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What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 10:07 pm
by chitown825
Tier 2 (80-90) regional law school
Top 10%, top law review, strong resume (no full time WE), good social and interviewing skills.

Basically, nobody came to my school's OCI this year. It's not certain yet, but there's a chance I won't have any appealing options for next summer. What are my options at this point if this is the case? Too late to apply anywhere else? Any good agencies/firms/summer programs have late deadlines?

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 9:53 pm
by Bosque
Please tell me you have already started mailing out your resume. Especially since you went INTO OCI knowing (or at least you should have known) that there was almost no chance you were getting a job from it. If you haven't been, I have no sympathy for you.

If you have been, and have just not heard anything positive yet, I wouldn't give up hope entirely. Some firms are just now starting to go through their mailed resumes to find the students they want to plug the holes in their summer classes with, having exhausted their crop of good looking OCI candidates.

That said, keep on applying. Never stop applying until you have a job you like. I would try and list off some specific options you might not have thought of, but I don't really know what you are interested in.

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 9:57 pm
by Anonymous User
Some fed gov positions have late deadlines. Check out Arizona's handbook for more info. Also, some mid-sized firms have just begun their hiring process.

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 9:58 pm
by MrKappus
What's a "top law review"?

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 10:06 pm
by chitown825
MrKappus wrote:What's a "top law review"?
My school has multiple law journals, one is by far the hardest to get onto

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 10:07 pm
by Aqualibrium
MrKappus wrote:What's a "top law review"?
Flagship journal at school with multiple journals?

*disregard if you knew that, and just wanted to poke fun at his language.

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 10:08 pm
by MrKappus
chitown825 wrote:
MrKappus wrote:What's a "top law review"?
My school has multiple law journals, one is by far the hardest to get onto
Haha that's called "law review."

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 10:13 pm
by Bosque
MrKappus wrote:
chitown825 wrote:
MrKappus wrote:What's a "top law review"?
My school has multiple law journals, one is by far the hardest to get onto
Haha that's called "law review."
Yes yes, as opposed to a "journal." We all understood what he meant, lets move on.

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 10:17 pm
by MrKappus
Bosque wrote:
MrKappus wrote:
chitown825 wrote:
MrKappus wrote:What's a "top law review"?
My school has multiple law journals, one is by far the hardest to get onto
Haha that's called "law review."
Yes yes, as opposed to a "journal." We all understood what he meant, lets move on.
Sorry to waste your busybusy interwebz time, Mr. supersweet avatar. I asked b/c there are "top law review," as LR's are ranked, but none of them are at T80-90 schools. @OP: what do you want people to tell you? Start mass-mailing, even though its way late in that game. You won't have much success at V100 firms, but midlaw seems to hire throughout the year, depending on the region. Good luck.

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 11:14 pm
by 20160810
Bosque wrote:Please tell me you have already started mailing out your resume. Especially since you went INTO OCI knowing (or at least you should have known) that there was almost no chance you were getting a job from it. If you haven't been, I have no sympathy for you.

If you have been, and have just not heard anything positive yet, I wouldn't give up hope entirely. Some firms are just now starting to go through their mailed resumes to find the students they want to plug the holes in their summer classes with, having exhausted their crop of good looking OCI candidates.

That said, keep on applying. Never stop applying until you have a job you like. I would try and list off some specific options you might not have thought of, but I don't really know what you are interested in.
This is about right. OP is the classic example of someone (great grades at a bad law school) who is likely to not do well at OCI but who might be a VERY strong candidate for direct mailings to smaller firms in markets w/ties. If you haven't been mailing start yesterday.

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 11:23 pm
by Aqualibrium
SBL wrote:
Bosque wrote:Please tell me you have already started mailing out your resume. Especially since you went INTO OCI knowing (or at least you should have known) that there was almost no chance you were getting a job from it. If you haven't been, I have no sympathy for you.

