UChicago OCI Alums Answering Questions About the Job Hunt Forum

[20141023]

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[Anonymous User]

Has anybody really disliked a firm at the screener/OCI dinner only to end up liking them a lot at the CB stage? I'm thinking about canceling an earlyish CB I have with a firm that I really did not like. I am wary because I understand it's possible to strike out even with 10+ CBs, but I really did not get a good vibe from them at all.

I understand that ideally I should have just scheduled them later in the process but at the time I was happy to receive any CBs and foolishly scheduled them immediately. Now if I were to cancel I could schedule a CB with a firm that I like a lot more in that spot.

This is not a brag and I would really appreciate any advice from 3Ls and beyond.

[Anonymous User]

Has anybody really disliked a firm at the screener/OCI dinner only to end up liking them a lot at the CB stage? I'm thinking about canceling an earlyish CB I have with a firm that I really did not like. I am wary because I understand it's possible to strike out even with 10+ CBs, but I really did not get a good vibe from them at all.

I understand that ideally I should have just scheduled them later in the process but at the time I was happy to receive any CBs and foolishly scheduled them immediately. Now if I were to cancel I could schedule a CB with a firm that I like a lot more in that spot.

This is not a brag and I would really appreciate any advice from 3Ls and beyond.

Is your dislike of the firm mainly because of personal interactions you had at the screener/OCI dinner? If so, I wouldn't cancel the CB - I ended up taking an offer with a firm with which I had one of my least favorite screeners, as I really liked the people on my CB and what I learned about the firm there. Now, looking back, really glad I took the CB.

If you didn't like the people you met AND you have more objective reasons for disliking the firm – it's weak in practice areas you're interested in, it's not in a geographic location that you particularly want, it's not doing so well financially, etc. – then canceling could be okay, especially if you can slot in a firm you might prefer in that CB spot.

[Anonymous User]

Has anybody really disliked a firm at the screener/OCI dinner only to end up liking them a lot at the CB stage? I'm thinking about canceling an earlyish CB I have with a firm that I really did not like. I am wary because I understand it's possible to strike out even with 10+ CBs, but I really did not get a good vibe from them at all.

I understand that ideally I should have just scheduled them later in the process but at the time I was happy to receive any CBs and foolishly scheduled them immediately. Now if I were to cancel I could schedule a CB with a firm that I like a lot more in that spot.

This is not a brag and I would really appreciate any advice from 3Ls and beyond.

I also did not like the screener for the firm I ultimately worked at this summer.

If there is some strong objective reason(s) that you prefer other firms to this one then it's a tougher call, but if on paper this firm fits your interests and it's just the screener connection keep the CB.

[Anonymous User]

Alums what do you think about Sidley Chi versus the big NY firms for corporate work? What would one be losing in terms of exit options?

[Neal Patrick Harris]

Alums what do you think about Sidley Chi versus the big NY firms for corporate work? What would one be losing in terms of exit options?

I think this depends on what exit options you value. Lots of the finance-related exit options are in NY (though there are a few in Chicago). If you prefer Chicago, though, don't hesitate going with Sidley. Great firm.

[Anonymous User]

Has anybody really disliked a firm at the screener/OCI dinner only to end up liking them a lot at the CB stage? I'm thinking about canceling an earlyish CB I have with a firm that I really did not like. I am wary because I understand it's possible to strike out even with 10+ CBs, but I really did not get a good vibe from them at all.

I understand that ideally I should have just scheduled them later in the process but at the time I was happy to receive any CBs and foolishly scheduled them immediately. Now if I were to cancel I could schedule a CB with a firm that I like a lot more in that spot.

This is not a brag and I would really appreciate any advice from 3Ls and beyond.

Is your dislike of the firm mainly because of personal interactions you had at the screener/OCI dinner? If so, I wouldn't cancel the CB - I ended up taking an offer with a firm with which I had one of my least favorite screeners, as I really liked the people on my CB and what I learned about the firm there. Now, looking back, really glad I took the CB.

If you didn't like the people you met AND you have more objective reasons for disliking the firm – it's weak in practice areas you're interested in, it's not in a geographic location that you particularly want, it's not doing so well financially, etc. – then canceling could be okay, especially if you can slot in a firm you might prefer in that CB spot.

Thank you for the response, and the response after this one as well. It is a combination of both factors (did not like the people + not strong in what I'm interested in). I think I will sit on this for another day or two to make sure but probably will cancel.

