University of Chicago Employment Forum

[dresden doll]

I got 21 interviews. Decently happy with results, particularly since there's still the sign up option in case I decide I need more.

[UnTouChablE]

I got 21 interviews. Decently happy with results, particularly since there's still the sign up option in case I decide I need more.

More??

[megaTTTron]

17. Got my top 8. Really pumped. Might add 2 or 3 more.

[dresden doll]

I got 21 interviews. Decently happy with results, particularly since there's still the sign up option in case I decide I need more.

More??

Yeah. I am pretty determined on getting an SA in NYC so I will try to add more if I decide I need more options.

[ToTransferOrNot]

2 interviews (Sidley, Cravath) out of 6 bids for 3L OCI, plus one resume submission interview (K&E). The fact that they don't allow pre-screening for 3Ls is fucking retarded.

[markymark]

2 interviews (Sidley, Cravath) out of 6 bids for 3L OCI, plus one resume submission interview (K&E). The fact that they don't allow pre-screening for 3Ls is fucking retarded.

Why you ditching your 2L firm?

[ToTransferOrNot]

2 interviews (Sidley, Cravath) out of 6 bids for 3L OCI, plus one resume submission interview (K&E). The fact that they don't allow pre-screening for 3Ls is fucking retarded.

Why you ditching your 2L firm?

Just exploring alternatives while we wait for news on offers - which is something my 2L firm suggested we do (and has suggested to all of their summer associate classes, including the gangbuster ones in 2005-2008, so it doesn't mean anything bad).

i.e., I'm basically hedging in case I get no-offered, which I don't anticipate happening, but it would be silly not to interview until I know for sure.

[NYAssociate]

.

[ToTransferOrNot]

It isn't waiting - they have a pretty deliberate process for evaluating candidates - they really haven't made decisions yet. They might make announcements earlier, we'll see.

Re KE: most 3l interviewing that is going on seems to be for corporate. Doesn't bother me.

[Anonymous User]

It isn't waiting - they have a pretty deliberate process for evaluating candidates - they really haven't made decisions yet. They might make announcements earlier, we'll see.

Re KE: most 3l interviewing that is going on seems to be for corporate. Doesn't bother me.

So long as you have a demonstrated interest in corporate, you should be fine.

[ToTransferOrNot]

It isn't waiting - they have a pretty deliberate process for evaluating candidates - they really haven't made decisions yet. They might make announcements earlier, we'll see.

Re KE: most 3l interviewing that is going on seems to be for corporate. Doesn't bother me.

So long as you have a demonstrated interest in corporate, you should be fine.

Restructuring, more specifically, and yeah, I have a demonstrated interest in restruring in particular, and corporate in general. The whole "student director of the UChicago corporate practicum" thing should cover my bases there, even though I didn't focus on corporate work in my summer associateship (and I can give a good reason for that, so eh). Honestly, if there is anyone who can effectively pull off not having chosen a side of the transactional/litigation "divide," it's me.

[Anonymous User]

do you guys have any idea how i'll fare in the Chicago market with a 178.4-ish GPA? I'm thinking Mayer, Sidley, Jenner, Latham, Lord Locke, McDermott, Baker, etc.

I think that's top third. You're likely set for Jenner - dunno about others. Either way, you can't fail to walk out of OCI with a job, so there's that.

LOL @ this, are you kidding? I had a 179.5 last year at OCI and got 2 callbacks and 0 offers (with no major interview screwups). A friend who is quiet but pleasant had > 180.5 and got 1 callback and 0 offers.

You can definitely walk out of OCI without a job.

And yes, OCS is withholding information because they don't want people to freak out. They did the same thing last year. They took affirmative steps to make everyone think things weren't as bad as they were, so they would have to deal with fewer stressed-out/freaking-out people. (More charitably, maybe they thought we'd do worse if we were nervous.)

