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Does anyone have any advice for networking to prepare for 3L OCI (fall of 2014 for me)? I got dinged post-CB at my top choices this year, and I'm wondering if I should be reaching out to alums while I'm back in my home market over winter break. I also want to establish some contacts in case I get no-offered.

I know that getting no-offered will make it very hard to get an offer with another firm; I also know that it's hard to get an offer through 3L OCI. I'm just curious about how/if I should be trying to network with attorneys at firms that rejected me. And how would I even go about this?

I imagine that it might be a little awkward/embarrassing to explain that I got dinged. I'm also not sure if I should pretend to be interested in learning about their firm when I've already gotten a lot of info through the screener and callback stages.

Thanks to anyone who can provide some insight.

Anonymous User wrote:Does anyone have any advice for networking to prepare for 3L OCI (fall of 2014 for me)? I got dinged post-CB at my top choices this year, and I'm wondering if I should be reaching out to alums while I'm back in my home market over winter break. I also want to establish some contacts in case I get no-offered.

I know that getting no-offered will make it very hard to get an offer with another firm; I also know that it's hard to get an offer through 3L OCI. I'm just curious about how/if I should be trying to network with attorneys at firms that rejected me. And how would I even go about this?

I imagine that it might be a little awkward/embarrassing to explain that I got dinged. I'm also not sure if I should pretend to be interested in learning about their firm when I've already gotten a lot of info through the screener and callback stages.

Thanks to anyone who can provide some insight.

I don't think it'd be too awkward to network with some of the attorneys from firms that dinged you the first time. Just approach it as "I was, and am still very interested in joining your firm. I understand that there were many qualified candidates and your firm had to make tough decisions."

On the no-offer note, just be sure to do good work, and get along with people.

However, just be wary that sometimes, people get no-offered even when they do a lot of good work, but do not exceed expectations on other projects.

I was personally no-offered because I received some mixed reviews from partners. I gave my best effort on the assigned projects, and kept in constant contact with the partners to make sure I was on the right track. But, after turning in the project, the partners wrote a super nasty reviews on my work. Criticized me for asking too many questions, and said how I failed to meet expectations.

I'm sure those partners lobbied for my no-offering, despite I had nothing but rave reviews otherwise.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Does anyone have any advice for networking to prepare for 3L OCI (fall of 2014 for me)? I got dinged post-CB at my top choices this year, and I'm wondering if I should be reaching out to alums while I'm back in my home market over winter break. I also want to establish some contacts in case I get no-offered.

I know that getting no-offered will make it very hard to get an offer with another firm; I also know that it's hard to get an offer through 3L OCI. I'm just curious about how/if I should be trying to network with attorneys at firms that rejected me. And how would I even go about this?

I imagine that it might be a little awkward/embarrassing to explain that I got dinged. I'm also not sure if I should pretend to be interested in learning about their firm when I've already gotten a lot of info through the screener and callback stages.

Thanks to anyone who can provide some insight.

I don't think it'd be too awkward to network with some of the attorneys from firms that dinged you the first time. Just approach it as "I was, and am still very interested in joining your firm. I understand that there were many qualified candidates and your firm had to make tough decisions."

On the no-offer note, just be sure to do good work, and get along with people.

However, just be wary that sometimes, people get no-offered even when they do a lot of good work, but do not exceed expectations on other projects.

I was personally no-offered because I received some mixed reviews from partners. I gave my best effort on the assigned projects, and kept in constant contact with the partners to make sure I was on the right track. But, after turning in the project, the partners wrote a super nasty reviews on my work. Criticized me for asking too many questions, and said how I failed to meet expectations.

I'm sure those partners lobbied for my no-offering, despite I had nothing but rave reviews otherwise.

OP here. Thank you for your advice. I'm sorry to hear you got no-offered, and I hope that you've managed to bounce back or that you'll get something shortly.

I understand that you can work hard and still get no-offered. I'm terrified of not making it because I've heard horror stories of people not receiving an offer to return for seemingly arbitrary reasons or because of firm financials. I think it's absurd to get nasty reviews for being conscientious about your work and asking questions to make sure you're on the right track.

As for your suggestion, after shooting an email to an alum that I remain very interested in the firm and understand there are many qualified candidates, where do I go from there? I guess I'm wondering what the substance of a meeting or phone conversation would be when I obviously know, or am expected to know, a good amount about the firm as a result of the research I did prior to my CB.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Does anyone have any advice for networking to prepare for 3L OCI (fall of 2014 for me)? I got dinged post-CB at my top choices this year, and I'm wondering if I should be reaching out to alums while I'm back in my home market over winter break. I also want to establish some contacts in case I get no-offered.

I know that getting no-offered will make it very hard to get an offer with another firm; I also know that it's hard to get an offer through 3L OCI. I'm just curious about how/if I should be trying to network with attorneys at firms that rejected me. And how would I even go about this?

I imagine that it might be a little awkward/embarrassing to explain that I got dinged. I'm also not sure if I should pretend to be interested in learning about their firm when I've already gotten a lot of info through the screener and callback stages.

Thanks to anyone who can provide some insight.

I don't think it'd be too awkward to network with some of the attorneys from firms that dinged you the first time. Just approach it as "I was, and am still very interested in joining your firm. I understand that there were many qualified candidates and your firm had to make tough decisions."

On the no-offer note, just be sure to do good work, and get along with people.

However, just be wary that sometimes, people get no-offered even when they do a lot of good work, but do not exceed expectations on other projects.

I was personally no-offered because I received some mixed reviews from partners. I gave my best effort on the assigned projects, and kept in constant contact with the partners to make sure I was on the right track. But, after turning in the project, the partners wrote a super nasty reviews on my work. Criticized me for asking too many questions, and said how I failed to meet expectations.

I'm sure those partners lobbied for my no-offering, despite I had nothing but rave reviews otherwise.

OP here. Thank you for your advice. I'm sorry to hear you got no-offered, and I hope that you've managed to bounce back or that you'll get something shortly.

I understand that you can work hard and still get no-offered. I'm terrified of not making it because I've heard horror stories of people not receiving an offer to return for seemingly arbitrary reasons or because of firm financials. I think it's absurd to get nasty reviews for being conscientious about your work and asking questions to make sure you're on the right track.

As for your suggestion, after shooting an email to an alum that I remain very interested in the firm and understand there are many qualified candidates, where do I go from there? I guess I'm wondering what the substance of a meeting or phone conversation would be when I obviously know, or am expected to know, a good amount about the firm as a result of the research I did prior to my CB.

Thank you for your kind words.

If it were me, I would just do a lot of research into the alumni's main practice area. If he/she specializes in business litigation etc. ask some questions about that. Also, if you're feeling it, ask about the alumni's interests. If you see what undergrad they went to, ask if they are a sports fan of [x].

You never know. Making decent small-talk is always good.