Advice for getting an offer from Summer firm? Forum

[Ajren Robben]

Where is this bubble you guys grew up in? Drink as much as you want as long as long as you know your own limit before you start acting foolish. If you're not one of these sheltered souls, you should know damn well where that is for yourself.

I guess you didn't get my reference.

Also I generally agree with what you are saying here. But for the purpose of maximizing chances of getting the offer and without knowing anything more about the OP, one drink rule is still my advice. One doesn't have to be a sheltered soul to make a decision not to get drunk for a period of what is essentially a 6 to 10 week interview for a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity.

[20160810]

Make sure you send a lot of witty all users emails to the whole firm. Talk about politics and religion with everyone. Never order less than 2 drinks at lunch. If you have two monitors, make sure that one is always showing porno (weird German stuff only - the vanilla sites are how people get no offered.)

[fats provolone]

don't fuck up

[totesTheGoat]

If I was a hiring partner (i'm clearly not) and I wanted some good working people that I enjoyed being around to work for me, if I noticed someone only have 1 drink at happy hour, i'd think they're weird as shit.

Frankly, I wouldn't want to work for a firm where the hiring partner was such an alcoholic that he decided I was "weird as shit" for not drinking enough at a work event.

I also think the 1 drink rule is a bit draconian. I do 1 drink per hour plus 1. If it's a one hour event, I drink 2. If it's 2 hours, I drink 3. If I'm going through drinks so fast that 1/hr + 1 seems restrictive, I know I'm being anti-social and I need to go talk with people instead of sucking down booze.

Any way you slice it, the bottom line is don't get drunk and don't become anti-social. Drink enough to make your introvert side relax, but not so much that you start talking about getting a tattoo on your ass.

[Anonymous User]

Original anon -

thanks for the advice thus far, for the alcohol stuff I'm not particularly worried about getting drunk and making an ass out of myself. Drink but don't get drunk seems intuitively correct.

More worried about awkward day to day interactions, both in the office and at social events. I have a tendency to get nervous and terse up and I'm worried that will make people not want to be around me.

[inchipwetrust]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... ciate+2015

[andythefir]

I was at a firm where they had 2 2L summers and told us they would maybe keep 1 of us. They kept neither, and to my knowledge they haven't kept any summers in 5 years. Obviously that firm acted in bad faith, but I could have done a lot more to make them want to keep me.

(1) if you're at a firm with <10 summers it wouldn't surprise me if they're much more casual about hiring every summer than other firms. You may not get a straight answer about how many they'll keep, but junior associates can give you a feel for the situation.

(2) obviously catch every typo/error you can, but unless you really screw up something your personality is much more important to whether you get hired. I personally wore myself out spending 40+ hours (not every hour billed) on what should have taken 15-20 because I was so consumed with not submitting something with an error. They're not going to give you case-turning motions. You'll be doing hey-I've-always-wondered type projects.

(3) being a summer associate was probably the most awkward experience of my life. You're pulled in so many different directions, told conflicting things, encouraged to do opposite things (what are you doing here at 5:30? You're a summer!). There's really nothing you can do, other than try to build relationships to get some good Intel.

(4) there's nothing specific anyone can prepare you for. You've got to wing it and realize you'll be pushed academically, personally, and socially.

(5) if your firm is anything like mine, have an eye on whether you actually want to be there. Every single person at the firm where I worked hated their job and most hated their life. It was a toxic environment and I'm grateful they didn't hire me.

[20160810]

Original anon -

thanks for the advice thus far, for the alcohol stuff I'm not particularly worried about getting drunk and making an ass out of myself. Drink but don't get drunk seems intuitively correct.

More worried about awkward day to day interactions, both in the office and at social events. I have a tendency to get nervous and terse up and I'm worried that will make people not want to be around me.

Figure out if there is an intercom function on your office phone. If there is, make sure you use it to announce to your floor whenever you have an erection.

[Ajren Robben]

Original anon -

thanks for the advice thus far, for the alcohol stuff I'm not particularly worried about getting drunk and making an ass out of myself. Drink but don't get drunk seems intuitively correct.

More worried about awkward day to day interactions, both in the office and at social events. I have a tendency to get nervous and terse up and I'm worried that will make people not want to be around me.

I am the same way. I agree with the poster above that SA was one of the most stressful experiences particularly because of all the awkwardness.

I would say, the first thing you gotta do is prepare yourself that there will be a lot of awkwardness, especially around partners. The reason for it is that everyone knows that an SA is just an extended interview. This overhanging context really spoils what otherwise could have been pleasant interactions.

You will have no choice but to just get through it. Focus on avoiding big faux pas like interrupting a partner, cursing, burping/farting, telling inappropriate jokes, etc. Another thing I would recommend is to learn to carry on a short (meaningless) five sentence conversations, to wrap them up, and to leave gracefully. This will be useful while running into people in: breakroom, hallway, elevator, printing, etc. Just have a few phrases and topics prepared for those situations.

I would also advise interacting with support staff. Although they are also evaluating you, their say probably counts for less than the lawyers'. You will feel less pressure and will probably be able to open up more. That way your secretary can put in a good word for you with the partners in terms that you normally you are not that awkward.

As a general rule, listen more than talk, smile, ask questions. Basically act like a guy on the first date. Have a story or to prepared that you can bust out at an opportune time.

Good luck. It will be tough, but you will get through it. Also know that for a full-time associate, most of that tension and awkwardness goes away almost from the start.