Reminder: Stop Reading Tea Leaves; Start Mass Mailing Forum

[Anonymous User]

If I am a lateral transfer 3L (lower t50 to lower t50 after 1l) with median grades and no LR or journal or pretty much any useful experience at all outside of a clinic, is it even worth mass mailing? It seems the vast majority of people in this thread have accomplished a lot more and got a lot better grades than I, and are getting struck down. Who the hell do I even mail?

[goldeneye]

If I am a lateral transfer 3L (lower t50 to lower t50 after 1l) with median grades and no LR or journal or pretty much any useful experience at all outside of a clinic, is it even worth mass mailing? It seems the vast majority of people in this thread have accomplished a lot more and got a lot better grades than I, and are getting struck down. Who the hell do I even mail?

What are you going to do otherwise? You might always want to focus on gaining practical experience next semester (being an extern at a firm), and networking in your community.

[Anonymous User]

I had a mass mail screener and I want to send thank you notes, but I cannot remember the interviewers names. Not sure if the best route here is not sending them at all or hoping that the people I found on the website are the ones that interviewed me. Any suggestions here? I know the thank you note issue is a constant debate here, but it's the South and/or TX and they were super nice.


(also this late in the game, I am getting panicky over little things)

[Anonymous User]

sorry double post

[Anonymous User]

I had a mass mail screener and I want to send thank you notes, but I cannot remember the interviewers names. Not sure if the best route here is not sending them at all or hoping that the people I found on the website are the ones that interviewed me. Any suggestions here? I know the thank you note issue is a constant debate here, but it's the South and/or TX and they were super nice.

I personally send thank you notes and send them asap. In your situation, I would probably send a general thank you to the recruiter (or whoever was in charge of your process/interview day/that you interviewed with and potentially the hiring partner that you met with (if applicable). Basically say thank you (again) for setting up the interview, you really enjoyed meeting everyone and had a lot of terrific conversations, etc. Some might suggest including a request to forward thanks to your interviewers as well.

You sound very uncertain by the people you found on the website, so I'd be pretty wary if I was not 99.995% positive. Sending thank yous to some but not all and to some people you did not meet with would certainly be worse than not sending any!

[Anonymous User]

I had a mass mail screener and I want to send thank you notes, but I cannot remember the interviewers names. Not sure if the best route here is not sending them at all or hoping that the people I found on the website are the ones that interviewed me. Any suggestions here? I know the thank you note issue is a constant debate here, but it's the South and/or TX and they were super nice.


(also this late in the game, I am getting panicky over little things)

A thank you for a screener? I'm not sure I would do this especially since you don't know who. Email the recruiter and say thanks and you hope to continue the process, etc.

[oblig.lawl.ref]

I have been sending my mass mails to head of recruiting. I thought that was right, but when following up should I cc the hiring partner?

do it. that's how i got a bunch of screeners.

[Anonymous User]

I posted here before, but I just wanted to update that I'm going on 3 mass mail interviews in the next week. I've been mailing since August, first heard back about a week ago. I did follow up and believe all 3 are from follow up emails. These are all good firms, including tip top firms I had assumed were done hiring.

I'm not an exceptional candidate - good school, decent but not great grades, relevant WE. Not IP or any other specialized background.

It's absolutely worth it to keep trying, even with firms that you assume are done or out of reach. I'm not banking on getting an offer from these, but even getting the interviews feels like a huge step now.

[Anonymous User]

A friend just got an offer today. V100 NYC. Keep mailing.

[Anonymous User]

A friend just got an offer today. V100 NYC. Keep mailing.

do you know when his callback was?

[Anonymous User]

I like how my follow ups have been a nice reminder for firms to reject me.

[luckyjd]

getting rejection after follow-up is still better than continuing to not hear anything. i hate that the most. at least it gives you closure to move on to the next set of mass mails.

[hoos89]

.

[Anonymous User]

Callback in Dallas on Thursday, and I thought it went well. The recruiter said I should expect to hear something by November 1st (or maybe a few days after). This is going to be a fun couple of weeks...

[Anonymous User]

Callback in Dallas on Thursday, and I thought it went well. The recruiter said I should expect to hear something by November 1st (or maybe a few days after). This is going to be a fun couple of weeks...

I received a few CBs through mass mailing in October. Two rejections already, not feeling overly confident about the third.

One question the interviewers asked in each CB was: why are you interviewing with us so late in the cycle?

How should I go about answering this question?

The obvious answer, that I was rejected at every firm and I am desperate for work, is not an appealing answer.

2 of the firms were really elite, so I had a decent answer. I said I adopted a cautious bidding strategy in light of being a transfer student (and so I couldn't quite use the hiring data provided by Career Services), the economy and student loans. But now that the process is concluding, I thought it'd be a great time to reach out to the firms I really wanted but fell outside of my strategy, etc.

But what about non-elite firms (like firms that aren't V20+)?

[Anonymous User]

Callback in Dallas on Thursday, and I thought it went well. The recruiter said I should expect to hear something by November 1st (or maybe a few days after). This is going to be a fun couple of weeks...

I received a few CBs through mass mailing in October. Two rejections already, not feeling overly confident about the third.

One question the interviewers asked in each CB was: why are you interviewing with us so late in the cycle?

How should I go about answering this question?

The obvious answer, that I was rejected at every firm and I am desperate for work, is not an appealing answer.

