The 2025 Recruit Retrospective

Each year, law students across the country suit up, polish their resumes, and enter one of the most intense processes of their legal careers. This article offers steps and advice on how to make the most of your recruit process from those who have learned firsthand. 

From the West to East, we have folks offering advice from every side of Canada.

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Leily Farman-Farmaian, Vancouver

If you’re interested in big law, your career could begin in 2L. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t land a job, but hopefully, this walkthrough can help you successfully navigate your journey when applying to Vancouver firms. 

Recruit is split into key milestones:

1. The Initial Application

Now, you need to submit your applications using the ViRecruit portal. 

My goal for recruit was to land a job, so I applied to as many firms as possible. While it’s not mandatory, going on coffee chats and to open houses shows you’re making an effort to connect. I mentioned specific people in my cover letters, transitioning to discuss my interest in that specific firm. 

Coming from Dal, firms often question why you’re applying to Vancouver. Even if it’s a short sentence, tell them your reason. 

2. Virtual Campus Interviews (VCIs – formerly On Campus Interviews)

After application submissions, interested firms will email you virtual interview offers. These are 17-minute online interviews, and that time moves fast. Create a one-pager for each firm you’re interviewing with, including the Zoom link, names of your interviewers, questions for them, and reasons you’re interested in that firm. To compare firms, I repeated one question across every interview, and I also made voice notes to remember how I felt after each interview. 

Also, don’t worry if you’ve applied to but haven’t heard back from medium-size and boutique firms. Most of them will email you after VCIs if they want you to come for in-person interviews. 

3. Intent to Call 

After VCIs, the firms that are still interested will send you an email saying they intend to call and schedule an in-person interview. Email back with either a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ response – and stick to five firms max. I did six but found my energy would’ve been better spent focusing on five. 

4. Call Day

The firms you chose will call (at the same time) to schedule in-person interviews. Try to dedicate an hour and a half for each interview; that gave me the best buffer time, and I didn’t have to worry as much about leaving an interview to make it to another one on time. If you have a full day of interviews, make sure to keep an hour open for lunch, so you don’t lose steam. The time you schedule the firm’s interview also signals your interest, so put your first choices at 8am and 10am. 

5. In-Firm Interviews

This stage typically lasts from Monday to Wednesday, with offer calls coming in on Thursday morning. I recommend staying downtown and mapping out each firm’s location beforehand.

This is Vancouver. It’s probably going to rain. Make sure to bring an umbrella or use the Pacific Center tunnels to get places. 

6. Post-Interviews

Send thank you emails to your interviewers and, if you’re interested in the firm, ask if you can speak to other people. First-choice your favourite firm on Tuesday. If you’re struggling to make a decision, here’s a few questions to help you decide: Who has shown you the most love (e.g., they scheduled a meal with you and the managing partner)? Where would you feel the most comfortable making a mistake? Which firm has the practice area you’re interested in? Which people did you enjoy talking to the most? 

Each person’s recruit journey is unique. Trust your gut and don’t compare yourself to others. Lean into the fun of meeting new people. 

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out, and good luck! 

Jaden Love, Toronto

Things to Remember:

1. Listen to your gut. 

If something feels right, good. If something feels wrong, don't ignore it. You are probably picking up on something that indicates a potential misalignment between you and a firm.

2. The recruitment process is such an individual process.

Your feelings about a firm may not, and likely will not, align with your peers. Every firm attracts different people and personalities. It is important that you go somewhere where you feel you can show up as yourself.

3. Build a genuine connection with a 3L who has gone through the process.

They will be an invaluable resource. They can cut through the noise and help to reduce the stress and uncertainty.

4. Breathe. 

Most importantly, take time for yourself throughout the coming months. No matter what happens, you will end up exactly where you are meant to.

Practical Tips:

When you go into interviews it is great to ask at least one question at every firm to have a point of comparison. Don't ask questions that you think they want you to ask. Ask about what is important to you.

Ask for examples. Don't stop at "What was your experience with mentorship at the firm?". Instead, ask "What was your experience with mentorship at the firm as a summer student? Can you provide me with an example of when you felt supported by your mentor?"

Have a plan for how you would like to order interviews on Call Day but be prepared for it to fall apart.

Alisia Januszczak, Alberta

The Alberta Articling recruit was rough. Opening the viRecruitPortal to find only eight postings in my hometown city, none of which practiced the area of law I was interested in, was disheartening. I had prepared my cover letters, my resume, and my references just to find out I had nowhere to apply through the official recruit.

