V15 Partner/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions... Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does the career office generally know what does and doesn't make a good interview? I've done a lot of callbacks but haven't heard from most, so I was concerned that I was doing something wrong. Recently, I went to my career office and went over some of the most basic and important answers ("Why law?"; "Which practice area?") and they said that my answers were very good and that I should just pretty much keep doing what I'm doing.

How much stock should I put into that?

[itbdvorm]

so...getting back on track here. seeing lots of "which firm" threads - i will try to give honest assessments though my #1 recommendation remains (after doing your research) to go back again, talk to more people, observe little interactions and try to find a place you think better matches your personality. and, go

Thanks for doing this. I'm trying to decide between Paul, Weiss and Skadden (both in NY) for litigation. I plan on going back to both firms soon, and I'm leaning towards Paul, Weiss based on the impressions I got during callbacks, but I would love an honest assessment of both firms and perhaps both general litigation departments.

Both obviously excellent firms. My impression is that Paul Weiss is, at its heart, a "litigation" firm, while Skadden is, at its heart, an "M&A" firm. What I mean is that the historical leadership, revenue, growth, etc., of each firm is from that area. Not sure how it plays into reality these days, and I strongly suspect the litigation departments are quite different from each other.

[itbdvorm]

Curious what your impression of Sullcrom NY is (have an offer there)

Very strong firm. Many unpleasant people but generally good lawyers.

[itbdvorm]

so...getting back on track here. seeing lots of "which firm" threads - i will try to give honest assessments though my #1 recommendation remains (after doing your research) to go back again, talk to more people, observe little interactions and try to find a place you think better matches your personality. and, go

Thanks. I'm deciding btwn Paul, Weiss and Jones Day (both NYC). Interest in litigation. Visiting both again, but liked people from both places my first time around.

I'm not sure why someone would choose Jones Day over PW in this situation...

[itbdvorm]

Once you hit the callback stage, in your experience are you competing with the entire pool of applicants or is it still school specific?

So for example, if a NY firm calls back 80 CLS students, I have to assume that even if all interviewed well, they can't extend offers to all of them. However, if true is this the same for out of the area schools? So like if a NY firm calls 8 Northwestern kids back, is it the same CB-->Offer ratio, or would you expect it to be higher since the pool is smaller and the firm has flown these out of towners in?

Really depends on the firm. I think you always want to keep a relatively decent mix of schools in your class though.

[itbdvorm]

Deciding between Simpson, Weil, Latham for corporate. Leaning towards Simpson. Thoughts?

"Corporate" is pretty broad. Assuming you mean NY. Do you want Bankruptcy? Weil. Do you want PE? Simpson. Do you want Finance? Latham. But that's obviously way too simplified. Simpson and Latham have excellent bankruptcy practices. Weil and Latham have excellent PE practices. Weil and Simpson have excellent Finance practices. All are excellent firms where you can have an excellent start to your career (sorry for overusing "excellent").

My advice is to go on 2nd looks at all, meet with people you think you'd want to / would actually be working with (junior partners, senior and mid-level associates) and see who you click with. If there's a particular practice group you think you're leaning towards try to narrow towards that. In the end you won't make a wrong choice.

[itbdvorm]

How would taking law school in a second language help my bottom 30% ranking(accelerated program, a summer of curved 17 credits in a 28 student class)? In what cases a foreign background would help me stand out?

I'm in the lower T14. In the first week of OCI I tried to argue that my background (a few big name internships, M.S. finance from a state university and foreign undergrad) would meet the need of cross border work, some firms liked my story when I interned at UN, but until now all dings no call back, I'm really pretty realistic and not expecting an offer from OCI, but in the next week I have about 20 interviews from all over the states (because I don't have much ties anywhere so I bid everywhere, mainly mid west and NY), so I still want to struggle a little. Thanks a lot!

