So what are callbacks like Forum

[rms5005]

I know theres some information scattered around but figured I'd start a topic on it. I heard theyre basically a lot of screening interviews but are there any differences. Are the questions still kind of "softball" questions or do the questions get harder and more substantive? Are we still 100% trying to sell ourselves on the firm or is a lot of it them trying to sell the firm on us and telling us what they do and why we should wanna work there? What are lunches like?

[philo-sophia]

i've had one and it was even easier than the OCI meeting. At OCI i had to sell myself. During the callback it felt much more like they were selling themselves. I was hardly asked anything about my resume and it was mostly just enjoyable conversations about business and life in the geographical area.

[edcrane]

The few I've been on so far have generally been easygoing. No tough questions. I'd say the biggest challenge is to engage your interviewer. This is easier for me with partners because they usually have stories to tell. I have to a put a little more effort to engage with junior associates, who sometimes give short answers or don't ask followup questions when you talk about something. I don't think you can do much to prepare for these interviews, other than know the basics and checkout your interviewers bios, if they're available to you.

[Anonymous User]

I had a nightmare of a callback. Almost every interviewer's first question was "so what can I tell you about the firm?" 30 minutes of that is rough once. For 6 interviewers, it was murder. I'm expecting a ding, which is... frusterating... since it was my only callback

I prefer hard questions about my resume. I can knock those out of the water.

[illegallyblonde]

Anyone else have a different experience? My first callback is Friday and I want to be prepared.

[Anonymous User]

I've only talked to one hiring partner that likes to do the behavioral interview. Behavioral interviews are a lot more common in other industries; basically the interviewer says, "Tell me about a time when you did Y/showed X quality." It's a good idea to be prepared for that kind of question, but chances are you won't have to answer any of those. All of my other interviews, callback or otherwise, have focused on my resume and what I'm interested in and why. Prepare a lot of questions about the firm, so far that's been the biggest part of my (admittedly small) experience with callbacks.

[BradyToMoss]

I've only talked to one hiring partner that likes to do the behavioral interview. Behavioral interviews are a lot more common in other industries; basically the interviewer says, "Tell me about a time when you did Y/showed X quality." It's a good idea to be prepared for that kind of question, but chances are you won't have to answer any of those. All of my other interviews, callback or otherwise, have focused on my resume and what I'm interested in and why. Prepare a lot of questions about the firm, so far that's been the biggest part of my (admittedly small) experience with callbacks.

This. Some people just suck at handling an interview. Others may be concerned whether you are actually interested in X & Y LLP or are just looking for a nice summer pay check from any large law firm. In any event, there's a good chance where you may have to carry your interview asking questions about the firm. Look at the bios of your call back interviewers, and try to prepare questions that can lead your interviewers into discussion of their own experience at the firm.

[Anonymous User]

I've only talked to one hiring partner that likes to do the behavioral interview. Behavioral interviews are a lot more common in other industries; basically the interviewer says, "Tell me about a time when you did Y/showed X quality." It's a good idea to be prepared for that kind of question, but chances are you won't have to answer any of those.

Where you absolutely are going to see this is with public interest organizations and the government. I ran into it at one firm that was notoriously picky on its hiring, but that was the only time.