Asking About Recession during Interviews/Callbacks? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Lightly asked about potential downturn in two screeners and got callbacks. Probably helped that I was interviewing with Rx Partners, turned into nice conversations on counter-cyclical work and how practice changes depending on economic health.

So, from their perspective, you lightly asked about a potential upturn. So the advice about not asking about downturns stands.

Res is right, but this is also beside the point. Why in a forum for lawyers do people continue to misunderstand formal logic? Just because you can ask about a recession and get a CB/offer doesn't mean it won't get others dinged. Just because Johnny down the street jumped from the second story window and landed unscathed doesn't mean you won't break both your legs.

Swim at your own risk, but a few anecdotes don't dismantle the conventional wisdom that it's just not worth the risk. There are plenty of other intelligent questions you can ask that won't risk offending someone.

[Anonymous User]

imagine thinking a firm would tell a law student that it has anything other than good financials

that's really what this thread boils down to

edit: in other words, as said above, there are plenty of other intelligent questions you can ask that won't risk offending someone. accidental anon. BrowsingTLS.

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

I’ll supplement the correct responses ITT by stating that everything you do before the offer that is not either (1) making yourself look good or (2) letting the interviewer talk about something that makes them feel good is a waste of time. Save anything else, anything at all, for a post-offer conversation.

If you asked me this question, I would tell you that no one knows where the economy is headed in three months, much less two years, but my firm would be fine with, maybe even welcome, a small slowdown in everyone’s workload. More serious than that, they’ll cut back on hiring. More serious than that, they’ll start stealthing low performers (they told me recently they could “easily trim the fat by 10%”). And if it’s really bad, we’ll fire people in waves (as will all but a handful of Biglaw firms) and juniors will be first on the chopping block.

Which is probably why they don’t let me do these anymore.

[papermateflair]

I’ll supplement the correct responses ITT by stating that everything you do before the offer that is not either (1) making yourself look good or (2) letting the interviewer talk about something that makes them feel good is a waste of time. Save anything else, anything at all, for a post-offer conversation.

Agree with this. I do OCI interviews and if a candidate asked me about this, I wouldn't really know how to answer - the last recession where there were layoffs across the industry was in what, 2009? Half of the people interviewing you won't have been at the current firm and wouldn't have seen it happen. I wasn't at my current firm in 2009, I wasn't even a lawyer in 2009.

Keep in mind that at OCI you have 15 minutes to convince the screeners that you are interested in their firm and want to come learn more about them. Attorneys are seeing 15 or more candidates in a day, and everyone blurs together except the great ones and the bad ones. Asking about how the firm will handle a recession at OCI isn't going to get you a response that will be helpful (even if you're interviewing with someone who knows what happened last time, they're not going to tell you all the details!), and it takes away from the time you have to ask things that could distinguish you from the other candidates. I don't want to say it's a waste of time to ask that question at OCI, but it's not the best use of your time.

At your callbacks, your goal is to get an offer (unless you've already gotten a bunch of offers and you're playing with house money, in which case you do you). Once you have the offer, attorneys will likely reach out to you to offer to answer any other questions you have. If you really want an answer to this, I would wait until that point, but think about asking it in a positive way like others have said (not "who gets fired first in a recession" but "how does the firm structure business to weather difficult financial times" or something like that).

[Dahl]

I did OCI in 2008, when things were starting to get pretty bad at firms so this probably impacted my experience. But I was going through my resume during a screener (had a decently significant career before law school) and was explaining how being laid off from my first job out of college made me fairly risk averse. I in no way asked about the firm and layoffs. But the associate got really put off and seemed annoyed, and asked why I was so focused on lay offs (which I didn’t think I was). In a way it was good to see that reaction because something was making him stressed. But in any case I didn’t get a callback.

I don’t think you’ll get any useful info in terms of direct answers though.

[Anonymous User]

A kid just asked me how the firm handles challenges. Don't do that. Just makes the vibe get weird.

[Anonymous User]

A kid just asked me how the firm handles challenges. Don't do that. Just makes the vibe get weird.

lol I’m still in disbelief that anyone is even remotely defending asking this question.

best case you get some canned non-answer about how the firm is well-managed, strong practice groups, etc., more likely (worst) case is people think you’re weird.

even on a second look post-offer I wouldn’t ask this.

[Anonymous User]

I think you could maybe ask how the firm handled the previous recession - only after an offer, not during interviews (it also doesn't matter until you get an offer). But that requires you to be talking to people who were actually there at the time, they could still just lie, and what they did in the past doesn't necessarily tell you what they'd do now. It just seems like it's the most concrete specific thing you can ask - asking what they would plan to do in the future is so speculative and contingent on information no one currently knows.

[Anonymous User]

A kid just asked me how the firm handles challenges. Don't do that. Just makes the vibe get weird.

lol I’m still in disbelief that anyone is even remotely defending asking this question.

best case you get some canned non-answer about how the firm is well-managed, strong practice groups, etc., more likely (worst) case is people think you’re weird.

even on a second look post-offer I wouldn’t ask this.