Sorry, if anything it would hurt it. I frankly can't tell from this post whether you are suggesting that you took law school classes in another language but English is your first language and you're at a T14, or vice versa. If you're going to be practicing law in English, I need your English to be perfect.

Is this really true in practice? I know some foreigners at my T6 who struggle to hold a basic conversation in English, but they had the grades to secure summer associate positions at multiple V10 firms. Is the idea there that even if they can't speak the language, their grades "prove" that they can at least read and write it? Or is it that firms are generally going to try to eventually force them to foreign offices where their lack of English skills won't hurt as much?

it's true for me. difficulty speaking english is going to adversely affect my review. but my "if" sentence above does matter.

[itbdvorm]

Does the career office generally know what does and doesn't make a good interview? I've done a lot of callbacks but haven't heard from most, so I was concerned that I was doing something wrong. Recently, I went to my career office and went over some of the most basic and important answers ("Why law?"; "Which practice area?") and they said that my answers were very good and that I should just pretty much keep doing what I'm doing.

How much stock should I put into that?

Maybe?

Guess this depends on career services. But I'd try a friend / actual lawyer for advice too

[Anonymous User]

How would taking law school in a second language help my bottom 30% ranking(accelerated program, a summer of curved 17 credits in a 28 student class)? In what cases a foreign background would help me stand out?

I'm in the lower T14. In the first week of OCI I tried to argue that my background (a few big name internships, M.S. finance from a state university and foreign undergrad) would meet the need of cross border work, some firms liked my story when I interned at UN, but until now all dings no call back, I'm really pretty realistic and not expecting an offer from OCI, but in the next week I have about 20 interviews from all over the states (because I don't have much ties anywhere so I bid everywhere, mainly mid west and NY), so I still want to struggle a little. Thanks a lot!

Sorry, if anything it would hurt it. I frankly can't tell from this post whether you are suggesting that you took law school classes in another language but English is your first language and you're at a T14, or vice versa. If you're going to be practicing law in English, I need your English to be perfect.

Is this really true in practice? I know some foreigners at my T6 who struggle to hold a basic conversation in English, but they had the grades to secure summer associate positions at multiple V10 firms. Is the idea there that even if they can't speak the language, their grades "prove" that they can at least read and write it? Or is it that firms are generally going to try to eventually force them to foreign offices where their lack of English skills won't hurt as much?

it's true for me. difficulty speaking english is going to adversely affect my review. but my "if" sentence above does matter.

Does this also apply to foreign born candidates with a heavy accent if you have no other information involving their ability to speak/write English? That is you notice that they have an accent, but they do not seem to make any mistakes when talking. And if so, is there a way for such candidates to go past this negative presumption?

[Amity]

We had two SAs that were absolutely useless. I am talking about redefining the term DEADwood. When that happens do the recruiters find themselves in hot water? Unbelievably the firm still offered them, which raises a second question, do firm hate no-offering someone because it makes the firm look flawed in some way?

[Anonymous User]

Somewhat related to something that has already been asked, but I managed to score a callback with a great firm despite pretty bad grades at a T10. I was rejected from pretty much everything else across the board, even very unselective firms, so grades are definitely an issue. I know the general wisdom is, at the CB stage, you have already been deemed 'qualified' and its more about fit, but according to my schools data, this firm hasn't given an offer to someone with a GPA as low as mine in as far back as data goes.

So, I really think grades are gonna come up at the CB stage for me. Like I said it's a great and reasonably competitive firm, so all the other candidates are almost definitely going to have better credentials than me. So I'm wondering, are the CB interviewers really going to trust the decision of the screener interviewer and just evaluate me in other ways? Or am I still at a risk of being dinged for grades if it raises a red flag (which it will) with the CB interviewers?

[itbdvorm]

Does this also apply to foreign born candidates with a heavy accent if you have no other information involving their ability to speak/write English? That is you notice that they have an accent, but they do not seem to make any mistakes when talking. And if so, is there a way for such candidates to go past this negative presumption?

