The "lord and savior" part made the post a little too specific and thus a little too offensive even for my tastes

maybe i'm reading it wrong, but i thought the joke was "well jesus was a jew, and y'all murdered him"

a tired joke, perhaps, but not particularly offensive

FWIW, I am also a sabbath observant Jew, and I was being (or failing at being) funny. We used to get posts like this all the time on a Jewish forum that I frequent, and this was a great opportunity to use what I'd learned.

Re: the chagim - it definitely takes some getting used to, although if you are conscientious, it's not as big a deal as it seems. I obsessed over it, but I made up the work religiously (har, har) and did not feel that I suffered.

thanks for your response!

its def helping my nerves about the holidays

What I'm wondering about is if you plan on working in Biglaw, how would you work out the Friday afternoons?

I won't be the first NY associate who needs to leave early on winter Fridays and work most Saturday Nights and Sundays.

Not the OP, but in a similar position in terms of biglaw. I'd be lying if I said I don't think it will be an issue. I have been known to search big firms' websites for religious sounding names and YU graduates. However, in New York, there are many, many, shomer shabbat Jews in biglaw firms. (If I'm not mistaken, the Chairman of Sullivan Cromwell is one of them). It doesn't hurt that in the summer, it's not that big a deal. Outside of New York, it's harder in a way, but easier in a way. It is less likely that a critical mass of lawyers will have to miss a day in the middle of a big deal or case, since there might be only one shomer shabbat lawyer in an entire office. On the other hand, being the only person in the entire office who is not available on Friday afternoon and Saturday might be hard to justify or explain.

I guess more generally, I will make sure to leave as late as possible in the summer, and be available as early as possible on Saturday night in the winter. I am looking at cities where the commute is much much easier than it would be in NY. If downtown is even walking distance, in a pinch, one could theoretically work until sunset, which is 4:20 at the earliest. (I will not get into a discussion of taking a subway home from work on Friday night.)

Another big question is whether to wear a yarmulka to interviews, callbacks, and the office. I welcome input on that.

If you always wear a yarmulka, then I don't see why you would take it off for an interview. It's a part of who you are.

Keeping it on is a reasonable course, but one could rationalize taking it off as well.
1. Maybe you were never in a position where it made a difference before.
2. Maybe you are worried that a hiring decision will be made based on prejudicial factors.
3. Maybe you are entertaining the possibility of not wearing it to work generally, and you want to leave the possibility open.
4. Maybe you don't want to be associated with particular well-known individuals or groups who also wear one. This is related to 2 but a little different.