Possible to "know" you got a callback? Forum

[chewy]

interviewer straight up told me: "you have a lot to offer and i can tell you're going to get several offers." no callback.

I actually think this line is a bad sign.

Now that you mention it, it was in one of my ding letters.

The interviewer said this in a screening this week, and got a call back the next day. I think it means different things to different people.

[pertristis]

What I felt to be my best interview one day ended up a ding. What I thought was my worst interview another day ended up a CB. With that said, another interviewer had "best resume ever" written on my resume before I came in. CB.

[bk1]

What I felt to be my best interview one day ended up a ding. What I thought was my worst interview another day ended up a CB. With that said, another interviewer had "best resume ever" written on my resume before I came in. CB.

I think part of the issue is that interviewers vary in how personable they are. You might think that one interview went well, but it's quite possible that the interviewer is just really chill and everyone felt that way. Alternatively the interviewer could be insanely aspie and all their interviewees walk out feeling like shit.

[splitmuch]

What I felt to be my best interview one day ended up a ding. What I thought was my worst interview another day ended up a CB. With that said, another interviewer had "best resume ever" written on my resume before I came in. CB.

I think part of the issue is that interviewers vary in how personable they are. You might think that one interview went well, but it's quite possible that the interviewer is just really chill and everyone felt that way. Alternatively the interviewer could be insanely aspie and all their interviewees walk out feeling like shit.

This

[Anonymous User]

One interview told me "You have a great resume and you will probably get offers at firms like Cravath, Sullivan and Cromwell, etc...Just look for the culture and choose that way"

No cb.

[IAFG]

One interview told me "You have a great resume and you will probably get offers at firms like Cravath, Sullivan and Cromwell, etc...Just look for the culture and choose that way"

No cb.

Did you take the bait and use that as an opportunity to explain why you liked the culture at that firm, or at least ask culture-related questions?

[Anonymous User]

One interview told me "You have a great resume and you will probably get offers at firms like Cravath, Sullivan and Cromwell, etc...Just look for the culture and choose that way"

No cb.

Did you take the bait and use that as an opportunity to explain why you liked the culture at that firm, or at least ask culture-related questions?

Yeah, his line was actually in response to a culture question I asked him.

You know what the irony is?

1 CB from all of OCI. Lol'd.

Edit: But no, I didn't say why I liked the culture at x firm. I just said "Oh the culture sounds great, I think I'll really fit in etc"

[romothesavior]

One firm last fall interviewed me for less than 10 minutes of the 20 minute slot, and the second question out of their mouths was, "What questions do you have for us?" I had to scramble to fill the time that I did. They made it seem very clear they had no interest, and I actually crossed them off my list of firms, assuming that I would be getting a sure ding in the mail. Instead, I got a CB, offer, and will be working there next year.

So no, you really won't have any idea.

[romothesavior]

I actually kind of think of OCI interviews like law school exams: if the interview was hard for you, it was probably hard for everybody, and if it was great for you, it was probably great for just about everybody. Some interviewers are just great to talk to and make the 20 minutes fly by, but that's the case with most of the students they meet with. Also, the interview is just one part of the process... you may be dinged before you walk in the door, or have a CB in hand (yours to lose) before you walk in (e.g., I had the word "Yes" written on the top of my resume in one of OCI interviews, probably because I had already met with some of the hiring committee). You don't always know what it was that led to the CB/ding.

[2014utLaw]

.

[DrGuano]

One interview told me "You have a great resume and you will probably get offers at firms like Cravath, Sullivan and Cromwell, etc...Just look for the culture and choose that way"

No cb.

Happened to me. Was always with a firm that pulled from a lower percentage at my school. Callbacks at DPW, Weil, Cravath, Cleary, Paul Weiss, etc. but not Schulte, Hughes Hubbard, Stroock, or Shearman & Sterling.

When you have 35 bids or more, you have to put these less-selective firms and at the screener level, in this job-market, it'd be crazy to cancel an interview. Still, it's understandable they're not wasting callback slots/time/resources on candidates they are confident will end up at a more selective/better situated firm.

