A guide to the mechanics of OCI, callbacks, etc. Forum

[Kratos]

I thought this might be the thread for it but is there a thread where 1Ls whose schools haven't yet educated them on OCI can learn about the bid process? Just wondering, thanks

what do you wanna know?

[BaberhamLincoln]

What the bid process is.

I know that's a basic question that maybe I should know by now but I don't. I have a general idea that it's how you rank what firms you are interested in but what does the ranking give you and what are the numbers people put next to firms, etc

[Mal Reynolds]

What the bid process is.

I know that's a basic question that maybe I should know by now but I don't. I have a general idea that it's how you rank what firms you are interested in but what does the ranking give you and what are the numbers people put next to firms, etc

If your system is a lottery you don't rank them by interest. You rank them in the order that will maximize the amount of interviews you receive. So if I really wanted to interview with a small Chicago firm and a large nyc firm I would rank the Chicago firm higher because it likely has fewer interview slots and more people might want it.

If your bidding process is pre-screen then I'm not sure bidding matters since firms can look at everyon who hid them and then they just select who they want.

If it's a combination of the two then you need to rank them according to the above advice still.

[ymmv]

What the bid process is.

I know that's a basic question that maybe I should know by now but I don't. I have a general idea that it's how you rank what firms you are interested in but what does the ranking give you and what are the numbers people put next to firms, etc

This depends on your school. If it's a grade-blind process it's probably a simple factor of the slot you rank the firm at, the number of interview slots available for that firm, and where it's ranked by other students.

So, if there are 20 slots for Firm A, and 20 people rank it as their #1 slot, and you rank it as #2, you will not get an interview with the firm. But if there are 30 slots, and you along with only 9 other people rank it as #2, the 10 of you will also get interviews. If more than 10 of you rank it at #2, 10 of you will be chosen at random.

AFAIUI.

[Anonymous User]

For OCI or an all-day consortium.....any advice or strategy on time of day for interviews?

Looking for advice, thoughts, strategy on....scheduling (early in the day vs. late)......should you approach an interview in the morning different than one in the late afternoon....etc.....

[beepboopbeep]

For an individual interviewer it might matter w/r/t being less focused in the morning, or sleepy in the afternoon... but you have no way of knowing which will be which beforehand. Don't overthink it. I would definitely recommend spacing things out so you have time to do refreshers/research on interviews before you go in, etc. But aside from that don't psych yourself out wondering if you scheduled things properly. Maybe, maybe not, but not worth the anxiety and wasted energy.

[lawlschool1l]

is there any way to like capitalize on credit card miles / elite hotel statuses during callbacks?

[beepboopbeep]

is there any way to like capitalize on credit card miles / elite hotel statuses during callbacks?

Yes and you should do so. Everything you buy aside from the plane tickets and hotel will have to be paid for by you and reimbursed later. Loading it all up on a high rewards card is a good idea - you can end up fronting literally thousands of dollars depending on how many CBs you do. I don't know what out there is tops for this anymore, but that should come up with some googling.

Not as sure on the hotel side. But I would also recommend trying to get every flight on the same airline to maximize FF miles, if feasible. I ended up with about 1.5x the amount needed for a one-way anywhere in the US. A lot of firms will also buy shit like refundable tickets and business select (if you do Southwest) which bumps up your point gain.

[lawlschool1l]

is there any way to like capitalize on credit card miles / elite hotel statuses during callbacks?

Yes and you should do so. Everything you buy aside from the plane tickets and hotel will have to be paid for by you and reimbursed later. Loading it all up on a high rewards card is a good idea - you can end up fronting literally thousands of dollars depending on how many CBs you do. I don't know what out there is tops for this anymore, but that should come up with some googling.

Not as sure on the hotel side. But I would also recommend trying to get every flight on the same airline to maximize FF miles, if feasible. I ended up with about 1.5x the amount needed for a one-way anywhere in the US. A lot of firms will also buy shit like refundable tickets and business select (if you do Southwest) which bumps up your point gain.

great, so I can cash in reward points despite not purchasing the tickets myself? i thought the miles might go into the firms stockpile or something

[BmoreOrLess]

great, so I can cash in reward points despite not purchasing the tickets myself? i thought the miles might go into the firms stockpile or something

Nah, only the person flying can get the miles (for the flight itself, not for the actual purchase of the ticket). This is how it works if you ever get a corporate card too, except that you'll have to pay the rewards membership fee.

