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You’ve received your NCA assessment result, had farewell dinners with your friends and families, booked the flight ticket, packed your luggage…

After speaking with people and conducting your due diligence, you understand the journey to practice law in Canada is not an easy sail. But for the sake of your future, you’re willing to start over in Canada.

You’ve done a bit of sightseeing, found a condo/house to settle down, checked out restaurants around your neighbourhood…

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You are excited to start your life in Canada and ready to get back to work!

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You know you were a great lawyer back home with ample experience, so you’ve listed out your legal experience and skills on your resumes. On top of that, you've also highlighted your experience and achievements in your cover letters and explained why you’d be a fit for the job.

Weeks after applying for those positions, you haven’t heard back anything. “The struggle is real,” you sighed, ‍

"Rumour has it that employers don’t prefer hiring internationally trained lawyers.”

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The struggle is indeed real. However, it's not because employers are racist (in most cases, hopefully), and not because they don’t value your overseas experience…

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It’s because of UNFAMILIARITY.

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Employers are unfamiliar with the jurisdiction you practiced in, they might not have heard of the law school you graduated from, and they have no idea what your practice looked like back home.

When I was in legal recruitment, a few clients/employers told me “I have no preference for locally or internationally trained candidates. However, can you explain to me how foreign lawyers get qualified here and what is LPP?”

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Part of the reason why employers are hesitant about hiring internationally trained lawyers is that they have a hard time understanding your profile.

If you don’t have Canadian work experience, employers have no clue whether you understand the Canadian work culture and environments. At the end of the day, they want to hire someone who would fit into their organizations, someone that aligns with their values and works well as a team.

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Here are some tips to bridge the gaps of unfamiliarity and help employers understand you better:

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Use Common Terms for Job Titles

If the job titles on your resumes are not what they are commonly called in Canada, employers might get confused.

Don’t indicate you’re a student-at-law if you’re a student at a law school. If you worked as an associate lawyer at a law firm, mention associate lawyer instead of associate counsel, because employers may get confused with the role “of counsel”, which is different from an associate.

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Use Practice Keywords

Most hiring managers don’t have time to sit down with a cup of coffee and read your resume in detail. They quickly skim through them and look for keywords. “Merger and acquisition” - checked, “commercial leasing” - checked, looks like this candidate might be a good fit!

If you have the experience they look for but haven’t included the practice keywords in your resume, your application might fall through the cracks.

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Utilize Cover Letters to Build Rapport

Cover letters are like love letters. If you stumbled on a potential “love-of-your-life” at a coffee shop and you’d like to write a letter to that stranger, what would you say?

Besides complimenting that person and explaining why he/she should consider going on a date with you, you need to grab his/her attention first - maybe start with “I noticed we’ve both ordered the new peppermint sprinkle jingle bells latte, hope you enjoyed it as much as I do”?

People pay attention to someone they feel connected to. Familiarity and commonality help build those connections.

When you draft your cover letters, focus on how you could express yourself in a way that your audience would understand and feel connected. Let's say if you practiced family law back home, you could mention the similarities of the practice between your home jurisdiction and Canadian jurisdictions.

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Gain Canadian Work or Volunteer Experience

Last but not least - the most effective way to bridge the gap of unfamiliarity is to gain local work experience!

It doesn’t necessarily have to be legal experience or paid experience. Even volunteering at a local food bank counts.

Employers are more inclined to speak with you as they know you have an idea of how working in Canada looks like. If you successfully hosted a food bank event or increased adoption rates at a dog shelter, don’t forget to write down those achievements in your resumes!

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I hope you found these tips helpful. If you’re interested in receiving a list of organizations that offer volunteering opportunities, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or email me at irinam@muicoaching.com for a copy of the list!

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Meet the Author

Irina is a dedicated career coach specializing in helping lawyers excel in the Canadian job market. She worked as an internationally trained paralegal, an Ontario-licensed lawyer, and a legal recruiter before she embarked on her coaching journey.

To learn more about Irina, connect with her on LinkedIn and visit muicoaching.com for more information on her coaching services.