There's accented (even thickly) with full comprehension, understanding and communication. And there's "he's nodding, but it really doesn't seem like he understands what I'm saying, and his questions are full of syntax issues".

[itbdvorm]

We had two SAs that were absolutely useless. I am talking about redefining the term DEADwood. When that happens do the recruiters find themselves in hot water? Unbelievably the firm still offered them, which raises a second question, do firm hate no-offering someone because it makes the firm look flawed in some way?

Are you asking as a summer or a full-time attorney? How do you know they were useless? How do you know they weren't someone important's son, niece, cousin, etc.?

[itbdvorm]

Somewhat related to something that has already been asked, but I managed to score a callback with a great firm despite pretty bad grades at a T10. I was rejected from pretty much everything else across the board, even very unselective firms, so grades are definitely an issue. I know the general wisdom is, at the CB stage, you have already been deemed 'qualified' and its more about fit, but according to my schools data, this firm hasn't given an offer to someone with a GPA as low as mine in as far back as data goes.

So, I really think grades are gonna come up at the CB stage for me. Like I said it's a great and reasonably competitive firm, so all the other candidates are almost definitely going to have better credentials than me. So I'm wondering, are the CB interviewers really going to trust the decision of the screener interviewer and just evaluate me in other ways? Or am I still at a risk of being dinged for grades if it raises a red flag (which it will) with the CB interviewers?

Grades are still part of your file at most places. But all you can do is the best you can do. I suspect many CB interviewers won't actually see your grades, just your resume.

[Anonymous User]

Somewhat related to something that has already been asked, but I managed to score a callback with a great firm despite pretty bad grades at a T10. I was rejected from pretty much everything else across the board, even very unselective firms, so grades are definitely an issue. I know the general wisdom is, at the CB stage, you have already been deemed 'qualified' and its more about fit, but according to my schools data, this firm hasn't given an offer to someone with a GPA as low as mine in as far back as data goes.

So, I really think grades are gonna come up at the CB stage for me. Like I said it's a great and reasonably competitive firm, so all the other candidates are almost definitely going to have better credentials than me. So I'm wondering, are the CB interviewers really going to trust the decision of the screener interviewer and just evaluate me in other ways? Or am I still at a risk of being dinged for grades if it raises a red flag (which it will) with the CB interviewers?

Grades are still part of your file at most places. But all you can do is the best you can do. I suspect many CB interviewers won't actually see your grades, just your resume.

Thanks. Given that, would it be prudent of me to make an effort to address my grades in interviews even if it doesn't come up? And what is the best and least defensive way of talking about mediocre performance?

[itbdvorm]

Somewhat related to something that has already been asked, but I managed to score a callback with a great firm despite pretty bad grades at a T10. I was rejected from pretty much everything else across the board, even very unselective firms, so grades are definitely an issue. I know the general wisdom is, at the CB stage, you have already been deemed 'qualified' and its more about fit, but according to my schools data, this firm hasn't given an offer to someone with a GPA as low as mine in as far back as data goes.

So, I really think grades are gonna come up at the CB stage for me. Like I said it's a great and reasonably competitive firm, so all the other candidates are almost definitely going to have better credentials than me. So I'm wondering, are the CB interviewers really going to trust the decision of the screener interviewer and just evaluate me in other ways? Or am I still at a risk of being dinged for grades if it raises a red flag (which it will) with the CB interviewers?

Grades are still part of your file at most places. But all you can do is the best you can do. I suspect many CB interviewers won't actually see your grades, just your resume.

Thanks. Given that, would it be prudent of me to make an effort to address my grades in interviews even if it doesn't come up? And what is the best and least defensive way of talking about mediocre performance?

Nope. There's really no good way to do it that I'm aware of. Just emphasize your strengths. Good luck.

[Anonymous User]

I have offers from Schulte and Allen & Overy. Do you have any insight on either firm? I unfortunately don't really know what kind of work I want to do, but know I'm a relatively easygoing person who has enjoyed the legal work I've done so far (some opinion writing and brief drafting over my 1L year).

