Do Grades Matter During Callbacks? Forum

[Anonymous User]

grades still matter. attorneys that are interviewing you are still looking at your resume/transcript and comparing that (even if its subconsciously) to the others that they see...

this. some attorneys, like many people on TLS, place a lot of value in these things.

[HeavenWood]

It depends on the firm. Some firms like calling back a lot of people for very few slots, essentially making the callback a second screener. Others call back relatively few and are more concerned with personality/fit.

[oshkoshbigosh]

so you get your callback from a v100 firm from fordham oci. the other people with callbacks from fordham are likely LR/top 10% or better. while you may be more personable/awesome than some of them, chances are some of them are just as personable/awesome as you are, and have better grades. tiebreaker goes to the grades, not to your marginal advantage in personableness/awesomeness. this is not always true, but more often than not it will be.

[Anonymous User]

I had interviewers at two different cbs comment on my grades, so I think they matter, yes.

[Lwoods]

Varies wildly by firm based on my conversations with friends/acquaintances on recruiting committees. The closest generalization: mid-size/regional firms often don't care once they offer you an interview (screener for pre-select situations, callback otherwise) and are just looking for fit. At bigger firms it often does still come up in the committee meetings...sometimes to an absurd extent.

Try to pinpoint your best qualities other than your personality so that you can highlight those. Maybe you have interesting work experience... maybe for a company they'd like as a client... Or maybe you have a unique personal background. Because of the recession, there are dozens of articles on how to be an indispensable employee; translate some of those ideas into your interviews so your grades matter less and you're not in a tie-breaker situation.

[r6_philly]

It depends on the firm. Some firms like calling back a lot of people for very few slots, essentially making the callback a second screener. Others call back relatively few and are more concerned with personality/fit.

It's going to matter as long as you are competing with another cb candidate for the same spot. If they are rolling offers and consider each person for that open spot individually (before moving on to the next) then it probably doesn't. Seeing that most places accumulate feedbacks until weekly meetings I say it still matters for comparative purposes (large impact or small, your guess). It's a factor, not determinative. I don't think there is any cb that is "your job to lose" ITE.