[dresden doll]

do you guys have any idea how i'll fare in the Chicago market with a 178.4-ish GPA? I'm thinking Mayer, Sidley, Jenner, Latham, Lord Locke, McDermott, Baker, etc.

I think that's top third. You're likely set for Jenner - dunno about others. Either way, you can't fail to walk out of OCI with a job, so there's that.

LOL @ this, are you kidding? I had a 179.5 last year at OCI and got 2 callbacks and 0 offers (with no major interview screwups). A friend who is quiet but pleasant had > 180.5 and got 1 callback and 0 offers.

You can definitely walk out of OCI without a job.

And yes, OCS is withholding information because they don't want people to freak out. They did the same thing last year. They took affirmative steps to make everyone think things weren't as bad as they were, so they would have to deal with fewer stressed-out/freaking-out people. (More charitably, maybe they thought we'd do worse if we were nervous.)

I don't think I can really refute that post with my own examples without revealing way too much so I'm just going to leave it alone. I only note that 1) I never said it wasn't possible to walk out of OCI without a job - I think it's not only possible, but pretty much inevitable that some of us will strike out and 2) I'm pretty sure SA class sizes are supposed to be larger this year relative to last.

That aside, sorry you had a tough time, and good luck with 3L OCI.

[Anonymous User]

do you guys have any idea how i'll fare in the Chicago market with a 178.4-ish GPA? I'm thinking Mayer, Sidley, Jenner, Latham, Lord Locke, McDermott, Baker, etc.

I think that's top third. You're likely set for Jenner - dunno about others. Either way, you can't fail to walk out of OCI with a job, so there's that.

LOL @ this, are you kidding? I had a 179.5 last year at OCI and got 2 callbacks and 0 offers (with no major interview screwups). A friend who is quiet but pleasant had > 180.5 and got 1 callback and 0 offers.

You can definitely walk out of OCI without a job.

And yes, OCS is withholding information because they don't want people to freak out. They did the same thing last year. They took affirmative steps to make everyone think things weren't as bad as they were, so they would have to deal with fewer stressed-out/freaking-out people. (More charitably, maybe they thought we'd do worse if we were nervous.)

Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, I think that affirms that OCI is more about the person, and less about the grades. Great news for outgoing people @ median, not so great news for super-intelligent people at the top of their class. Either way, I'm sure that you and your friend will do great in the future, good luck finding jobs!!

[Anonymous User]

People with grades think it is about personality. People without grades think it is about grades.

Mostly, things suck (relatively speaking) for everyone.

[rynabrius]

It is probable that people with higher grades bid on more prestigious firms--so, just looking at raw grade/callback ratio is not very informative.

Regarding personality, my guess is that it mostly only matters at the margins. I do think it is important to sell yourself and give them something to talk about, though. Actually, I think it's a three stage process. You want to start by building rapport and getting them to like you. Then you want to display your research by asking good questions, and give them good things to say about you by getting your talking points in. Then you want to end with rapport so they remember they like you.

Then again, as nice as these theories are, I've had no callbacks, so what do I know...

[Anonymous User]

I'm below median and have multiple callbacks from V30-V100+. I think that the one thing that has made a difference has been just being able to "click" with the interviewers. If you can get the good rapport going with the interviewers, that's only half the step. The rest of it is going to be how you can sell yourself to them. I think that the people that I've "clicked" with have all been genuine interest coming from both ends - you can't fake it. They like me, I like them. I think that they can look at me and realize that while I may not be as great of a memo writer as my peers, I still can be a person who they are going to enjoy working next to 6 days a week for 12 hours a day.

[dresden doll]

I'm below median and have multiple callbacks from V30-V100+. I think that the one thing that has made a difference has been just being able to "click" with the interviewers. If you can get the good rapport going with the interviewers, that's only half the step. The rest of it is going to be how you can sell yourself to them. I think that the people that I've "clicked" with have all been genuine interest coming from both ends - you can't fake it. They like me, I like them. I think that they can look at me and realize that while I may not be as great of a memo writer as my peers, I still can be a person who they are going to enjoy working next to 6 days a week for 12 hours a day.