[Anonymous User]

Alums what do you think about Sidley Chi versus the big NY firms for corporate work? What would one be losing in terms of exit options?

I think this depends on what exit options you value. Lots of the finance-related exit options are in NY (though there are a few in Chicago). If you prefer Chicago, though, don't hesitate going with Sidley. Great firm.

What kind of finance related exit options. Like preftigious ibanking? Are those jobs even realistic especially without a finance background?

[Anonymous User]

Transfer student here. I have no ties to Chicago except for having transferred here, and I would rather not stay in Chicago for any real time. My ties to CA are weak (wife and I lived in San Diego briefly), but strong to TX and NY. I would prefer to live in CA or TX, but NY may be tolerable for a few years. Is it possible (advisable?) to focus on non-Chicago markets? What about focusing on solely CA and TX?

[WheninLaw]

Transfer student here. I have no ties to Chicago except for having transferred here, and I would rather not stay in Chicago for any real time. My ties to CA are weak (wife and I lived in San Diego briefly), but strong to TX and NY. I would prefer to live in CA or TX, but NY may be tolerable for a few years. Is it possible (advisable?) to focus on non-Chicago markets? What about focusing on solely CA and TX?

I can chime in on the CA market.

Think of CA as four distinct markets: SF, SV, LA, and SD. What part do you want to be in? I can give you more focused advice once I know that.

FWIW, over the past four years, very few transfers have worked in CA. Not sure if that's due to self-selection or not.

[beepboopbeep]

I know at least one transfer from last year who got CA offers, but not sure where he ended up accepting. I guess "one" is within the range of "very few".

I don't know anything about being a transfer and participating in OCI so I'm hesitant to give advice, but know that many people don't bid Chicago at all and are perfectly fine without even touching the "home" market. I was DC/CA with some NY backup, so kinda close to what you're looking for. For how far north we are, a decent number of TX firms come and we seem to do well at placing people there--I know people heading there, but didn't bid the market so I'm not sure what the lowdown is w/r/t ties interrogation, # of CB slots, etc.

I probably wouldn't focus solely CA and TX because I would just never make a bidlist without at least some NY backup. I imagine transfers do pretty well given the high 1L grades required to do so, but I'm not sure where they fall in the class relatively speaking in terms of appeal for callbacks/offers.

[skers]

Transfer student here. I have no ties to Chicago except for having transferred here, and I would rather not stay in Chicago for any real time. My ties to CA are weak (wife and I lived in San Diego briefly), but strong to TX and NY. I would prefer to live in CA or TX, but NY may be tolerable for a few years. Is it possible (advisable?) to focus on non-Chicago markets? What about focusing on solely CA and TX?

Totally fine to focus outside of Chicago and definitely advisable w/r/t NY. It's going to be a bit harder to give you advice since you're a transfer and their results are kind of all over the map. Depending on where you went to LS you're also probably going to have to be prepared to nail down long-term plan questions since you've bounced around and are in Chicago w/ no intent of staying here. TX seems to be a pretty favorable market. I agree on probably bidding some combo of the three, w/ probably going CA/TX heavy.

[Anonymous User]

Transfer anon from above. I'm non-IP, so I always thought that counted me out of SF/SV, but if I can land those markets that would be pretty cool. I'd say for CA it's SD > SF = SV > LA. With regards to TX, I'm in a strange situation given that I transferred out of a TX school even though I wouldn't mind practicing in TX long-term. I certainly expect a few "long-term plan" questions.

[WheninLaw]

Transfer anon from above. I'm non-IP, so I always thought that counted me out of SF/SV, but if I can land those markets that would be pretty cool. I'd say for CA it's SD > SF = SV > LA. With regards to TX, I'm in a strange situation given that I transferred out of a TX school even though I wouldn't mind practicing in TX long-term. I certainly expect a few "long-term plan" questions.

Unfortunately, your ranking is kind of backwards in terms of likelihood since LA is by far the easiest market to crack.

A few students have done SD recently, but they were from there. I think both mass mailed firms (and skipped OCI), which is probably your best bet. Otherwise I'm sort of clueless regarding that market. SF/SV do not require IP, but you have a significantly better chance of both with a desire to do corporate work. Most good lit is coming out of LA. Moreover, SF can be tricky since it has far more supply than demand and "why SF" really matters to them.

If you're risk adverse, I'd do NY with a mix of LA/SV and some TX.