Meeting with a Partner in his/her Office, need advice Forum

[Anonymous User]

I've seen some other topics regarding what to do when getting coffee with a partner, but I guess this situation is a little different. A mutual acquaintance referred me to a firm partner for a possible coffee/lunch meeting. The partner instead offered to meet me at his/her office and we set up a time.

Should I wear my suit or be more casual? I plan to bring a resume/other materials in the off chance I get asked, but I plan to leave them in my car to not seem pretentious and pushy (I mean if he/she really wants it I figure I can just email it).

Any other general tips?

[2014]

If you have any way of determining what the associate dress code/norm is, I would match that (but at least business casual). You should absolutely conduct yourself professionally and look the part but a suit may feel stuffy, particularly if the partner actually views this as an informational session and is just insisting on it being in-office for convenience. If recruiting gets involved and other meetings get added to your schedule I'd trend toward suit (basically the more it seems like an actual interview the more formal you should dress, but in any event the way you present yourself should be as professional as an interview if that makes sense).

[pancakes3]

suit up and bring a folio. leaving your resume in your car is effectively not bringing it at all. carrying a folio isn't pretentious or pushy. there's really no reason to play it coy - you both know that you're job-hunting.

[MKC]

I wore a suit even to informational meetings, but I may have overdone it. I never felt like a schmuck though for the 80% of times when the attorney I was meeting with showed up in a suit.

[kalvano]

No one would (or should) hold wearing a suit against you. Suit up.

[h2go]

No one would (or should) hold wearing a suit against you. Suit up.

Depends heavily on market.

[PorscheFanatic]

No one would (or should) hold wearing a suit against you. Suit up.

Depends heavily on market.

You're right.

OP, it's the legal market--suiting up won't hurt.

[lolwat]

No one would (or should) hold wearing a suit against you. Suit up.

Depends heavily on market.

You're right.

OP, it's the legal market--suiting up won't hurt.

Agreed. I mean I've gotten comments when doing informational interviews or even during interviews to the extent of like "oh hey sorry you wore a suit, as you can see we're a casual office lololol" from partners wearing jeans and t-shirts and other stuff like that. In markets known for being very casual. But I've gotten offers/callbacks/etc. from those same firms so I really can't imagine that it would ever hurt.

Also, bring one of those folio things with your resume and stuff in it. Yes you can e-mail the partner your stuff later but if the partner is interested in you and asks for your resume, maybe he wants to see it right then and there to get a general feel for your background. And not having it will make you seem unprepared.

[PorscheFanatic]

Agreed. Personally, I used to always carry a folio with copies of resumes or other important docs, if for nothing other than to look normal.

I'm generally suspicious anytime someone walks into our office with no briefcase, folio, or any other documents. It almost looks nude. I typically think "man, this person is either wildly unprepared cause they checked even their briefcase and the airline lost it when they flew here for this meeting", or "wow this person is so important/experienced that he/she is just here to share thoughts and opinions and someone else will take care of writing it all down."

[Anonymous User]

OP here.

Thanks for advice. It is in a market known for being more casual, but I will still suit up and bring my folio. I come from a mainly litigation-based background (newly licensed attorney doing an LLM on the job hunt) but I am looking to break into this firm's transactional based practice area.

I guess I should just discuss my interest even though I never had a transactional internship? Thanks guys.