ITT: OCI tipz Forum

[Aeroplane]

This is more relevant for 1L's: When scheduling an interview, don't ask if there is anything you need to bring (other than resume/writing sample). I did this at one firm and the recruiting coordinator seemed to think about it and then said to bring my UG transcript, which contains quite a few C's, and a final semester GPA of 2.5

I'm going to bring it, with a short note giving my class rank which is decent (top half). I'm not going to give it to them unless they ask for it at the interview though. I don't think it's something they regularly collect.

[tumbleweed664]

This is more relevant for 1L's: When scheduling an interview, don't ask if there is anything you need to bring (other than resume/writing sample). I did this at one firm and the recruiting coordinator seemed to think about it and then said to bring my UG transcript, which contains quite a few C's, and a final semester GPA of 2.5

I'm going to bring it, with a short note giving my class rank which is decent (top half). I'm not going to give it to them unless they ask for it at the interview though. I don't think it's something they regularly collect.

This question potentially reveals my 0L ignorance, but your profile says you're Michigan '12. Do people start bidding on/communicating with/etc. firms this early? Or is this about 1L summer employment?

Regardless, as someone with a low UG GPA, thanks for the tip!

[Aeroplane]

This is more relevant for 1L's: When scheduling an interview, don't ask if there is anything you need to bring (other than resume/writing sample). I did this at one firm and the recruiting coordinator seemed to think about it and then said to bring my UG transcript, which contains quite a few C's, and a final semester GPA of 2.5

I'm going to bring it, with a short note giving my class rank which is decent (top half). I'm not going to give it to them unless they ask for it at the interview though. I don't think it's something they regularly collect.

This question potentially reveals my 0L ignorance, but your profile says you're Michigan '12. Do people start bidding on/communicating with/etc. firms this early? Or is this about 1L summer employment?

Regardless, as someone with a low UG GPA, thanks for the tip!

About 1L summer employment. I don't think it would ever happen with 2L's (except maybe w/those who want IP) because 2L's have law school grades already available, while some firms make offers to 1L SA's before grades come out. I (speculatively) guess that they think UG grades are somewhat helpful in the selection process in the absence of law school grades.

[tumbleweed664]

This is more relevant for 1L's: When scheduling an interview, don't ask if there is anything you need to bring (other than resume/writing sample). I did this at one firm and the recruiting coordinator seemed to think about it and then said to bring my UG transcript, which contains quite a few C's, and a final semester GPA of 2.5

I'm going to bring it, with a short note giving my class rank which is decent (top half). I'm not going to give it to them unless they ask for it at the interview though. I don't think it's something they regularly collect.

This question potentially reveals my 0L ignorance, but your profile says you're Michigan '12. Do people start bidding on/communicating with/etc. firms this early? Or is this about 1L summer employment?

Regardless, as someone with a low UG GPA, thanks for the tip!

About 1L summer employment. I don't think it would ever happen with 2L's (except maybe w/those who want IP) because 2L's have law school grades already available, while some firms make offers to 1L SA's before grades come out. I (speculatively) guess that they think UG grades are somewhat helpful in the selection process in the absence of law school grades.

Thanks for the clarification. It's interesting to hear that at least some 1L summer firm jobs exist.

[riccardo426]

tagged

[jchoggan]

Great stuff so far. Any other stories regarding part-time students discussing the career change during OCI/Call Back interviews?

Also, if you're really aiming at a smaller market (away from your school, but with connections to the city), how much should you play up your connections to/desire to work in the city vs. your desire to work for the particular firm? I know it's tough to break into some markets without connections, but I can imagine it'd be a turnoff for some firms if you sound like the city is the only/primary draw.

[poprox]

InThisResponse (ITR): I will write my response

[rsr28]

When you are interviewing for firms with multiple offices, if you have any interest at all in the office of the interviewer, make that the one you are interested in. If you are interested in a different office, have a damn-good reason why and make sure they remember you. I got one callback by doing this, but I basically made it a point to say "city name city name city name" over and over again. If an interviewer only has a few callbacks to hand out, they aren't going to "waste" one on someone who doesn't even want their office unless you give them a great reason to go out of their way to relay your information back to the office you're interested in.

Even if you are just looking to go to NY or DC from a school that typically places in those markets, have a great reason why you want to be there! A lot of people told me, before OCI, that going to NY "didn't need a reason", but I found I had by far the most luck when I did in fact have a reason for wanting to be there. Doesn't have to be anything spectacular - just talk about the convenience and centrality of access to your family and friends while still being the elite, most exciting legal market, or something like that.