If you are in that position where your grades are above the typical range that a firm you really want pulls from, you should absolutely communicate to your screener your sincere interest in the firm, and back that up by weaving in the research you've done on the firm and the practice area you're interested in.

[ilovesf]

One interview told me "You have a great resume and you will probably get offers at firms like Cravath, Sullivan and Cromwell, etc...Just look for the culture and choose that way"

No cb.

Happened to me. Was always with a firm that pulled from a lower percentage at my school. Callbacks at DPW, Weil, Cravath, Cleary, Paul Weiss, etc. but not Schulte, Hughes Hubbard, Stroock, or Shearman & Sterling.

When you have 35 bids or more, you have to put these less-selective firms and at the screener level, in this job-market, it'd be crazy to cancel an interview. Still, it's understandable they're not wasting callback slots/time/resources on candidates they are confident will end up at a more selective/better situated firm.

If you are in that position where your grades are above the typical range that a firm you really want pulls from, you should absolutely communicate to your screener your sincere interest in the firm, and back that up by weaving in the research you've done on the firm and the practice area you're interested in.

This really fucked me. My grades are good, but not good enough for top firms. I bid heavily on firms that are more midlaw and had a much lower grade cut off. I got almost no interviews with any of them. They interviewed tons of people with lower GPAs and who aren't on LR. All of the bidding safely advice on TLS can suck it.

[bk1]

This really fucked me. My grades are good, but not good enough for top firms. I bid heavily on firms that are more midlaw and had a much lower grade cut off. I got almost no interviews with any of them. They interviewed tons of people with lower GPAs and who aren't on LR. All of the bidding safely advice on TLS can suck it.

But aren't you all preselect? Couldn't you just bid for everything?

[ilovesf]

This really fucked me. My grades are good, but not good enough for top firms. I bid heavily on firms that are more midlaw and had a much lower grade cut off. I got almost no interviews with any of them. They interviewed tons of people with lower GPAs and who aren't on LR. All of the bidding safely advice on TLS can suck it.

But aren't you all preselect? Couldn't you just bid for everything?

No we only had 35 bids. It's 75% preselect, 25% lottery. No one really knows how the lottery aspect works though.

[bk1]

No we only had 35 bids. It's 75% preselect, 25% lottery. No one really knows how the lottery aspect works though.

Ah. The mixed preselect/lottery systems strike me as designed to obscure everything.

[ilovesf]

No we only had 35 bids. It's 75% preselect, 25% lottery. No one really knows how the lottery aspect works though.

Ah. The mixed preselect/lottery systems strike me as designed to obscure everything.

Yeah. Firms have to keep 25% of the slots open for lottery, but I'm not sure who gets the lottery slots. I heard everyone has around 2, but I also heard the people who don't get any interviews get most of them, and if you get a certain amount of screeners you don't get any. So I really have no idea.

[Anonymous User]

No we only had 35 bids. It's 75% preselect, 25% lottery. No one really knows how the lottery aspect works though.

Ah. The mixed preselect/lottery systems strike me as designed to obscure everything.

Yeah. Firms have to keep 25% of the slots open for lottery, but I'm not sure who gets the lottery slots. I heard everyone has around 2, but I also heard the people who don't get any interviews get most of them, and if you get a certain amount of screeners you don't get any. So I really have no idea.

How many CBS did you end up with? Sounded like you were doing well in the other thread.

[ilovesf]

No we only had 35 bids. It's 75% preselect, 25% lottery. No one really knows how the lottery aspect works though.

Ah. The mixed preselect/lottery systems strike me as designed to obscure everything.

Yeah. Firms have to keep 25% of the slots open for lottery, but I'm not sure who gets the lottery slots. I heard everyone has around 2, but I also heard the people who don't get any interviews get most of them, and if you get a certain amount of screeners you don't get any. So I really have no idea.

How many CBS did you end up with? Sounded like you were doing well in the other thread.

