What Is Pre-cruiting and Why Is It a Thing?

If you are a law student looking for a summer associate job, you are probably familiar with your school’s on-campus interview program taking place this summer.  Known as OCI for short.  Some schools have other acronyms, such as EIW (for “Early Interview Week”).

You may have also heard chatter about firms recruiting students before OCI.  Some call it pre-OCI recruiting.  Some prefer the snappier “pre-cruiting.”  

It has become an important aspect of the BigLaw summer associate recruiting process and something you should know about.

Although law schools host OCI in July or August, many firms have begun recruiting law students directly earlier in the summer, before OCI.  Firms do this by inviting law students to apply to the firm directly, for example through the firm’s website, through a friend, or through an attorney that the student met at a firm-sponsored event.  The firm would offer a screener and callback and make an offer before OCI even begins.

(Some firms make offers before OCI that expire before OCI – this is referred to as an “exploding offer.”  Check out our separate blog post on that topic.)

Here is a brief history of summer associate recruiting.  Many many years ago, 2L summer associate recruiting occurred during the 2L winter season.  Because law schools want to make sure that their students get hired, the OCI timeline inched earlier and earlier.  School X would want to host its OCI two weeks before School Y, so that School X’s students get first bite at the apple.  Now, many OCI programs are hosted in July.

Historically, the timeline and rules surrounding OCI were governed by National Association of Law Placement, known as NALP.  NALP is a great organization that supports the legal industry in matters related to legal recruiting and professional development, and compiles information and statistics related to law firm hiring.  (We are a proud sponsor of NALP conferences throughout the year.)  These rules covered how long firms must keep offers open, communication with students, and other items related to recruiting conduct.  However, in 2018, due to antitrust concerns, NALP’s binding rules governing law student recruiting were revised to non-binding principles (see here).

This gave law firms the freedom to recruit law students outside of the structure of OCI, without being in violation of NALP’s rules.  (Each school has its own set of rules for firms recruiting on campus.)  

Quick note of caution when taking advice — This is a rapidly developing area of legal recruiting and firms’ processes and approaches to pre-cruiting are  very different in 2023 than they were even as recently as 2021.

You guessed it… there is no right answer.

Those who are in favor of pre-cruiting generally point to the flexibility that law firms have to recruit candidates from a wider range of schools and without being subject to the rules and structure that come with OCI.  Law firms previously allocated valuable partner time to OCI, interviewing dozens of candidates who were not actually interested or wouldn’t be considered, and had to limit their recruiting to certain schools that were most “worthwhile.”  Now, many firms have expanded their recruiting to include pre-OCI recruiting of students at schools that are lower “ranked” or in a city that is not traditionally in the firm’s hiring pipeline.  Firms have also mentioned that this wider candidate pool helps with recruiting a more diverse summer associate class.

Those who are not in favor of pre-cruiting generally point to the lack of structure.  With OCI, many believe that candidates are on a more level playing field and are not required to leverage their personal and professional network to land an offer, leading to a more equitable recruiting process.  OCI also provides opportunities to students with lower grades to get a screener from the bidding process and land a callback by impressing the interviewer, when the candidate would have otherwise been rejected on paper.  Many opponents of pre-cruiting also point to exploding offers as something that disfavors law students (however, not all firms that participate in pre-cruiting give exploding offers).

As a law student embarking on the summer associate recruiting process, it is important to understand your school’s stance on pre-cruiting.  Some schools encourage students to take advantage of pre-cruiting, and even offer the ability for students to apply directly to firms before OCI through the school’s job portal (for example, Symplicity or 12twenty).  Some schools discourage pre-cruiting altogether.  And some schools have created a hybrid program, where firms can sign up to receive applications in June, before OCI, and students can apply directly to only a limited amount.  

Talk to your law school’s career office about whether pre-cruiting is encouraged and what options are available to you.  Talk to 2Ls and 3Ls to hear what worked well (or didn’t work well) for them.  These conversations will also help you understand whether the law firms you interview with are following the school’s rules (for example, when it comes to exploding offers).

If you attend a school that supports its students in pre-OCI recruiting, you may be able to target certain firms that are of particular interest early on, to submit applications before OCI and hopefully receive an offer.  

If you attend a school that discourages pre-OCI recruiting, you may discover that focusing on OCI is your best bet and that if you decide to pursue pre-OCI opportunities, the school is unable to support you.

So, now that you know more about pre-cruiting, don’t just wait for OCI to start the process to find a job.  Talk to your law school career office and students who went through the process last year, to understand the best approach and guide yourself accordingly.

If you decide to pursue opportunities pre-OCI, read our blog post: Four keys to navigating pre-OCI recruiting.