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I think it's better to make a good impression early, before the interviewer gets tired and hungry.

Sometimes, you just don't have much of a choice. I'd like to think that interviewers give a fair chance to everyone they speak with.

ak362 wrote:Sometimes, you just don't have much of a choice. I'd like to think that interviewers give a fair chance to everyone they speak with.

I'd like to think a lot of things - doesn't make them true.

I think you want to be first. You want to be in a "memory" spot, which pretty much leaves first, right before lunch, right after lunch, or last. Of those, being first gets to set the bar, gets the interviewer at their freshest, might get you out of a tough question s/he thinks of midday, etc.

early while they (and you) are still fresh and when you do a great job they have to compare everyone else to you all day.
otherwise, late. Be the last impression they have, maybe draw the interview out longer than you would be able to otherwise and leave them as they have that lovely done-for-the-day feeling.
Never in the middle.

wiseowl wrote:I think you want to be first. You want to be in a "memory" spot, which pretty much leaves first, right before lunch, right after lunch, or last. Of those, being first gets to set the bar, gets the interviewer at their freshest, might get you out of a tough question s/he thinks of midday, etc.

Even with potential hunger pangs?

Also, just food for thought, but wouldn't one of the drawbacks of going first be that you might not be remembered 19 interviews later (or however many)? Also, there are only so many first/last of the day interviews that you could schedule. I've asked a few folks about this, and of course, there's a divergence of opinion.

Of all of the things that could possibly matter, this has to be near the bottom of the list.

disco_barred wrote:Of all of the things that could possibly matter, this has to be near the bottom of the list.

Not really - I usually try to vie for the 9:00AM or earlier slot to prove to the employer that you can make it to the office on time with little fuss. You can prob. also get away with, "Yeah, I wake up every morning at 4AM to shower with ICE COLD water and do 100 hail marries while planning my day out for the next 2 years. Every morning..."

ResolutePear wrote:

disco_barred wrote:Of all of the things that could possibly matter, this has to be near the bottom of the list.

Not really - I usually try to vie for the 9:00AM or earlier slot to prove to the employer that you can make it to the office on time with little fuss. You can prob. also get away with, "Yeah, I wake up every morning at 4AM to shower with ICE COLD water and do 100 hail marries while planning my day out for the next 2 years. Every morning..."

Again, on the spectrum of things that could matter, including the shininess of your shoes, the weather that day, your astrological sign, your GPA, the school you came from, your demeanor, your work experience, the belt you chose, what paper you printed your resume on, how firm your handshake is, what kind of deodorant you use, what you eat for breakfast, your waist size, how tall you are, your undergraduate record, your eye color, your ethnicity, whether or not you're married, your shirt color, your teeth, the classes you chose 2L fall, what you did 1L summer, whether or not you have acne, your arm strength, the width of your shoulders, etc. I can't imagine the mother fucking time you choose to interview with the firm being worthy of a hell of a lot of consideration. The best time to interview with a firm is whenever you can interview with the firm. If you have options, pick a time that fits in your schedule.

disco_barred wrote:

ResolutePear wrote:

disco_barred wrote:Of all of the things that could possibly matter, this has to be near the bottom of the list.

Not really - I usually try to vie for the 9:00AM or earlier slot to prove to the employer that you can make it to the office on time with little fuss. You can prob. also get away with, "Yeah, I wake up every morning at 4AM to shower with ICE COLD water and do 100 hail marries while planning my day out for the next 2 years. Every morning..." /sarcasm

Again, on the spectrum of things that could matter, including the shininess of your shoes, the weather that day, your astrological sign, your GPA, the school you came from, your demeanor, your work experience, the belt you chose, what paper you printed your resume on, how firm your handshake is, what kind of deodorant you use, what you eat for breakfast, your waist size, how tall you are, your undergraduate record, your eye color, your ethnicity, whether or not you're married, your shirt color, your teeth, the classes you chose 2L fall, what you did 1L summer, whether or not you have acne, your arm strength, the width of your shoulders, etc. I can't imagine the mother fucking time you choose to interview with the firm being worthy of a hell of a lot of consideration. The best time to interview with a firm is whenever you can interview with the firm. If you have options, pick a time that fits in your schedule.

