NU OCI 2013/The Great Jerb Hunt Forum

[lgleye]

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[Georgia Avenue]

I agree with that. There's no need to name-drop. If they want to know who you talked with they'll ask.

[lgleye]

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[Bumi]

This has to do with name-dropping:

I’ve been doing the network route, contacting NU alumni at various firms. Glad to say that most of them have responded, many with offers of coffee. At the end of each session, I throw in a “by the way” question as to whether it would be okay to mention our conversation when I interview. Surprisingly, more than a few, including one partner, advised me against it and added that name-dropping makes us look desperate.
I’d appreciate any input from upperclassmen. Thanks.

Well this explains a few things. It seems stupid though. I can see how it would show you were desperate if you were name-dropping from the beginning. At the same time, when they ask "why us," you're supposed to show that you know all about them, and it seems reasonable to say you heard about it from talking to people. Most firms ask who you talked to, so I started just telling them. I wasn't trying to name-drop, and most of the time the person I knew was a low-level associate. I was trying to help the conversation - most interviewers would then ask followup questions based on who I said I had talked to. With some firms it worked out fine.

Anyway, congrats on figuring out more of the secret code than I did.

[bk1]

Agreed with the above. I wouldn't name the person you talked to unless affirmatively asked. I think it is weird and offputting. It might be weird to say "I talked to an associate" or "I talked to someone who worked at the firm" but I haven't made up my mind about that yet since it was not something I did during interviews.

I think this is more the tack you want to take:

Interviewer: "Why us?"
You: "Well I really like your lockstep compensation system (this is a joke, seriously don't say this), your free market system, and the fact that you do a lot of work in Y practice area which I'm really interested in. I also talked to someone who worked here and they talked about how it is a great place to work because of A, B, and C, and A is important to me because of D, B is important to me because of E, and C is important to me because of F."

Alternatively you could just say "I've been told it's a great place to work because of A, B, and C" without really saying you talked to someone. If they ask who you talked to of course tell them. I'm not sure how I feel about the different ways of saying things but I would lean towards not name dropping unless asked.

[splitsplat]

does ocs release data on prior student bidding results? like how many people bid a firm @ what spot and got it etc. sorry if this somewhere obvious and im just clueless

[Georgia Avenue]

don't think so

[pisagua]

When and how will we know the number of interview slots offered by different firms for OCI?

[Georgia Avenue]

if i remember correctly, when bidding opens

[Kikero]

Yeah, when bidding begins is what I was told by my adviser.

[Flips88]

Just know that if a firm has like 160 interview slots, it's too good to believe.

[splitsplat]

When and how will we know the number of interview slots offered by different firms for OCI?

this info is already up on symplicity under the oci tab

don't think so

thanks dude

[Kikero]

When and how will we know the number of interview slots offered by different firms for OCI?

this info is already up on symplicity under the oci tab

Nice, must have just got added.

[pisagua]

Don't think the info is up. All I see is 2L slots and date of interview

[Kikero]

Don't think the info is up. All I see is 2L slots and date of interview

Isn't 2L slots what you were asking about?

[splitsplat]

yeah, what kikero said ^

[lgleye]

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[Georgia Avenue]

the slot #'s seem arbitrary because they don't correspond to the estimated class sizes from NALP. Weird.

Arbitrary is the theme of OCI, good and bad. Get used to it

[Samara]

Just know that if a firm has like 160 interview slots, it's too good to believe.

[splitsplat]

I really enjoy Igleye's shtick.

[Samara]

I really enjoy Igleye's shtick.

I didn't at first, but it has grown on me.

[lgleye]

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[Anonymous User]

I guess someone said earlier that career services doesn't release past years' bidding history by firm. But is there a general guide? I get that the popular Chicago firms should be top 5, but what about NYC? Bay Area? Secondary markets? How low can I bid those firms? I currently don't plan to bid Chicago.

Thanks in advance!

[Pokemon]

I guess someone said earlier that career services doesn't release past years' bidding history by firm. But is there a general guide? I get that the popular Chicago firms should be top 5, but what about NYC? Bay Area? Secondary markets? How low can I bid those firms? I currently don't plan to bid Chicago.

Thanks in advance!

If you do not plan on bidding in Chicago, then bid NYC first, then Bay Area. I do not really know how popular Bay Area is but I doubt it is popular as NYC.

Really, the only choice you have to make during OCI is Chicago v. NYC. It is hard to bid them both well. But doing for example NYC and Bay Area, or Chi-Town and Bay Area does not seem tough.

[Pokemon]

the slot #'s seem arbitrary because they don't correspond to the estimated class sizes from NALP. Weird.

Arbitrary is the theme of OCI, good and bad. Get used to it

+1