If you have been, and have just not heard anything positive yet, I wouldn't give up hope entirely. Some firms are just now starting to go through their mailed resumes to find the students they want to plug the holes in their summer classes with, having exhausted their crop of good looking OCI candidates.

That said, keep on applying. Never stop applying until you have a job you like. I would try and list off some specific options you might not have thought of, but I don't really know what you are interested in.
This is about right. OP is the classic example of someone (great grades at a bad law school) who is likely to not do well at OCI but who might be a VERY strong candidate for direct mailings to smaller firms in markets w/ties. If you haven't been mailing start yesterday.

Hell op would have had a shot at bigger firms as well (by bigger I mean secondary market big law shops...I never quite know what TLS people mean when they say smaller firms). With top 10% and law review, if he had sent out stuff late July to early August, someone would have bit and at least given him an interview.

I also still dispute the importance of ties. I applied to several markets, only two of which I had ties to, and got offers from all of them. Being a lawyer is about oral and written advocacy; if you can get into the room, you should be able to convince a firm that you are worth their time regardless of if it's the first time you've ever even set foot in their city (and I had to do that several times).

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 11:45 pm
by MrKappus
Aqualibrium wrote:Hell op would have had a shot at bigger firms as well (by bigger I mean secondary market big law shops...I never quite know what TLS people mean when they say smaller firms). With top 10% and law review, if he had sent out stuff late July to early August, someone would have bit and at least given him an interview.

I also still dispute the importance of ties. I applied to several markets, only two of which I had ties to, and got offers from all of them. Being a lawyer is about oral and written advocacy; if you can get into the room, you should be able to convince a firm that you are worth their time regardless of if it's the first time you've ever even set foot in their city (and I had to do that several times).
Probably true except for SF and DC, and super-tight mid-mkt firms w/ really small SA classes.

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 8:01 am
by dscummy21
MrKappus wrote:
Bosque wrote:
MrKappus wrote:
chitown825 wrote:
Sorry to waste your busybusy interwebz time, Mr. supersweet avatar. I asked b/c there are "top law review," as LR's are ranked, but none of them are at T80-90 schools. @OP: what do you want people to tell you? Start mass-mailing, even though its way late in that game. You won't have much success at V100 firms, but midlaw seems to hire throughout the year, depending on the region. Good luck.
Pompous jerk.

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:19 pm
by rdt854
Anonymous User wrote:
MrKappus wrote:
Bosque wrote:
Sorry to waste your busybusy interwebz time, Mr. supersweet avatar. I asked b/c there are "top law review," as LR's are ranked, but none of them are at T80-90 schools. @OP: what do you want people to tell you? Start mass-mailing, even though its way late in that game. You won't have much success at V100 firms, but midlaw seems to hire throughout the year, depending on the region. Good luck.
Pompous jerk.
Yeah dude your an asshole

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:53 pm
by drew
Bosque wrote:
MrKappus wrote:
chitown825 wrote:
MrKappus wrote:What's a "top law review"?
My school has multiple law journals, one is by far the hardest to get onto
Haha that's called "law review."
Yes yes, as opposed to a "journal." We all understood what he meant, lets move on.
And while a huge douche bag, he's still wrong.

http://www.georgetownlawjournal.org/

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:59 pm
by vanwinkle
dscummy21 wrote:Pompous jerk.
rdt854 wrote:Yeah dude your an asshole
A lot of unnecessary anonymity going on in this thread.

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:12 pm
by Bosque
I have no issue with Kappus, let me get that on the record in case there is more anonymous posting. Especially if I can keep that nickname.

Re: What to do if no good options from OCI?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 2:43 pm
by MrKappus
I'm not sure what I did that was pompous or douchey, but sorry for offending everyone's delicate sensibilities. Sheesh. That G-town link explicitly states it's the school's "flagship law review," so I'm uncertain as to what that post was meant to prove, except that I'm "still [not] wrong." You'd think a Gamecocks fan'd be in a better mood this week.