I wouldn't auto ding for this but kid wasn't that impressive to begin with and this sure didn't help. Probably got bad advice from career services.

[Anonymous User]

I agree that it's a question more for a second look, but can't you do your own research even then? https://www.reddit.com/r/biglaw/comment ... es_in_the/

[enibs]

I don’t have anything to add to the other posts about what an obviously wretched idea it is to ask this question during a screening or callback interview. My question is why so many Career Services Offices are so totally lame. Far from the first time I’ve heard laughably bad advice from Career Services and I’m sure far from the last.

[Anonymous User]

A kid just asked me how the firm handles challenges. Don't do that. Just makes the vibe get weird.

I got almost this exact question today and now it makes it even more likely to me that the career services people are suggesting this as a question. They need to stop that.

[Anonymous User]

Agree with both prev comments, career services are so bad. Actively giving bad advice. From questions to ask to anecdotes to tell, to resume formatting.

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

A kid just asked me how the firm handles challenges. Don't do that. Just makes the vibe get weird.

This genius is either (1) evaluating if the firm has the perseverance and dynamism needed to handle him, or (2) proving his superiority by stumping you.

[Anonymous User]

I don’t have anything to add to the other posts about what an obviously wretched idea it is to ask this question during a screening or callback interview. My question is why so many Career Services Offices are so totally lame. Far from the first time I’ve heard laughably bad advice from Career Services and I’m sure far from the last.

This. OP which CS is saying this? You shouldn't trust anything else they say; just listen to TLS and you're golden

[Anonymous User]

I go to a HYS law school, and my career services counselor flat out volunteered that it would be a good idea to talk about the upcoming recession in our upcoming interviews. I hadn't even thought about it until I met with my career services.

[Anonymous User]

I go to a HYS law school, and my career services counselor flat out volunteered that it would be a good idea to talk about the upcoming recession in our upcoming interviews. I hadn't even thought about it until I met with my career services.

YSC or just H?

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

I go to a HYS law school, and my career services counselor flat out volunteered that it would be a good idea to talk about the upcoming recession in our upcoming interviews. I hadn't even thought about it until I met with my career services.

And that is why they work at a law school rather than in the real world

[nixy]

I go to a HYS law school, and my career services counselor flat out volunteered that it would be a good idea to talk about the upcoming recession in our upcoming interviews. I hadn't even thought about it until I met with my career services.

And that is why they work at a law school rather than in the real world

Yeah, exactly. I guess if you feel so confident you’ll get a job even if you ask, or don’t want the job unless they answer that question, go for it - your career office may just assume that HYS status makes you invincible, but that seems a little misguided. I think it makes more sense to wait till you get an offer, then potentially ask around as part of a follow up.

[Anonymous User]

I think others have said as much, but it bears repeating now that this has been revived.

In the screener/callback stage you have one objective: make it as easy as possible for every interviewer to like you, and thus want to hire you. If there are any Virginia alums like me here, K-Don ingrained this concept into every fiber of your being. The only risks you take are the ones that have a high likelihood of putting you ahead of the pack. In every other way you don't want to stand out. Could you get hired somewhere with a Winnie the Pooh tie and a pink suit? Maybe. But why do it?

One big part of this is showing firms that if they offer you, there's a high likelihood that you'll accept. I'm in a secondary city, so my main objective in interviews is to see whether you actually want to work here. If I catch a hint that you're more interested in other cities, I note that in my review. In that vein, if you want to ask a hard hitting question, you better be sure it paints you in the right light (the bump in the interviewer's assessment of your knowledge/smarts is worth the risk they think you're rude) and doesn't imply you have doubts about the firm. But I just don't see how asking about a recession is going to be a good thing. It's certainly not going to make them feel good (nobody likes worrying about how the firm will fare in a recession), which, by the transitive property, increases the risk they will feel bad about you, too. Just look up that Yale study where holding nice warm coffee in an elevator changed people's opinions. Further, it's also going to suggest you're worried the firm won't be able to handle a recession, which makes you a flight risk after the offer.

Maybe you think you can come up with some hyper specific question about how a recession might impact some unique rule/practice in some niche practice that shows you know your shit. But really I doubt most law students have the perspective or experience needed to ask something like that tactfully. And if you get it wrong you look like a know-it-all. There are so many other generic topics that are less risky than a potential recession, and even more good questions to ask particular interviewers that shows you've done your homework on them and the firm. So there's pretty much no reason to run the risk of offending someone.

That's completely different from the offer stage. After that point, firms have invested resources in recruiting you, and they want to collect on that investment. So this is when you have leeway to ask those hard hitting questions that you held back during the interviews. General rule of don't be weird still applies, but ask whatever the hell you want. If you want to know what they did last recession, go for it. If you want to know about the firm's financial health, go for it. How many people has the firm let go this year? Go ahead and ask. You can get all your dumb recession questions (that nobody has answers to anyway) semi-answered here, so just save them.

[nixy]

Yup. And the questions are all moot if you don’t get an offer anyway.