Nope. I got all my CBs the first day then..

[rad lulz]

One interview told me "You have a great resume and you will probably get offers at firms like Cravath, Sullivan and Cromwell, etc...Just look for the culture and choose that way"

No cb.

Happened to me. Was always with a firm that pulled from a lower percentage at my school. Callbacks at DPW, Weil, Cravath, Cleary, Paul Weiss, etc. but not Schulte, Hughes Hubbard, Stroock, or Shearman & Sterling.

When you have 35 bids or more, you have to put these less-selective firms and at the screener level, in this job-market, it'd be crazy to cancel an interview. Still, it's understandable they're not wasting callback slots/time/resources on candidates they are confident will end up at a more selective/better situated firm.

If you are in that position where your grades are above the typical range that a firm you really want pulls from, you should absolutely communicate to your screener your sincere interest in the firm, and back that up by weaving in the research you've done on the firm and the practice area you're interested in.

This really fucked me. My grades are good, but not good enough for top firms. I bid heavily on firms that are more midlaw and had a much lower grade cut off. I got almost no interviews with any of them. They interviewed tons of people with lower GPAs and who aren't on LR. All of the bidding safely advice on TLS can suck it.

The advice was "bid in line w your grades," not "bid safely." There's a distinction there, and no firm is ever really a "safety."

[ilovesf]

The advice was "bid in line w your grades," not "bid safely." There's a distinction there, and no firm is ever really a "safety."

I know nothing is a safety when it comes to OCI. A lot of the cut offs at UCH are either top 10% or top 20%/25%/30%. I was just shy of top 10%, so I bid more in the other categories. Anyway, this doesn't really have to do with the original topic anymore.

[HeavenWood]

Having done several rounds of OCI, I can tell you that the formula for getting a CB basically boils down to the following equation

1/100 (personality) + 99/100 (grades) = CB chances


If you take anything a screener says or does during OCI as indicative of your chances of getting a CB,* then you're either naive or ignorant, or both.

(*With the exception of them saying something like, "Please go away and never call us again.")

Are you saying that the callback is usually where personality counts?

[anon168]

Having done several rounds of OCI, I can tell you that the formula for getting a CB basically boils down to the following equation

1/100 (personality) + 99/100 (grades) = CB chances


If you take anything a screener says or does during OCI as indicative of your chances of getting a CB,* then you're either naive or ignorant, or both.

(*With the exception of them saying something like, "Please go away and never call us again.")

Are you saying that the callback is usually where personality counts?

Yes. By the time you actually make it to the firm, grades are essentially irrelevant. They have to "like" you as a person at that point.

[Anonymous User]

Having done several rounds of OCI, I can tell you that the formula for getting a CB basically boils down to the following equation

1/100 (personality) + 99/100 (grades) = CB chances


If you take anything a screener says or does during OCI as indicative of your chances of getting a CB,* then you're either naive or ignorant, or both.

(*With the exception of them saying something like, "Please go away and never call us again.")

Are you saying that the callback is usually where personality counts?

Yes. By the time you actually make it to the firm, grades are essentially irrelevant. They have to "like" you as a person at that point.

I don't think so. Depends on the firm. Lets say your interviewers liked you, but weren't on the hiring committee, all the committee has is your grades, resume and the notes the interviewers made. No one is going to bat for your personality.

[Anonymous User]

So at most firms, the hiring committee is separate from the individual interviewers? And the hiring committee just gets reviews from people that interviewed you?

[splitmuch]

So at most firms, the hiring committee is separate from the individual interviewers? And the hiring committee just gets reviews from people that interviewed you?

Most of the time members of the hiring committee do interviews. But they can't do all of them. In those cases they only have a review and your resume/transcripts. FWIW I was told by a member of the hiring committee at the firm where I had my 1L SA that this is a good reason to try and schedule callbacks tuesday-thursday. Partners tend to be not as available on Monday and Friday, and your callback can be staffed with a bunch of people not on the hiring committee.