I mass mailed firms that are coming to OCI but I couldn't get interviews with. I've gotten a handful of responses that are asking me to stop by their hospitality suites and bring my resume/transcript.

Can someone with experience give me a little more detail about what goes on at a hospitality suite? Is best to just introduce myself to the attorney and ask for an interview? Should I prepare a short elevator speech? Should I just waltz in and be friendly/personable? Is there a long list of students waiting to talk to attorneys? Any tips?

Thanks.

bump

Yep, waltz up with a resume and be prepared to chat with them and request an interview.

I actually helped to run a hospitality suite once. From the lawyer/recruiting personnel's point of view, you'll see a lot of strangers walking up. Some strangers are on the interview list and some are strangers who want to be on the interview list. It's actually really helpful if you clarify your intentions quickly.

Yes, it's an awkward kabuki, but firms run hospitality suites to give more info and potentially pick up extra interviewees. Many firms really bend over backward to pencil in extra people during scheduled breaks or even once the day is over.

A perfectly acceptable strategy would be to introduce yourself as hoping for an interview, offer a copy of your resume, and then stay to ask a few questions about the firm before moving on. That part is a little awkward but should be straightforward - the hardest part is that you might get to the hospitality suite when the people from the firm are already surrounded by a few other law students, making it hard to do anything initially but saunter up and listen. Just remember that the people from the firm can't try to get you an interview until they know you want one. Be polite and personable and don't take it personally if you can't fit in everywhere.

Penn doesn't let us calculate a GPA or put one on a resume. We hand them a transcript when we sit down at the interview table. Should I hand them a transcript and a resume? No cover letter, oui?

Definitely no cover letter. No idea what you should do about GPA/transcript given Penn's weirdness, you should ask CSO or talk to people who know the drill from Penn. Certainly you can't avoid handing over your transcript at the interview itself, but it might be OK and/or necessary to do a resume sans GPA and sans transcript to begin with.

is it generally a good idea to visit the hospitality suite of a firm you're interviewing with after or before an interview? If yes, what should you say/ask?

You should, because at least some actually keep a checklist to see who stopped by.

You should chat and ask questions you have about the firm. Sometimes the suite has lawyers from different practice areas, sometimes just people from recruiting. No need to spend 20 minutes there or anything, but at least for firms you are very interested in you should make the effort to stop by and have something legitimate to ask.

so stop in before or after the interview? thanks!

Either should be fine. If you have time in your schedule before the interview, you might get some recon you can bring up in the interview or have better questions to ask. Alternatively if you go after, it can be a natural conversation started "Hi! I am ____, and I just did my interview with _____. He sure seemed to love his ERISA practice!" etc.

Don't say this. No one loves their ERISA practice, so everyone would instantly know you were a liar.

Do the people who do the interviews usually do the hospitality suite work too?

I'm sure it varies. I've seen them staved by recruiting people (i.e. non-lawyers) and by lawyers who weren't doing interviews. I suppose it's also possible for it to be lawyers on break or rotating through interviews, but I have not personally seen it. My school doesn't do hospitality suites as some much as others do though.

at T14s where we do not hand over our transcript until after the screening interview, if they say they can't fit in me for a screening interview, do I only give them my resume or at that point do I hand over a transcript, writing sample, etc.? and if they can fit me in for a screening interview, i of course only give them my resume right? thanks

My firm staffs the hospitality suite with one or two HR people, rising 3Ls who just summered, and alumni associates.

Word of caution on the recon: be wary of what you hear from people in hospitality suites. One firm 's associate last year asked me who I was interviewing with, and told me that he had recently won an appeal. Turns out this partner actually lost the case, and I looked like a huge idiot and blew an otherwise great interview as a result. Take it all with a grain of salt.

Penn 3L here, when I did this last year I handed them my transcript and resume when I was requesting an interview with a firm I didn't have scheduled. At this point CPP can't do anything to stop you from showing them your grades, and I think they want to see your transcript to decide whether they want to try to squeeze you in or not.

I think the best strategy for doing this is to show up first thing in the morning, about 30 minutes before the interviews are scheduled to start and find one of the attorneys doing interviews (sometimes this will be obvious since they will be sitting in the interview rooms, if you can't figure out who is doing the interviews, then give them to someone in the interview suite who looks authoritative/in charge/older, not necessarily an attorney, handing it to the recruiting person can be better in some instances than handing it to a junior associate who is staffing the hospitality suite all day because the recruiter will be organizing things and might have more control over the interviewers schedules). I did this several times last year and after handing the attorney my resume and transcript and explaining that I was really interested in the firm for X reason but didn't get an interview in the lottery they often offered to interview me on the spot before their schedule for the day started. This requires getting up and being at the interview suite really early, but if its a firm that you really want to interview with I think it is way better than going later in the day.... they actually have time to interview you, no one else has beaten you to the punch and taken their breaks or scheduled interviews for the end of the day, you can get to the actual interviewers instead of only people in the suite, it shows that you wanted it badly enough to come early, and there aren't as many other students around the hospitality suite so you don't have to stand around forever waiting for a break in conversation or a chance to talk to someone.

This is A+ advice. Thank you thank you

I have dropped off a resume and transcript at lots of hospitality suits at my school's OCI. I was just wondering if they generally respond to people who do that, or if you only hear from them if they are interested in you.

Any insight into whether this can kill your chances, or is it just a factor? I have a pretty busy schedule some days, and it might be logistically difficult to fit everything in. Should visiting generally take 5-10 minutes?

So how do you know if you’re top third, median, etc. . . .I am asking because to this day I have not figured it out. To me, handing the interviewer a transcript without a GPA (ranking, or whatever) makes it difficult to measure the interviewer’s reaction.

Just tagging this

We know the curve for each class. From that you can make a range from where you stand. Interviewers also are trained to the Penn system so its not like they show up and are surprised we don't give them a GPA. They know it when they see it.

Agreed, thanks!