During the hottest days of the year, second-year law students are heating up their job search for next summer. Those wanting to spend next May to August working at a Toronto firm or government office have many questions running through their heads. How should I research employers before applying? What types of questions do employers typically ask? How can I make a good impression? 

For Queen’s Law students, these questions and more are answered by recent grads at Connect for Success, an annual event hosted by the Career Development Office (CDO). 

“Connect for Success was an excellent way for me to learn about the on-campus interview (OCI) process, catch up with my friends from school, and build connections in the legal community,” says Paul Jacoby, Law’21, who was among the 84 students who met with 42 employers at this year’s event held at The Advocates’ Society Education Centre in Toronto on July 29. 

“This event continues to grow, and this year we welcomed a record number of student and employer participants,” says Julie Banting, CDO Director. “We design Connect for Success to support our incoming second-year students with their preparation for the Toronto Summer Recruitment process.”

Kicking off the activities was a panel of young alumni: Ethan Gordon, Adam Birnbaum and Rhianna Woodward, all Law’18; and Erica Morassutti and Vivian Hua, both Law’19. They discussed the interview process, call day, in-firm interviews, offer day and best practices. That was followed by a networking reception (sponsored by The Advocates’ Society), during which students could meet and speak with employer representatives individually. 

“The panel of articling students’ advice about what to expect during the on-campus and in-firm interviews was very valuable,” says Jacoby. “I used this event as an opportunity to learn more about different areas of law and firms I am interested in before deciding to apply. In an industry driven through networking, Connect for Success was good practice getting to know lawyers for the first time in a professional setting. 

“It was great to see so many successful Queen’s alumni giving back to their community,” he adds. 

That’s exactly what motivated Ethan Gordon of Bennett Jones LLP to share his experience for the second consecutive year. “The reason I participated in this panel was because when I was an incoming 2L facing the job recruit process, I received so much help from the Career Development Office on literally every facet of the recruit, from cover letters to interviews to ultimately dealing with not landing a position. After I landed a job for articling, I felt it was very important to pay all that help forward by speaking to students getting ready to take on the same thing. I look forward to continuing to do so, as a big part of the career development program is relying on alumni like myself to be support for these students and help what the Career Development Office does.”

By Lisa Graham