After a brief(ish) moment of panic, I was able to find a few firms that practiced criminal law who were looking for articling students. While I applied to most of them, the firm I ended up choosing was one I had cold emailed months before the recruit. It was a perfect fit, and had I not reached out to them, I never would have been given the opportunity. 

Meggie Chamandy, Vancouver

My recruit experience was a coffee-fueled haze of stress, blistered feet, and constant uncertainty. I had no idea what I was doing, and I felt like a fraud throughout the entire process. Shockingly, I landed a job. If I had the chance to do things differently with the benefit of hindsight, I most certainly would. Here are some lessons to my past self. Maybe you’ll find them helpful.

1. Throw less mud at the wall 

Going into the recruit, I put a ton of applications out, thinking more applications would lead to more interviews. While it may have been slightly true, I forgot one key thing: firms can tell if your heart isn’t in it. I had a “dream firm” the whole time. They knew. The job I landed? At the firm I really wanted all along. If I were to do it all over, I would have applied to fewer firms, but been more intentional about the ones I did apply to. 

2. Do your research

I went into recruit thinking I had done all the right things: I’d gone to the student info sessions, I had talked to the career office. Looking back, the real research that I should have done was interpersonal: talking to people from the firms I was interviewing with to better understand the culture in each, and whether I’d be a good fit there. 

3. Let your freak flag fly 

I spent a lot of my interview experience trying to act out what I thought a “model candidate” was. Little did I know, I was stifling my greatest asset: my nerdy fixations. Firms know who they’re interviewing, and they’re interested in what you have to say! Don’t be afraid to talk about the niche legal interests that you have; not only will you come across more authentic, but you’ll also be seen as more passionate and engaged in the law. 

4. Strut your stuff 

I had to buy a whole new wardrobe halfway through my recruit week, because I hadn’t packed enough clothing to last. I simply didn’t anticipate that I would get that far in the process. Looking back, it seems painfully obvious that my own shitty attitude was getting in the way of putting my best foot forward. Be confident! You’ve worked hard to be here. 

All this to say, it’s alright to be terrified about recruit. I’m glad I landed where I did, and I’m proud of past Meggie for blundering her way through it. If I can do it, so can you.☺ 

Nicole McLuhan, Self-Directed, Halifax & Ontario

TLDR: you do not need to commit to articling at the firm you summer for in 2L, and cold calling works!

After an unsuccessful formal recruit, I began emailing law firms in Ontario (my home province) and Halifax (the Halifornia Dream). I quickly landed an interview with a mid-sized firm in Cambridge, Ontario. We had a great connection, but they decided on an articling student instead of a 2L; however, they told me to keep them in mind for articling if I didn’t like my 2L summer job.

I ended up succeeding in an interview at a small law firm located in Bedford that takes family, human rights, and employment law cases. Within the first week at this Bedford firm, I knew it was not somewhere I wanted to practice long term, or even article, due to the structure of the firm and their culture. After interviewing with some firms during Southern Ontario’s formal articling recruit in May (which is separate from the Toronto recruit), I ended up reaching back out to the firm in Cambridge to see if they’d be interested in taking me on as an articling student next year. And sure enough, they were! Don’t discount mid-sized firms that don’t participate in the formal recruit – they may just be the right fit.

Carleigh MacKenzie, Halifax

My approach to recruitment was to be as genuine as possible. I didn’t want to put on an act every day. It is exhausting to pretend you’re someone you’re not, and frankly, it shows. The goal isn’t to fit into a mold, but to find a firm where you’ll thrive by being you. Authenticity builds real connections. When you’re honest about your goals and values, you invite your interviewers to meet you with the same energy. It’s okay to get tastefully vulnerable in the name of being authentic. It humanizes you and often makes your story more memorable.

Speaking of stories, storytelling is a skill I’ll forever be grateful for. Knowing how to tell a compelling story not only helps you come up with answers to questions, but it also gives your answers depth and structure. A story can make a point stick far better than a list of accomplishments and can help you show the interviewer how you can apply your skills and learned experiences to real-life scenarios. Think “show don’t tell”. 

Lastly, take care of yourself. Recruitment is physically and emotionally draining. Treat yourself to that fancy coffee, the croissant, the dinner you don’t have to cook. And check in with yourself after each interview. How did you feel about the people? The environment? What did you like or not like? These reflections will guide your decisions later, especially if you’re lucky enough to be choosing between offers. 

Be real, tell your story, and remember you’re evaluating them as much as they’re evaluating you.

Have questions for our wonderful interviewees? Find the relevant emails for respondents in the LSS Publication’s Committee’s Legal Who directory on BrightSpace.