[beepboopbeep]

Yea sorry if that was unclear. You can get reward points from the stuff you buy yourself (meals, cabs). You can get FF miles from the airline by entering in your info either when they book it for you or afterward. But you can't get reward points/miles for paying for the flight, because you didn't. If that makes any sense.

[Anonymous User]

I am attending smaller job fair outside of OCI and did not receive some interviews at a couple of the firms I was interested in. I emailed around and managed to get a couple more interviews but I'm wondering - what do you make of the firms that were able to extend an interview vs. those that asked me to go to their hospitality suite? Was that a polite way of declining to interview me?

[Anonymous User]

If you are flying into Laguardia for a callback, what's the procedure for getting to a hotel in Manhattan? The firm is reimnbursing reasonable travel expenses of course, but I've never flown into NYC before so idk if I should be taking a cab, bus, subway? Is taking a cab the norm?

[MCFC]

If you are flying into Laguardia for a callback, what's the procedure for getting to a hotel in Manhattan? The firm is reimnbursing reasonable travel expenses of course, but I've never flown into NYC before so idk if I should be taking a cab, bus, subway? Is taking a cab the norm?

There's no subway. The bus can actually be surprisingly decent, but just take a cab. No one will give you any trouble. Definitely the norm.

[Anonymous User]

Follow up: in an uber right now headed to a hotel. Estimate is 29-39 dollars. Is it normal to tip for uber in NYC? If so, how much do I tip based on that estimated toll? And how much in general if I'm not going to far?

[thesealocust]

Uber was designed to not involve tipping. Some people tip anyway and some drivers request it, but you'll have to do it with cash if you want to.

Definitely tip cabs, I always did ~20%.

[Anonymous User]

A firm offered either a pre-oci teleconference CB or an in-person cb. In-person seems like a no-brainer right?

[thesealocust]

Absolutely!

[Anonymous User]

For 1L OCI, I had a callback with a firm that did not result in an offer. The firm is going to be back for 2L OCI. I am still interested in the firm and bid on them. Should I even address the previous callback? They obviously had some interest in me at the time but I am not sure why I got dinged during the callback.

[BaberhamLincoln]

Is there anywhere (on TLS or elsewhere) that lists callback to offer ratios for certain firms?
There's one firm I am so excited about and have a callback this Friday and wanted to know my odds

Along those same lines, is the general wisdom that a) a firm already wants you if they have you in for a callback so you're likely to get it, or b) the callback is where they really decide if you're "worthy"? I suspect a mix of both/depends on the firm, but wanted to check

[Anonymous User]

So -- anyone ever get a missed call from a firm you did an OCI interview with, but no voicemail?

There are about three different possibilities I can think of, but I'm stumped
1. Calling to say NO (but then why not just leave a voicemail)
2. Mean to call someone else, and hung up before voicemail kicked in
3. Calling to say yes but knocked the phone out of the socket (??)

No accompanying "NO" email came either.

I would ordinarily never return a missed call without a voicemail but this doesn't make sense.

[BaberhamLincoln]

So -- anyone ever get a missed call from a firm you did an OCI interview with, but no voicemail?

There are about three different possibilities I can think of, but I'm stumped
1. Calling to say NO (but then why not just leave a voicemail)
2. Mean to call someone else, and hung up before voicemail kicked in
3. Calling to say yes but knocked the phone out of the socket (??)

No accompanying "NO" email came either.

I would ordinarily never return a missed call without a voicemail but this doesn't make sense.

This happened to me twice but once the voicemail was there but delayed and the second time they were calling me back and I think they would have called again to reach me had I not then called them back again.

I would guess they wanted to talk to you and not your voicemail which makes me think it's a yes? But I don't think it's awful to call them and say hey I missed a call it's bobby jones

[Anonymous User]

Got my callback late Friday via email. Told to call as soon as possible. Is it okay if I wait until Monday? Dunno if they the recruiting team is even there in the weekend but it seems that callbacks are going out today from firms.

[thesealocust]

Call on Monday morning is probably the best bet. You can try today if you really feel like it though, you could catch them doing weekend work (back in my day, some firms Skadden ran recruiting events on Saturdays)

[Anonymous User]

Is there an opinion on telling a firm something along the lines of "I've been especially looking forward to this interview all day etc etc" if its your top choice? Too desperate? I want to convey interest to my top firm during the screener but don't want to go overboard