a 2L law job.  I get why people want them in that they often lead to articling offers, but it's certainly not a situation where you're SOL if you don't have a 2L job. 

I personally didn't even contemplate a 2L job, but instead found a job that had little to do with law but that I found interesting and it certainly didn't hurt me when it came down to applying for articling positions.  In fact, I would argue that my 2L non-law job actually helped me get my articling position as the hiring committee found the job interesting and we spent a lot of time discussing it. Remember that a huge part of getting that articling position is "fit".

I'm not arguing against a 2L position, but there's also value in spending your last summer before a long career in law doing something you find interesting, whether that be a non-law job, research for a prof, travel etc.  What I'm trying to get at is don't put too much pressure on yourself.  When I was in law school, I don't think any of my friends worked a law job during their 2L-3L summer and we all managed to find articling positions just fine.

if you don't me asking, did you go through the formal toronto articling recruit? 

[Simbaa 137]

No 2L summer job here. Graduated from law school and doing just fine now. The important thing is to get called to the bar. You have the rest of 2L and 3L and even after 3L to find an articling position, and now there is the LPP program as well. 

[Stark 780]

1 hour ago, seekingjob said:

if you don't me asking, did you go through the formal toronto articling recruit? 

No I didn't.  I was never interested in "big law" type jobs and I never even participated in OCI's because none of those jobs appealed to me. 

[pzabbythesecond 2141]

13 minutes ago, Stark said:

No I didn't.  I was never interested in "big law" type jobs and I never even participated in OCI's because none of those jobs appealed to me. 

Toronto articling recruit has very few big law jobs?

[Stark 780]

2 minutes ago, pzabbythesecond said:

Toronto articling recruit has very few big law jobs?

Oh I have no idea haha.  I didn't go to law school in Ontario nor did I look into jobs there. 

[whoknows 224]

I struggled with whether I should comment on this thread, mostly because I'm not out of the woods yet (3L without an articling job, who didn't secure a 2L summer job). But I thought I should chime in with a few thoughts and words of encouragement. Firstly, you're hardly into February, there's no need to panic, plenty of 2L jobs will get posted between now and the summer, and some even into the summer. With that being said, I think the tendency at times (and a mistake I made) is to treat the search as more of a numbers game than you should. By all means you should be putting as many applications out as you can, but focus on making them tailored to the individual jobs. The reality is that the margins are super thin in this entire process, and the difference between getting an interview offer and not is that extra 15 minutes you spend researching and tailoring, or that 30 minutes you spend chatting with the person who worked there last summer. Anecdotally, every time I've met and had a good conversation with someone from a firm, I've gone on to secure an interview at that firm (maybe this goes to me being better in person than on paper, but such is life).  

I'll also note that your worth or potential is hardly defined by whether you get a 2L summer job, and if you have some valuable work experience it won't be an issue going forward. The articling interviews I have all had have asked why I didn't work last summer, and every one of them understood when I said I wanted to be fresh for 3L and articling. Of note here is that I have plenty of work experience slogging through manual labour or service jobs, so there wouldn't be any concern regarding work ethic or otherwise. I could have worked 40  hours a week bartending again last summer, instead I opted to focus on the articling recruit and play 70 rounds of golf. I don't regret it, and it's never been brought up as an issue. 

Another tendency I think you'll need to get over is that as you apply more and more places and get more and more down on yourself, that attitude of "something must be wrong with me" or "I'm not good enough" begins to seep into your cover letters such that you undersell yourself. Fight that urge, and you'll be all the better for it. 

Good luck with it all, keep at it, and take care of yourself while you do. 

Edited February 8 by whoknows