Networking Tips for the 2L Recruit

Like many other incoming 2Ls, I’ve been preparing for the upcoming 2L recruit. With that comes networking. Networking is an asset to not only help you land an interview but also has the power to help you determine if a firm is a good fit for you and your career goals by getting to know the lawyers that work at these various firms. In the early months of our summer, I’ve gathered a few tips from my personal experiences as well as from upper-year students who have successfully landed jobs through the 2L recruit, which I believe will help ease those networking nerves and make the process more enjoyable. With so many firms to apply to, it may seem overwhelming to know who to reach out to and how, so this is sure to help!

LinkedIn is your best friend

If you don’t have a LinkedIn account yet, I highly suggest you make one! LinkedIn is a great resource for you to start building your network and finding people at various firms to connect with. Through its valuable location, connection, and school filters, you can ensure that your cold-email/ invite connection will get a response. What’s worked well for me is connecting with individuals who went to the same law school or undergrad as me or were part of the same club to establish a connection. When I’ve found a few people that I want to talk to, I always send a message along with my invitation to connect and have found people to be very responsive to that.

To make the most out of my 300 characters, I send something along the lines of:

Hi ________! I’m an incoming 2L at Western Law, *insert something we both have in common*. I’d love to connect with you to learn more about __________ and its summer student program. Let me know if you’d be open to that. Thanks, and have a great day!

Additionally, if there is an individual you want to reach out to, you can check if you have a mutual connection with that person and ask that mutual connection if they’d be willing to connect you. These “warm connections” definitely have a higher response rate.

Besides being a great tool to find connections and set up coffee chats, LinkedIn is useful for learning more about the firm and any big deals or cases it recently completed. I like to spend a few minutes browsing my timeline for any updates or interesting posts that I could potentially bring up on a call.

Having the conversation

Depending on whether I’m talking to a summer/articling student, or an associate, my approach to the conversation varies. If I’m talking to a summer/articling student, my questions are generally about the application process, what drew them to the firm, how they prepared for the recruit, advice for applications, what work they got to do during the summer…etc. Since students have been at the firm for a shorter period, I find it more valuable to ask them questions about the summer program and the recruiting process.

When talking to an associate, I tailor my questions around the firm’s culture, professional development, career progression, practice groups…etc. Associates have been at the firm for a longer period and therefore have more to share about the firm itself. This usually helps me get a better understanding of the firm and whether or not I would be well suited to reach my career goals there.

Towards the end of my call, what I always ask, regardless of the individual’s capacity at the firm is:

Is there anyone you suggest I should talk to learn more about _________or its [specific practice area of interest]?

This one simple question allows me to have another conversation with an individual at the firm through a warm connection.

Stay Organized

Throughout the networking process, you will have many conversations, gain different perspectives on firms, and learn an immense amount of valuable information that you simply can't get off a website. Thus it’s important to stay organized and track all the information in one place. My go-to is Excel. I create a spreadsheet, with a few tabs to keep everything neat. In one tab, I keep a list of all the contacts I have made, the firm they work at, contact information, and any specific details that came up in the conversation that I want to follow up on.

In another tab, I keep a list of general questions that I can use in conversations, and finally, in a third tab, I keep a list of all the firms of interest and keep notes about what I’ve learned about those firms.

Keeping an Excel spreadsheet helps me remember who I’ve reached out to at each firm, what firms I still want to reach out to, and provide me with useful tips to ensure I draft tailored cover letters for each firm I apply to.

Going through the 2L recruit process and all the nerves, stress, and confusion that come with it, is a unique experience only law students can relate to. Networking can be intimidating or feel ingenuine when you don’t know exactly why you are talking to that individual. What helps me stay calm and enjoy the conversations is to remember that the person I’m talking to has gone through the same process and knows exactly how it feels. The students and associates I’ve talked to have been so helpful and easy to talk to, and I’m sure your calls will go just as well! Networking gets more comfortable after each conversation, so if you’ve been hesitant so far or felt like you didn’t know where to start, I suggest you send that email or LinkedIn invite — you’ll see it’s not that bad :)

Good luck to all those applying and if you have any questions about what I’ve shared, please don’t hesitate to reach out!