When you have guy interviewers: find a way to talk about sports. Especially a plus for girls who do this with guy interviewers (if you actually know what you are talking about). If they don't want to talk about it, you haven't lost anything; but if they do, you've realy given them something to remember you by.

At the receptions, get there VERY early. Have a personal conversation with the people you interviewed with (note: the other interviewers do not matter) before people really start showing up, then sneak out. Just ask about their kids - that way you don't even have to say anything really. i.e., The Costanza routine ... sounds silly, but it really works.

Never complain about anything. If you changed careers, talk about all the good things about your old career/job. Interviewers aren't worried about what you will be like as a lawyer - they glean that from your grades, which you can't do anything about (at the time of OCI). They're worried about what kind of attitude you have - you want to come off as positive; even overly-positive is fine.

Lastly (for now), and this is one that a lot of law students really struggle with: use anecdotes rather than generalities. For "Why law", have an anecdote that explains why, not just general phrasing. All the answers that have been posted earlier in this thread regarding this question, for the most part, suck. Have a story about an internship you worked with or a time you talked with a family friend who is a lawyer and just became fascinated by the work they were doing and decided you had to go to law school. This will keep you from rambling and make your bullshit "Why law" answer stand somewhat apart from all the lame general ones.

[starstruck393]

When you are interviewing for firms with multiple offices, if you have any interest at all in the office of the interviewer, make that the one you are interested in. If you are interested in a different office, have a damn-good reason why and make sure they remember you. I got one callback by doing this, but I basically made it a point to say "city name city name city name" over and over again. If an interviewer only has a few callbacks to hand out, they aren't going to "waste" one on someone who doesn't even want their office unless you give them a great reason to go out of their way to relay your information back to the office you're interested in.

Even if you are just looking to go to NY or DC from a school that typically places in those markets, have a great reason why you want to be there! A lot of people told me, before OCI, that going to NY "didn't need a reason", but I found I had by far the most luck when I did in fact have a reason for wanting to be there. Doesn't have to be anything spectacular - just talk about the convenience and centrality of access to your family and friends while still being the elite, most exciting legal market, or something like that.

When you have guy interviewers: find a way to talk about sports. Especially a plus for girls who do this with guy interviewers (if you actually know what you are talking about). If they don't want to talk about it, you haven't lost anything; but if they do, you've realy given them something to remember you by.

At the receptions, get there VERY early. Have a personal conversation with the people you interviewed with (note: the other interviewers do not matter) before people really start showing up, then sneak out. Just ask about their kids - that way you don't even have to say anything really. i.e., The Costanza routine ... sounds silly, but it really works.

Never complain about anything. If you changed careers, talk about all the good things about your old career/job. Interviewers aren't worried about what you will be like as a lawyer - they glean that from your grades, which you can't do anything about (at the time of OCI). They're worried about what kind of attitude you have - you want to come off as positive; even overly-positive is fine.

Lastly (for now), and this is one that a lot of law students really struggle with: use anecdotes rather than generalities. For "Why law", have an anecdote that explains why, not just general phrasing. All the answers that have been posted earlier in this thread regarding this question, for the most part, suck. Have a story about an internship you worked with or a time you talked with a family friend who is a lawyer and just became fascinated by the work they were doing and decided you had to go to law school. This will keep you from rambling and make your bullshit "Why law" answer stand somewhat apart from all the lame general ones.

How would you go about relating interest in a particular location to a significant other? Is it cool to say that one of the biggest reasons you want to work at a given office is because your SO is in that city?

[Georgiana]

I kind of miss OCI.

It's weird because OCI is such a big discussion around here but it's a whole 4 days and that's it.

Our OCI was two full weeks plus a call back week directly following and a day off two weeks later for scheduling. Most of us didn't really get into classes until 2-3 weeks after they started. That's a lot of time.

[rsr28]

When you are interviewing for firms with multiple offices, if you have any interest at all in the office of the interviewer, make that the one you are interested in. If you are interested in a different office, have a damn-good reason why and make sure they remember you. I got one callback by doing this, but I basically made it a point to say "city name city name city name" over and over again. If an interviewer only has a few callbacks to hand out, they aren't going to "waste" one on someone who doesn't even want their office unless you give them a great reason to go out of their way to relay your information back to the office you're interested in.

Even if you are just looking to go to NY or DC from a school that typically places in those markets, have a great reason why you want to be there! A lot of people told me, before OCI, that going to NY "didn't need a reason", but I found I had by far the most luck when I did in fact have a reason for wanting to be there. Doesn't have to be anything spectacular - just talk about the convenience and centrality of access to your family and friends while still being the elite, most exciting legal market, or something like that.