Multiple callbacks? From where (market wise)? The vast majority of people have been commenting that they've heard nothing thus far. I didn't even think many firms had made their phone call rounds.

[ToTransferOrNot]

I'm below median and have multiple callbacks from V30-V100+. I think that the one thing that has made a difference has been just being able to "click" with the interviewers. If you can get the good rapport going with the interviewers, that's only half the step. The rest of it is going to be how you can sell yourself to them. I think that the people that I've "clicked" with have all been genuine interest coming from both ends - you can't fake it. They like me, I like them. I think that they can look at me and realize that while I may not be as great of a memo writer as my peers, I still can be a person who they are going to enjoy working next to 6 days a week for 12 hours a day.

Post on the OCI callbacks thread, kthx.

[dresden doll]

I'm below median and have multiple callbacks from V30-V100+. I think that the one thing that has made a difference has been just being able to "click" with the interviewers. If you can get the good rapport going with the interviewers, that's only half the step. The rest of it is going to be how you can sell yourself to them. I think that the people that I've "clicked" with have all been genuine interest coming from both ends - you can't fake it. They like me, I like them. I think that they can look at me and realize that while I may not be as great of a memo writer as my peers, I still can be a person who they are going to enjoy working next to 6 days a week for 12 hours a day.

Post on the OCI callbacks thread, kthx.

I wonder if that person actually goes here. Almost no +V100 NYC firm showed up for our OCI. They're nearly all V50 ranked

I can't comment on other cities, but I doubt that, Chi excepted, many nonV50 firms showed up at all.

[rayiner]

People with grades think it is about personality. People without grades think it is about grades.

Mostly, things suck (relatively speaking) for everyone.

The reality seems to be that you need personality + grades.

[dresden doll]

People with grades think it is about personality. People without grades think it is about grades.

Mostly, things suck (relatively speaking) for everyone.

The reality seems to be that you need personality + grades.

Completely agreed. That said, grades are more important IMO.

[Anonymous User]

I'm below median and have multiple callbacks from V30-V100+. I think that the one thing that has made a difference has been just being able to "click" with the interviewers. If you can get the good rapport going with the interviewers, that's only half the step. The rest of it is going to be how you can sell yourself to them. I think that the people that I've "clicked" with have all been genuine interest coming from both ends - you can't fake it. They like me, I like them. I think that they can look at me and realize that while I may not be as great of a memo writer as my peers, I still can be a person who they are going to enjoy working next to 6 days a week for 12 hours a day.

Post on the OCI callbacks thread, kthx.

Will post when the "official" callbacks come in. A few firms (yes, more than one) have more or less said during the interview "don't worry, you're coming back to meet some other partners." Like I said earlier, a great interview will compensate for terrible grades.

[Anonymous User]

You don't have a callback until you have a callback.

[Anonymous User]

I'm below median and have multiple callbacks from V30-V100+. I think that the one thing that has made a difference has been just being able to "click" with the interviewers. If you can get the good rapport going with the interviewers, that's only half the step. The rest of it is going to be how you can sell yourself to them. I think that the people that I've "clicked" with have all been genuine interest coming from both ends - you can't fake it. They like me, I like them. I think that they can look at me and realize that while I may not be as great of a memo writer as my peers, I still can be a person who they are going to enjoy working next to 6 days a week for 12 hours a day.

Post on the OCI callbacks thread, kthx.

Will post when the "official" callbacks come in. A few firms (yes, more than one) have more or less said during the interview "don't worry, you're coming back to meet some other partners." Like I said earlier, a great interview will compensate for terrible grades.

One of my interviewers said, 'I highly doubt that won't be an option for you' when I mentioned I'd only stay with the firm I'd worked for this summer if I had no NYC options. Not counting on a CB from them, however.