Anonymous User wrote:Anonymous User wrote:Just FYI, I had posted earlier about things being grim with 2 rejections and two outstanding post-CB decisions and this week I got got offers from both the firms I had been waiting on. I had sent really nice, individualized thank you notes to both firms following the interviews and then called again last week to reemphasize my interest (it'd been about two weeks). For what it's worth, both firms mentioned my nice notes and follow-up calls when they gave me the offer; I got a feeling that I had saved myself from the brink after lackluster interviews. Or I just got lucky. Who knows? Anyway, if you still have an outstanding decision, know that there is some hope. I had pretty much given up.
Adding to that, I have a below median friend who just got an NYC biglaw offer last week after thinking she struck out as well. She also got it a few days after a follow-up call.
This is highly encouraging; thanks for this! When you say "thank you notes", did you send them to everyone you interviewed with or just the recruiter / hiring partner?
I had sent notes via email to all of the people I interviewed with. Mostly started with canned pleasantries but then spent 2-3 short paragraphs on how what the interviewer had said made me more certain I wanted to be at their firm. Interestingly, I only ever got one reply out of the 10 I sent between the two firms, and it was from the one guy with whom I believed my interview had gone the worst. I had spent probably 3-4 hours writing and rewriting his note before sending it--and I'm only guessing here--but I just have this feeling like that note probably changed him from a "didn't like that applicant" to a "didn't like that applicant BUT maybe the interview was just a fluke; let's let him/her sit on the pile."
Also, for what it's worth, for the one firm I wanted the most, I basically took a gamble and misled them about my OCI success when I called to reemphasize my interest. I didn't want to reek of desperation, so I said something along the lines of, "I understand that you must be making some very difficult decisions about staffing your summer class, and I just wanted to reemphasize how much I enjoyed visiting your firm and speaking with everyone. Having finished all my callbacks, I've now narrowed my choices down to your firm and one other offer, but, based on X, Y, and Z reasons, I know for certain that I would accept an offer from your firm's over the other firm's. I have until November 1 to decide on the other firm, so I'm not in a rush to hear back, but please do know that I will be holding out on my final decision until I hear from you." Not my proudest moment, but it seems to have worked.
Also--during that phone call the hiring coordinator said it was very helpful to hear me clearly state my preference and thanked me for the update. The offer call came from one of the lawyers, but that lawyer mentioned that the hiring coordinator had brought up my phone call and my enthusiasm during the firm's next hiring committee meeting (which, perhaps luckily for me, was the day after I had called). So if you've had a long wait with no answer, I think this is pretty good evidence you should be making a call to reemphasize your interest; it does seem to make a difference.