There. I fixed that.

ResolutePear wrote: There. I fixed that.

Thanks. I am thick and mildly retarded.

disco_barred wrote:

ResolutePear wrote: There. I fixed that.

Thanks. I am thick and mildly retarded.

No worries - I enjoy a rant as much as.. well - I was going to say the next guy.. but prob. as much as O'Reily maybe?

If your interview is mid-afternoon you're fucked. Better call career services right now and ask if they can schedule you early in the morning.

It may not be as inconsequential as you might think. Recent research suggests that all evaluators exhibit a primacy effect in preference and more expert evaluators exhibit a recency effect.

masochist wrote:It may not be as inconsequential as you might think. Recent research suggests that all evaluators exhibit a primacy effect in preference and more expert evaluators exhibit a recency effect.

I was washing a dish... slippers? fuck slippers! I was washing a dish and he...

Mens Health tells me mid morning... late enough so the interviewer is completely woken up and done with the "morning" routine but early enough he's not yet thinking about lunch.

We are talking screening interviews here right? I say middle. In the beginning, both you and the interviewer are stretching your legs. Neither really is into it yet, so it can leave you with some lackluster interviews. The end is out too. Sure, you get the chance to leave a last impression. but at that point, both you and (more relevantly) the interviewer are so tired that you really just want to be done. The interviewer may be thinking more about that bed in his hotel room than what you have to say, which could make you more forgettable.

In the middle, both of you are hitting your stride. It is early enough that the interviewer is still engaged, and late enough that you should have impressing the pants off of people down to a science. And for some reason people think they won't remember the people in the middle, so if you DO leave an impression, it will be all the stronger.

disco_barred wrote:

ResolutePear wrote:

disco_barred wrote:Of all of the things that could possibly matter, this has to be near the bottom of the list.

Not really - I usually try to vie for the 9:00AM or earlier slot to prove to the employer that you can make it to the office on time with little fuss. You can prob. also get away with, "Yeah, I wake up every morning at 4AM to shower with ICE COLD water and do 100 hail marries while planning my day out for the next 2 years. Every morning..."

Again, on the spectrum of things that could matter, including the shininess of your shoes, the weather that day, your astrological sign, your GPA, the school you came from, your demeanor, your work experience, the belt you chose, what paper you printed your resume on, how firm your handshake is, what kind of deodorant you use, what you eat for breakfast, your waist size, how tall you are, your undergraduate record, your eye color, your ethnicity, whether or not you're married, your shirt color, your teeth, the classes you chose 2L fall, what you did 1L summer, whether or not you have acne, your arm strength, the width of your shoulders, etc. I can't imagine the mother fucking time you choose to interview with the firm being worthy of a hell of a lot of consideration. The best time to interview with a firm is whenever you can interview with the firm. If you have options, pick a time that fits in your schedule.

Eh, I think it matters enough that, if given the choice, I am going to stick my most important interviews in the middle.

But it is not worth worrying about if you are not given a choice. Which you hardly ever are. So this whole exercise is just academic.

disco_barred wrote:Of all of the things that could possibly matter, this has to be near the bottom of the list.

I'm in this camp. I've heard cogent and passionate arguments from law students whom I respect in favor of all three of these options. Focus on being the best interview, regardless of what time of day it is.

if you can't make yourself memorable enough to get a callback it is 100% not related to the time of day that you interviewed. Rather, it is 100% tied to how poorly you conveyed your enthusiasm and research about the firm and / or your paper credentials were not up to snuff.

SBL wrote:

disco_barred wrote:Of all of the things that could possibly matter, this has to be near the bottom of the list.

I'm in this camp. I've heard cogent and passionate arguments from law students whom I respect in favor of all three of these options. Focus on being the best interview, regardless of what time of day it is.

.

Every time I've ever interviewed in the last slot of the day for an employer it's lasted more than an hour and I've gotten a call back.

A career services person at Cornell told me that first is best, then last, then before a break or right after a break.