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I supplemented OCI with a few (10) targeted mailings. These only went out within the last week or so, but, how long is an appropriate time to wait before I can expect responses. None of these firms were outrageous reaches or anything.

sp003k wrote:I supplemented OCI with a few (10) targeted mailings. These only went out within the last week or so, but, how long is an appropriate time to wait before I can expect responses. None of these firms were outrageous reaches or anything.

By targeted do you mean you have some connections to the firm/know people there, targeted your cover letter/resume to the firms partce area, or targeted as in you picked them and sent them resumes?

The thing about unsolicited mailings is they have an extremely low success rate, I've read something like 1-2%. So the best bet is don't get your hopes up. If you do get something great, it's your lucky day, but don't let it get you down if you hear nothing at all.
Think about what do you do when you get a letter in the mail from some company trying to sell you something? 99.9% of the time unless you're actually in the market for that product, you toss it or file it away. Same thing with firms and unsolicited resumes, unless they happen to be looking or you're a stand out or have a connection to the firm, most likely won't go anywhere. Even worse with it was addressed generically to "dear hiring partner" or something.

Not mean to be a Debby downer here, but just to let you know if you get any response your doing better than average. I have had several friends do mass mailing campaigns and hear nothing back and it got to them, they started thinking they would never get a job. It make you feel like you're doing something productive, but odds are its not.

The thing is most of the time it's not worth the effort to send out an unsolicited resume unless by targeted you mean some connection to the firm that will get your paper to the person who actually need to see it and not taken out of circulation at the gate keeper phase.

So good luck, but don't let it get you down if you don't hear anything back.

If you haven't sent out mailings by now, it's probably too late IMO. Hiring partners and committees are very tied up with OCI. The best time to hit them with unsolicited mailing is prior to OCI starting, so you can get on their radar.

I sent out tons last summer in late July and had several callbacks before OCI started. Two of them involved people telling me that they often received such mailings in late August and September, at which point they didn't even look at them.

Anonymous User wrote:If you haven't sent out mailings by now, it's probably too late IMO. Hiring partners and committees are very tied up with OCI. The best time to hit them with unsolicited mailing is prior to OCI starting, so you can get on their radar.

I sent out tons last summer in late July and had several callbacks before OCI started. Two of them involved people telling me that they often received such mailings in late August and September, at which point they didn't even look at them.

I wouldn't say it's too late, but it's getting close to too late fast. I've emailed resumes and cover letters to over 60 firms thus far, and will keep doing so for another week or so. What I've been told is that as long as everything gets in before September 1st, you're generally still A-OK. When you get into September is when things start getting dicey for direct mailers.

I also think that people are unnecessarily pessimistic about the opportunities afforded by circumventing OCI and applying directly with firms. Sure, just emailing someone your resume isn't likely to yield results, but taking a few minutes to write out a relevant cover letter (a little bit about why you like their firm, what things they do you're interested in, and - probably most importantly for firms out of your school's market - why you want to live/work in that area) and send them a writing sample (if requested) goes a long way.

I've had positive responses from a number of firms so far, as well as several outright rejections. However, I don't see this strategy as being a whole lot less successful than OCI bidding. I doubt the 1-2% figure applies to qualified candidates who take the time to put together thoughtful applications to appropriate firms.

And remember: It only takes 1 "yes" to get you a job, so even if the success rate is 2%, you're likely OK if you hit 50 firms. TLDR version: It isn't too late for direct mailing yet, but it will DEFINITELY be too late if you wait until after OCI is over.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:
I also think that people are unnecessarily pessimistic about the opportunities afforded by circumventing OCI and applying directly with firms.

I completely agree with this. Last summer my mailings resulted in 11 callbacks in four states, some of them with Amlaw 200 firms. But in many of those cases it wasn't just a mailing - I made contact with an alumni at a firm or someone I was connected to through a friend, etc. Even the slightest connection often resulted in them willing to give you a deeper look - and once you get a deeper look, that's often all you need to get a callback.