Law firm recruiter answering questions for a bit Forum

[lawfirmrecruiter]

Earlier in this thread, you said you looked at all social media websites to screen applicants. What kind of behavior would you consider a red flag?

Poll dancing, beer pong ....

[lawfirmrecruiter]

Question -- I had a call back today at a firm at the same time as a peer of mine. He got an offer later this afternoon, and I havent heard. Does this mean I have no shot?

Not at all. Just depends on their process.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

LFR -- to echo what everyone else has already said, thanks for taking some time to answer questions and provide advice.

EIW is coming up next week at my school, and I'm struggling a bit to come up with appropriate questions for the interviewer. Many of the firms I'll be interviewing with already have extensive info on their websites about how SAs are assigned work, what kind of training they receive, and similar info for junior associates. Asking questions with answers readily available on the firm website is, I've been told repeatedly, a no-no.

Would it be kosher or overly pushy if I asked the interviewer a question such as "I noticed from your bio on the firm's website that you participated in XYZ deal/case. Can you tell me how junior associates were staffed or assigned on this deal/case?"

Ok, or overly aggressive?

Not overly aggressive at all. Good direction to take.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

ention?


Depends on your qualifications.

So if the candidate has a gpa that is lower than the firm's standard but got an interview through connection and had an amazing interview the candidate still wouldn't be in contention?

Not necessarily.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

Im a 3l going in for an interview soon. The firm emailed me and told me to stop by their office for a 1hr interview. Is that a "callback" interview or 1st round interview?

This is probably a callback. Good luck!

[lawfirmrecruiter]

What is the average length of a well executed cover letter? How long is too long? How short is too short?

A cover letter should never be longer than one page. Generally they should be 3-4 paragraphs that introduce you, explain interest in my firm and location, and wrap up with contact information.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

Here's a question. I have not-so-great grades, but an extremely impressive and compelling resume, which means I also interview very well. So much so that I've greatly outperformed my GPA and have offers/callbacks going into OCI.

Grades have not come up in any of my interviews; in fact, most interviewers haven't had transcripts handy throughout. That said, I'm kind of stuck in the V20-V50 range, and I was wondering if, for the super-selective firms, I should just address the issue up front and own it--as opposed to leaving a good impression in the interview room before leaving them to mull over a crappy transcript.

I've surveyed lawyers, OCS, and others, and results have been all over the place. Would like to hear your perspective as well.

I'd wait for them to bring it up. Especially if you can create a good rapport in the interview. There are many other factors in being a great lawyer beyond grades!

[lawfirmrecruiter]

Question I think you may have missed a few pages back.

how do firms view you if you were top 10%, but dropped to top 25% due to summer classes?
grades just came out, and although they are not bad, they dropped my overall GPA outside of top 10%.
However, I am told by the CSO that I am still supposed to put top 10% on my resume (w/ the honors), but I am supposed to update the new GPA in my transcript.
I understand the GPA has dropped, but it would be inaccurate to relate the new GPA to the "old" class grade approximation.
How will firms view this new GPA?

Thanks!

This is a hard one. Let me think about it.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

Sorry if this was already asked earlier ITT, but how quickly would you say your firm gives callbacks, and do the credentials of a particular student impact how much time passes between a screening interview & a callback? I know callback time can vary a lot between firms, but I was wondering if students with less-than-stellar credentials (median grades, no significant/impressive WE, no LR, etc.) would need to wait longer for callbacks than honors/LR people because the hiring partner or committee may not be as quick to sign off on their candidacy.

Hate to give this answer but it depends on the firm's process and these vary greatly. Some firms give rolling offers and will contact LR students first. Others wait all the way until the end of all interviews to consider all applicants at one time.

[theturkeyisfat]

What is the average length of a well executed cover letter? How long is too long? How short is too short?

A cover letter should never be longer than one page. Generally they should be 3-4 paragraphs that introduce you, explain interest in my firm and location, and wrap up with contact information.

How important is it to include information specific to each employer? And how much firm-specific information should there be in the cover letter - one sentence on why it's a good fit? A paragraph?

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Question I think you may have missed a few pages back.

how do firms view you if you were top 10%, but dropped to top 25% due to summer classes?
grades just came out, and although they are not bad, they dropped my overall GPA outside of top 10%.
However, I am told by the CSO that I am still supposed to put top 10% on my resume (w/ the honors), but I am supposed to update the new GPA in my transcript.
I understand the GPA has dropped, but it would be inaccurate to relate the new GPA to the "old" class grade approximation.
How will firms view this new GPA?

Thanks!

This is a hard one. Let me think about it.

Opposite situation: Summer grades took me from Top 25% to Top 15%, but I am only allowed to put top 25% on my resume. Would this help my chances? and should I talk about the increase?

[Anonymous User]

What would an ideal response be to why do you want to work at XXX large firm? I can't come up with a good answer as to why I want to do business/corporate type law because I have yet to take a class in it. Any suggestions?