I should add both are NY offices.

[84651846190]

Somewhat related to something that has already been asked, but I managed to score a callback with a great firm despite pretty bad grades at a T10. I was rejected from pretty much everything else across the board, even very unselective firms, so grades are definitely an issue. I know the general wisdom is, at the CB stage, you have already been deemed 'qualified' and its more about fit, but according to my schools data, this firm hasn't given an offer to someone with a GPA as low as mine in as far back as data goes.

So, I really think grades are gonna come up at the CB stage for me. Like I said it's a great and reasonably competitive firm, so all the other candidates are almost definitely going to have better credentials than me. So I'm wondering, are the CB interviewers really going to trust the decision of the screener interviewer and just evaluate me in other ways? Or am I still at a risk of being dinged for grades if it raises a red flag (which it will) with the CB interviewers?

Grades are still part of your file at most places. But all you can do is the best you can do. I suspect many CB interviewers won't actually see your grades, just your resume.

Thanks. Given that, would it be prudent of me to make an effort to address my grades in interviews even if it doesn't come up? And what is the best and least defensive way of talking about mediocre performance?

Absolutely not. Do not voluntarily call attention to your weaknesses when some interviewers may not even see your grades. I can't believe this is even a serious question.

[itbdvorm]

I have offers from Schulte and Allen & Overy. Do you have any insight on either firm? I unfortunately don't really know what kind of work I want to do, but know I'm a relatively easygoing person who has enjoyed the legal work I've done so far (some opinion writing and brief drafting over my 1L year).

I should add both are NY offices.

Way too broad. Litigation? transactional? hedge fund? international? these firms are hugely different in terms of what they do. we're past "best i can get into" and into what actually makes sense for you.

[Anonymous User]

I've gotten feedback that I'm not enthusiastic enough (about the firm, about the people at the firm) in interviews. I'm not an easily excitable person, even if I am excited about something. How can I show more enthusiasm in the future? Honestly I don't even understand the concept of what interviewers are looking for with this. It's so obvious to me that I would want to work for the firm I'm interviewing with! I guess I forget to show it externally.

[Anonymous User]

Many of the firms that I've interviewed with pride themselves on their lockstep program. How much should a junior be worried about an eat what you kill compensation system?

[Anonymous User]

It's. been a bit since OCI. How long before its acceptable to follow up, should I follow up with the interviewer or with recruiting?
Amy advice on how to go about convincing them I'm very interested and that they should hire me?

[Anonymous User]

Somewhat related to something that has already been asked, but I managed to score a callback with a great firm despite pretty bad grades at a T10. I was rejected from pretty much everything else across the board, even very unselective firms, so grades are definitely an issue. I know the general wisdom is, at the CB stage, you have already been deemed 'qualified' and its more about fit, but according to my schools data, this firm hasn't given an offer to someone with a GPA as low as mine in as far back as data goes.

So, I really think grades are gonna come up at the CB stage for me. Like I said it's a great and reasonably competitive firm, so all the other candidates are almost definitely going to have better credentials than me. So I'm wondering, are the CB interviewers really going to trust the decision of the screener interviewer and just evaluate me in other ways? Or am I still at a risk of being dinged for grades if it raises a red flag (which it will) with the CB interviewers?

Grades are still part of your file at most places. But all you can do is the best you can do. I suspect many CB interviewers won't actually see your grades, just your resume.

Who sees your transcript during this process? When is it looked-at?

[potted plant]

Firms are not homogenous. They don't have identical recruiting procedures. The people who make the final decision about hiring you will definitely see your transcript. The people you interview with may or may not. It just depends on the place.

[Anonymous User]

Firms are not homogenous. They don't have identical recruiting procedures. The people who make the final decision about hiring you will definitely see your transcript. The people you interview with may or may not. It just depends on the place.

So who are the "people making the final decision?" Are they not the people who interview me?