When you have guy interviewers: find a way to talk about sports. Especially a plus for girls who do this with guy interviewers (if you actually know what you are talking about). If they don't want to talk about it, you haven't lost anything; but if they do, you've realy given them something to remember you by.

At the receptions, get there VERY early. Have a personal conversation with the people you interviewed with (note: the other interviewers do not matter) before people really start showing up, then sneak out. Just ask about their kids - that way you don't even have to say anything really. i.e., The Costanza routine ... sounds silly, but it really works.

Never complain about anything. If you changed careers, talk about all the good things about your old career/job. Interviewers aren't worried about what you will be like as a lawyer - they glean that from your grades, which you can't do anything about (at the time of OCI). They're worried about what kind of attitude you have - you want to come off as positive; even overly-positive is fine.

Lastly (for now), and this is one that a lot of law students really struggle with: use anecdotes rather than generalities. For "Why law", have an anecdote that explains why, not just general phrasing. All the answers that have been posted earlier in this thread regarding this question, for the most part, suck. Have a story about an internship you worked with or a time you talked with a family friend who is a lawyer and just became fascinated by the work they were doing and decided you had to go to law school. This will keep you from rambling and make your bullshit "Why law" answer stand somewhat apart from all the lame general ones.

How would you go about relating interest in a particular location to a significant other? Is it cool to say that one of the biggest reasons you want to work at a given office is because your SO is in that city?

Say it's your fiancee (whether it is or not). Also, come up with other good reasons to compliment it. Honestly I'd use the fiancee thing to explain your initial interest in the city, but then proceed with a laundry list of other things that attracted you to it.

[Kretzy]

I know that the general advice is to apply to just one market (which I am, in general, planning on following), but a quick question:

If there is a particular firm that you want, is it looked down upon to apply to multiple offices of said firm? Let's say that I preference San Francisco, but then want to apply to 4 offices of my particular top-choice firm. I don't know if this looks good, since it's obvious you want this firm, or bad, since some offices wouldn't want to waste a callback on you.

Thanks a bunch!

[rsr28]

I know that the general advice is to apply to just one market (which I am, in general, planning on following), but a quick question:

If there is a particular firm that you want, is it looked down upon to apply to multiple offices of said firm? Let's say that I preference San Francisco, but then want to apply to 4 offices of my particular top-choice firm. I don't know if this looks good, since it's obvious you want this firm, or bad, since some offices wouldn't want to waste a callback on you.

Thanks a bunch!

It's okay to initially express interest in multiple offices, but if your interviewer is from one of the ones that you like, ONLY talk about that office. Say that you listed multiple ones because you want to be flexible "in this economy" and that X Y & Z firm is where you want to be and you just want to find a way to make that happen regardless of location, but [interviewer's office] is by far my preference.

[biggamejames]

Our OCI was two full weeks plus a call back week directly following and a day off two weeks later for scheduling. Most of us didn't really get into classes until 2-3 weeks after they started. That's a lot of time.

That callback week was useless, though. All my callbacks ended up happening during the semester, anyways.

[Georgiana]

Our OCI was two full weeks plus a call back week directly following and a day off two weeks later for scheduling. Most of us didn't really get into classes until 2-3 weeks after they started. That's a lot of time.

That callback week was useless, though. All my callbacks ended up happening during the semester, anyways.

I used the week...

But I also did regionals in LA so I heard back from them before OCI even started.

[biggamejames]

Our OCI was two full weeks plus a call back week directly following and a day off two weeks later for scheduling. Most of us didn't really get into classes until 2-3 weeks after they started. That's a lot of time.

That callback week was useless, though. All my callbacks ended up happening during the semester, anyways.

I used the week...

But I also did regionals in LA so I heard back from them before OCI even started.

I used that week, too, just not for anything remotely productive

[LawSchoolWannaBe]

I know that the general advice is to apply to just one market (which I am, in general, planning on following), but a quick question:

If there is a particular firm that you want, is it looked down upon to apply to multiple offices of said firm? Let's say that I preference San Francisco, but then want to apply to 4 offices of my particular top-choice firm. I don't know if this looks good, since it's obvious you want this firm, or bad, since some offices wouldn't want to waste a callback on you.

Thanks a bunch!

I applied to multiple offices of a few firms (initially targeted 4 markets and was pretty open with interviewers about it). One firm let me do CBs at a few of their offices (firm really fit my interests and location wasn't a big deal for me), but for other firms I was just told which office was offering a CB (never multiple offices).