Post OCI Blues / OCI strike out thread / Safe place Forum

[justkeepswimming794]

Honestly I've never felt as much of a failure as law school makes me feel. I work really really hard and do crap at school, I do everything they tell me to do and I still do crap at school. But they tell me, hey, you've got a great personality and you'll shine at OCI. 3/5th through OCI and I have no callbacks. No returns from mass mails. Nothing. I spontaneously break out in tears several times a day when I realize how fucking badly I'm failing at this. I've never felt so depressed. My friends who were in the same boat 24 hours ago are now starting to hear, they've all gotten atleast one callback. And I smile like I'm happy for them and I am happy for them but everytime they tell me about their callback it's like a kick in the gut. I feel so alone and unlikable and stupid. I fucking hate everything about this.

Do you have more interviews to go? If so, feel free to PM me and we can talk about interview strategy. Don't take any of this as a shot at your personal worth, this is all a game that favors those who know how to play. Exams are very similar.

Striking out isn't the kiss of death it's touted to be. The friends I know that struck out ended up with good jobs and are happy. You're only missing biglaw. And if this forum has told you anything, it's that biglaw isn't the fairytaleland that 0Ls\1Ls think it is.

I second the bolded.

Remember that despite what this website says, your worth as a person is not contingent upon your success with school/OCI/or anything else for that matter. If people have told you you've got a great personality, it's because its true. Law school people don't just throw comments like that around for no reason. Keep your chin up, keep mass mailing, and if you ever want to talk about anything, PM me.

[ndirish2010]

Well, I struck out back in 2011 and it was the best thing that ever happened to me, in retrospect.

Also, it's August 8. OCI hasn't even started at a lot of schools yet. Way, way too early to start talking strikeouts.

[OutoftheWoods]

Struck out last year. There is no lying about this - you will be sad. But it gets better. i'm at a small firm now, and although I won't know about offers until May, I'm happy. In a way, i had a less stressful summer than my big law peers since I had no expectation of an offer at the end.

IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

[Anonymous User]

I agree with those saying that this is way too soon for an "OCI Blues" post. Many schools haven't started. Some schools went last week like mine. I have heard back from about 1/5th of the firms I've interviewed with. Many have said it would take a week. Others said they will not give any word back until they have completed OCI at all the major schools in the area, which means that they'll wait until after next week. OCI isn't just one week of interviews and everything is settled. Even if you're all finished with screener interviews, you're still closer to the beginning of the process.

I'm sure there are a few students who maybe only got a few interviews, and those firms also happened to have a quick turnaround for scheduling callbacks & emailing rejections. For the students who have already "struck out," I agree with the above posts. Big law is just a one way to go that really only a few students happen to follow. There are clerkships, small firms, regulatory agencies, public interest, local, state, and federal government positions, JD-preferred business type positions, in-house, and probably many more I haven't mentioned. Besides, look at Biglaw attrition rates, clearly "winning" at OCI isn't necessarily a good thing all the time. Could be a blessing in disguise.

That being said, $3100 a week for 10 weeks plus not having to search for a job during the school year sounds like a sweet deal. I swear, the job search for this summer wasted so much of what little free time I had during the first month of the spring semester. I think January and the start of February were the worst part of the first year of law school largely because of the job search.

[Anonymous User]

3L here who struck out last year. What are these good jobs? I am trying for entry-level in-house and government jobs, but I have no public service history and interviews are a struggle; it's painfully obvious I've been on the firm train and was just refused entry at biglaw station and am desperately trying to get off every stop afterwards.[/quote]

For those who struck out in the past, did you have any CBs throughout the process, and if so, how many? Or does generally striking out involve basically 0 CBs?

[Anonymous User]

You can see in the forum history that people have struck out with varying number of callbacks. You can strike out with two callbacks or 6.

[Anonymous User]

You can see in the forum history that people have struck out with varying number of callbacks. You can strike out with two callbacks or 6.

[El Pollito]

or 13

[snagglepuss]

or 13

Wait. Seriously? Someone has flipped the CB coin and come up tails 13 times?

[PPL]

or 13

Wait. Seriously? Someone has flipped the CB coin and come up tails 13 times?

Then how many callbacks are generally needed to be safe?

[El Pollito]

or 13

Wait. Seriously? Someone has flipped the CB coin and come up tails 13 times?

Then how many callbacks are generally needed to be safe?

there's no such thing as safe

[Serett]

Is it safe?

[PPL]

There has to be a number where most people dont strike out. Generally speaking of course. Like five?

[Kratos]

There has to be a number where most people dont strike out. Generally speaking of course. Like five?

remember like two posts up when the practicing biglawyer told you that there is no set number of CBs which makes you safe?

[Zero99]

or 13

Wait. Seriously? Someone has flipped the CB coin and come up tails 13 times?

Then how many callbacks are generally needed to be safe?

there's no such thing as safe

Qft. There is no safe. You hustle until you have an offer.

[goden]

There has to be a number where most people dont strike out. Generally speaking of course. Like five?

Lol no.

[zot1]

I know people with only one CB who get an offer and I know people with 6+ CBs that get no offers. So as others have been saying, you're not safe until you get that damn offer.

[Tiago Splitter]

or 13

Wait. Seriously? Someone has flipped the CB coin and come up tails 13 times?

Problem is it's not like flipping a coin. Someone who is bad at interviewing will be bad at interviewing every time.

That said most people with a handful of callbacks will do just fine, so be confident. But keep practicing your interviewing and grind out every opportunity until you have an offer in hand.

[El Pollito]

5 or so feels sort of safe, but it depends why you have 5. Do you have 5 because you're a good interviewer with middling grades or because you're a shitty interviewer with decent/good grades?

[PPL]

5 or so feels sort of safe, but it depends why you have 5. Do you have 5 because you're a good interviewer with middling grades or because you're a shitty interviewer with decent/good grades?

Which is better?

[champloo]

5 or so feels sort of safe, but it depends why you have 5. Do you have 5 because you're a good interviewer with middling grades or because you're a shitty interviewer with decent/good grades?

Which is better?

+1

[El Pollito]

the former

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

5 or so feels sort of safe, but it depends why you have 5. Do you have 5 because you're a good interviewer with middling grades or because you're a shitty interviewer with decent/good grades?

Which is better?

Undoubtedly better to be a good interviewer with bad grades than a bad interviewer with good grades at the callback stage, because getting a callback means your grades are already good enough. While getting a CB in the first place probably (PROBABLY) means you didn't drool on yourself during the screener, a bad interviewer has more of a chance to leave a middling impression in two hours than they do in 20 minutes.

[Anonymous User]

Any tips of upping your hospitality suite game? I've been going to the firms I like that I didn't get interviews with and chatting up the recruiter and leaving my resume/transcript..but I haven't heard anything. Should I send a follow up email in a couple days?

[Anonymous User]

hospitality is a crapshoot. It's basically luck. If there's an interviewer there and they are willing to talk to you, you can chat them into an interview. If not, you're not going to get much.