Interviewing from the young associate's POV Forum

[Anonymous User]

I wanted to respond to these two points. The first thing you say is VERY true. Firms are sort of self-conscious beings and they don't want other people's castoffs or rejections. If a firm asks you where else are you doing callbacks, if you reply, "Only place I got a callback!" you are nearly sure to be dinged. 100%. You're better answering anything else but this. I agree not answering questions is bad, but it's not the worst thing. Try to be vague yet specific. "Just some firms here in NYC like Chardbourne." .

I got asked this question by all 4 interviewers during my callback, and I told every one of them that they were my only callback. One of them even said "that's good news for us!" Offer.

It's probably still good advice to stay vague, but just wanted to let other people who gave this answer know that it's not a death sentence.

I go to NYU and given how my interviewers responded to how I answered this question (small list of firms), I'd say saying that this is my only callback would be a death sentence. People expect us to have a lot.

[IAFG]

I've said it before but people rarely ask "where else have you gotten a CB?" Usually they ask where else you're "interviewing" and you can just name firms you screened with in the same market.

[Anonymous User]

I've said it before but people rarely ask "where else have you gotten a CB?" Usually they ask where else you're "interviewing" and you can just name firms you screened with in the same market.

That response is pretty disingenuous. Also, most firms specifically asked me about the CB stage. They would usually ask me if I was just in town for the day or if I was in town for the week.

[IAFG]

I've said it before but people rarely ask "where else have you gotten a CB?" Usually they ask where else you're "interviewing" and you can just name firms you screened with in the same market.

That response is pretty disingenuous. Also, most firms specifically asked me about the CB stage. They would usually ask me if I was just in town for the day or if I was in town for the week.

If you're in the position to be choosing between being vaguely "disingenuous" or admitting you only have one CB...

[MarkRenton]

I've said it before but people rarely ask "where else have you gotten a CB?" Usually they ask where else you're "interviewing" and you can just name firms you screened with in the same market.

That response is pretty disingenuous. Also, most firms specifically asked me about the CB stage. They would usually ask me if I was just in town for the day or if I was in town for the week.

If you're in the position to be choosing between being vaguely "disingenuous" or admitting you only have one CB...

Absolutely this. I can only think of one time where I was really flat out asked this question. I mean, getting asked where else you're interviewing in terms of region or cities is extremely common. But one firm did ask me what firms I had already gotten offers from and it really through me through a loop. I felt like I was playing blackjack and when the other guy was deciding whether to fold, asking to see my cards first.

[Anonymous User]

I wanted to respond to these two points. The first thing you say is VERY true. Firms are sort of self-conscious beings and they don't want other people's castoffs or rejections. If a firm asks you where else are you doing callbacks, if you reply, "Only place I got a callback!" you are nearly sure to be dinged. 100%. You're better answering anything else but this. I agree not answering questions is bad, but it's not the worst thing. Try to be vague yet specific. "Just some firms here in NYC like Chardbourne." .

I got asked this question by all 4 interviewers during my callback, and I told every one of them that they were my only callback. One of them even said "that's good news for us!" Offer.

It's probably still good advice to stay vague, but just wanted to let other people who gave this answer know that it's not a death sentence.

FWIW, I was asked this at a CB, and I semi-truthfully answered (names of other firms, but didn't give location unless it was obvious that firm is not in the same city). I also told them that I had an expiring offer in 2.5 weeks. They called a week later, saying that I was in a "hold plus" pile, and that they wouldn't be able to get back to me before 2.5 weeks was up. I ended up accepting the other offer and withdrawing my application, so I'll never know if I would have gotten an offer. But I wonder if they didn't push my application along because they knew I had CBs at firms ranked higher (whether that's relevant or not) and more well-regarded in this city. If I could do it again, I would have given just a couple of names, and only ones that are peer firms.