[Anonymous User]

Sorry if this was already asked earlier ITT, but how quickly would you say your firm gives callbacks, and do the credentials of a particular student impact how much time passes between a screening interview & a callback? I know callback time can vary a lot between firms, but I was wondering if students with less-than-stellar credentials (median grades, no significant/impressive WE, no LR, etc.) would need to wait longer for callbacks than honors/LR people because the hiring partner or committee may not be as quick to sign off on their candidacy.

Hate to give this answer but it depends on the firm's process and these vary greatly. Some firms give rolling offers and will contact LR students first. Others wait all the way until the end of all interviews to consider all applicants at one time.

Thank you! I figured firms vary in their approach to the process, but wanted to see if there was a prevailing mindset among firms to contact LR people first. (I am the anon poster who asked the question, btw.)

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for answering all these questions!
If an interviewee had a horrible GPA (below 3.0) but with his summer class grades he boosted it to very very close to a 3.0 with all As and A-from summer classes should he include his gpa on his new resume (which is also editted for journal participationg and new job experiences) or should he just put the new gpa on an unofficial transcript and hand both to the interviewer?

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for answering all these questions!
If an interviewee had a horrible GPA (below 3.0) but with his summer class grades he boosted it to very very close to a 3.0 with all As and A-from summer classes should he include his gpa on his new resume (which is also editted for journal participationg and new job experiences) or should he just put the new gpa on an unofficial transcript and hand both to the interviewer?

why would you NOT include the new gpa on your resume???

[Anonymous User]

Question I think you may have missed a few pages back.

how do firms view you if you were top 10%, but dropped to top 25% due to summer classes?
grades just came out, and although they are not bad, they dropped my overall GPA outside of top 10%.
However, I am told by the CSO that I am still supposed to put top 10% on my resume (w/ the honors), but I am supposed to update the new GPA in my transcript.
I understand the GPA has dropped, but it would be inaccurate to relate the new GPA to the "old" class grade approximation.
How will firms view this new GPA?

Thanks!

This is a hard one. Let me think about it.

This is the OP of that question.
My pre-summer grades were good enough to grade-on to law review, if that makes any difference.

[Anonymous User]

So, I start interviewing this week and have been trying to figure out how to stand out and get a callback for each firm.

I have good grades, transferred from a T4 to a T14. Made a journal. I'm very personable.

During an interview, how much of my background should I go into? Without giving to much info on here, I grew up on welfare/food stamps in a single parent home (I don't want it to seem like a pitty party because I would rather be unemployed than get a job because of this), worked in factories during high school summers to afford prom and sports, bartended my way through undergrad.

None of this can fit on my resume, but I feel as though this is what makes me not only diverse but motivated to succeed at anything.

How much do I integrate?

[Anonymous User]

What happens after the initial screener?

If a law firm takes awhile to get back to you, does that mean you're at least still in the running for a callback? I've had 11 screeners in the last ten days and so far just 1 callback last week and have heard nothing from the others. I understand it varies by firm, but how would your firm do it? I'm especially curious since I'm targeting midwestern and southern firms, not NYC, CHI, DC etc.

[Anonymous User]

What is the value of a federal magistrate clerkship to a firm if the job isn't in a nearby jurisdiction?

Also, since I would really rather not read through 39 pages of responses (awesome for doing that, btw, thanks recruiter), can someone remind me what sort of firm the recruiter works for?

Thanks to all of you.

EDIT: Found the OP's description.

[Anonymous User]

Earlier in this thread, you said you looked at all social media websites to screen applicants. What kind of behavior would you consider a red flag?

Poll dancing, beer pong ....

Beer Pong? What if youre a very good teammate, you bring enthusiasm to work and are just an amiable player?

[yung]

should we send thank you letter after first round (screener) interviews?

[lawfirmrecruiter]

What happens after the initial screener?

If a law firm takes awhile to get back to you, does that mean you're at least still in the running for a callback? I've had 11 screeners in the last ten days and so far just 1 callback last week and have heard nothing from the others. I understand it varies by firm, but how would your firm do it? I'm especially curious since I'm targeting midwestern and southern firms, not NYC, CHI, DC etc.

Generally, we would not start callbacks until we finished almost all OCI. We would meet to discuss all the candidates from each school and determine who we wanted to bring back. 10 days is not really that long from a firm POV.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

What is the average length of a well executed cover letter? How long is too long? How short is too short?

A cover letter should never be longer than one page. Generally they should be 3-4 paragraphs that introduce you, explain interest in my firm and location, and wrap up with contact information.

How important is it to include information specific to each employer? And how much firm-specific information should there be in the cover letter - one sentence on why it's a good fit? A paragraph?

Thanks!

Ideally, there should be at least one sentence that addresses employer specific info.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

What would an ideal response be to why do you want to work at XXX large firm? I can't come up with a good answer as to why I want to do business/corporate type law because I have yet to take a class in it. Any suggestions?

Well, why do you want to work at xxx large firm? Answer that question for yourself and then phrase it more practically for the firm. Example - If it is for the money, you phrase it that you look forward to working with sophisticated clients in a fast paced environment.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

should we send thank you letter after first round (screener) interviews?

Yes