How are summer associates picked? Forum

[smallfirmassociate]

This makes a lot more sense in a smaller market. Especially if there's a solid second tier school nearby. In that case, there's probably an oversupply of young attorneys looking to stay in the area, less competition for students to go to other firms (in the same or any other market), and less consequences to the firm if they no-offer. I'm sure the firm isn't pulling in SCOTUS clerks, but it probably has some of the local valedictorians.

Yep, you have a pretty good handle on it, although we don't have any grads from outside tier one law schools. We've got two attorneys from CCN who grew up locally and wanted to return, one of whom graduated near the top of the class. Most of our attorneys are grads from the regional (T-30) in state who graduated with honors and wrote on a journal (our partners insist they don't care about the journal thing, but that's just how it's turned out), plus we have two from out-of-state (tier-one) schools. We are in a really nice area to live, the type of place where people love to retire and where it's perfect to raise a family IF you can find a job. The result is we tend to have a decent associate pool from which to pick, including a lot of folks who are prosecutors or associates at other firms who express interest. Right now, due to our lack of recent success in OCI, we are considering bringing on a prosecutor with 3-5 years of experience who does a good job in the courtroom and motions practice. Actually, he'd be our only T-2 law school grad, now that I think about it.

Anyway, I feel like I'm jacking the thread. Sorry. Carry on.

[Anonymous User]

Sorry for the bump, but I had a question for those with experience on hiring committees or the general hiring process.

I was recently on a callback with 3 partners/1 associate. Really nailed two of the partner interviews, but the third partner was the hiring partner, and while I think my interview went decently, I stumbled over a few answers. I was able to stay on message and cover most of what I wanted to talk about, but on one or two of the questions I remember pausing for a few seconds or catching myself stuttering/talking too fast, and forgetting the one or two best points I had prepared for the question. He gave me a good amount of time at the end to ask questions, at which point I started to pick it up and ask some very thoughtful questions about practices, etc.

I guess my main question is this: if you are a strong candidate on paper, to what extent do you have to screw up an interview for an interviewer to say "no" to you? If I had an average interview with the hiring partner, would he just ding me himself, or will he look at my reviews first? Are interviewers typically aware that it's possible/normal to have a bad interview now and then? Thanks

[fats provolone]

dude, it depends on the firm and also makes no difference at all. go play some xbox or something.

[Icculus]

Sorry for the bump, but I had a question for those with experience on hiring committees or the general hiring process.

I was recently on a callback with 3 partners/1 associate. Really nailed two of the partner interviews, but the third partner was the hiring partner, and while I think my interview went decently, I stumbled over a few answers. I was able to stay on message and cover most of what I wanted to talk about, but on one or two of the questions I remember pausing for a few seconds or catching myself stuttering/talking too fast, and forgetting the one or two best points I had prepared for the question. He gave me a good amount of time at the end to ask questions, at which point I started to pick it up and ask some very thoughtful questions about practices, etc.

I guess my main question is this: if you are a strong candidate on paper, to what extent do you have to screw up an interview for an interviewer to say "no" to you? If I had an average interview with the hiring partner, would he just ding me himself, or will he look at my reviews first? Are interviewers typically aware that it's possible/normal to have a bad interview now and then? Thanks

While not on a hiring committee at a firm, I have been on other hiring committees and am what most would consider a fairly well adjusted human being. You are WAY over thinking this. Also, the best interview are fairly relaxed and do not require one to "stay on message."

[Avian]

I stumbled over a few answers. I was able to stay on message and cover most of what I wanted to talk about, but on one or two of the questions I remember pausing for a few seconds or catching myself stuttering/talking too fast, and forgetting the one or two best points I had prepared for the question.

You're overthinking this, which is natural after an interview, but there's no way for anyone here to determine how good or bad the interview was or if it will influence that partner. Maybe you came off really badly and the partner had already crossed you off before you left the room. Maybe he recognized you were a little nervous as anyone would be and didn't think anything else of it. Either way you can't change what you did so no point worrying about it. You've already identified areas you wanted to do better, so just keep those things in mind if you have more interviews.