2 of the firms were really elite, so I had a decent answer. I said I adopted a cautious bidding strategy in light of being a transfer student (and so I couldn't quite use the hiring data provided by Career Services), the economy and student loans. But now that the process is concluding, I thought it'd be a great time to reach out to the firms I really wanted but fell outside of my strategy, etc.

But what about non-elite firms (like firms that aren't V20+)?

I think use the same answer for all firms. Combo of location and practice etc. also v20 doesn't mean anything, let alone elite. Someone at a v21 is doing just fine.

[Liam]

Callback in Dallas on Thursday, and I thought it went well. The recruiter said I should expect to hear something by November 1st (or maybe a few days after). This is going to be a fun couple of weeks...

I received a few CBs through mass mailing in October. Two rejections already, not feeling overly confident about the third.

One question the interviewers asked in each CB was: why are you interviewing with us so late in the cycle?

How should I go about answering this question?

The obvious answer, that I was rejected at every firm and I am desperate for work, is not an appealing answer.

2 of the firms were really elite, so I had a decent answer. I said I adopted a cautious bidding strategy in light of being a transfer student (and so I couldn't quite use the hiring data provided by Career Services), the economy and student loans. But now that the process is concluding, I thought it'd be a great time to reach out to the firms I really wanted but fell outside of my strategy, etc.

But what about non-elite firms (like firms that aren't V20+)?

Why not just preference the standard "I have such and such ties to [Office Location], and am really interested in [Prominent Practice]" with a quick acknowledgement "I haven't quite figured out what I am doing next summer, and since your firm fits my interests, so I thought it would be prudent to come in."

[Anonymous User]

Callback in Dallas on Thursday, and I thought it went well. The recruiter said I should expect to hear something by November 1st (or maybe a few days after). This is going to be a fun couple of weeks...

I received a few CBs through mass mailing in October. Two rejections already, not feeling overly confident about the third.

One question the interviewers asked in each CB was: why are you interviewing with us so late in the cycle?

How should I go about answering this question?

The obvious answer, that I was rejected at every firm and I am desperate for work, is not an appealing answer.

2 of the firms were really elite, so I had a decent answer. I said I adopted a cautious bidding strategy in light of being a transfer student (and so I couldn't quite use the hiring data provided by Career Services), the economy and student loans. But now that the process is concluding, I thought it'd be a great time to reach out to the firms I really wanted but fell outside of my strategy, etc.

But what about non-elite firms (like firms that aren't V20+)?

I had this question (well, why did you apply here so late by asking if I had changed target markets or such) in a top firm interview as well. I definitely fumbled it.

I unfortunately don't have a great answer, but I think that you being a transfer helps explain it. You might also be able to mention learning something new in terms of geography, firm, or type of law - particularly if you are taking a related type of law that the firm is good at (so say something along the lines of I didn't realize how interested I was in X practice area until starting this course).

[Anonymous User]

I haven't yet had that or a similar question in an interview. Perhaps this is because I started mass mailing in mid-August so I'm not technically applying late. I guess somebody COULD ask me why I'm still interviewing this late in the game, but I'm not sure that would tell them any more than "What is your greatest weakness?"

[Anonymous User]

In early-October I was simply asked, "Why don't you have an offer yet?"

My response was somewhere between explaining my failings and emphasizing my interest in the firm/area. It went something like: "Well I had the misguided conception that all I wanted was Elite Big Law, but after going through the OCI process, I was turned off because .... BUT I believe that those events have lead me to rethink what is actually best for me and I think that your firm fits that description, because......"

* I have accepted my offer with this firm, so my answer at least didn't hurt me.

[gnuwheels]

But what about non-elite firms (like firms that aren't V20+)?

this is your problem. while firms definitely do have a sense of their relative prestige, they all think they're the best, so don't let vault rankings screw you up. your answer should be the same for the "non-elite" firms as it is with the "elite" firms. If the bidding explanation doesn't work, just say "I didn't bid on [your firm] at OCI, but having been through the process and learned a lot about a variety of firms, I have consistently heard great things about [your firm] and come to realize that [your firm] has many of the attributes i'm looking for and would be an ideal fit for me."

it honestly seems like a really good opportunity to talk about x, y and z things that you like about the firm and show you've done your research.

[Anonymous User]

Got my first offer today, so there is hope! I'm going to continue mass mailing but spend way less time doing it. It gets kind off addictive after awhile.

[Anonymous User]

Got my first offer today, so there is hope! I'm going to continue mass mailing but spend way less time doing it. It gets kind off addictive after awhile.

Details please.

Which market? Biglaw? When did you have your CB? When did you massmail them?

Approx what rank is your school? GPA? etc.

[Anonymous User]

It would really help if people could give an idea of which places are still hiring

[Anonymous User]

it honestly seems like a really good opportunity to talk about x, y and z things that you like about the firm and show you've done your research.

I think it depends on which way the question is asked (I had it asked in a way that I couldn't really respond this way), but turning the answer into this would be ideal.

Got my first offer today, so there is hope! I'm going to continue mass mailing but spend way less time doing it. It gets kind off addictive after awhile.

Details please.

Which market? Biglaw? When did you have your CB? When did you massmail them?

Approx what rank is your school? GPA? etc.

It would really help if people could give an idea of which places are still hiring

I haven't gotten an offer but have gotten interviews. The reason I don't include all of this information is that, especially now that hiring has slowed a bit for some employers, this information could very easily out the individual. (For a few interviews, I know that I am either the only or one of a few interviewees for that firm at my law school.) I try to include as much information as possible to help others, but I don't want to do so at that expense. Even after getting an offer, you may not want people to know what you say on here.