Offers from every CB, taking interviewing questions Forum

[Anonymous User]

The choice you are facing and the way you're deciding seem oddly similar to the problem I'm facing. I wonder if they are the same firms.

If ya wanna talk, email me - decisionsdecisions@hmamail.com

[Anonymous User]

Did you send the all important thank you notes after CB's?

[Anonymous User]

Did you send the all important thank you notes after CB's?

Yep. Handwritten to each interviewer + recruiting coordinator.

[Anonymous User]

What do you write if you don't really remember anything substantial/interesting in the interview?

[tyro]

Your ability to read people and respond accordingly. Did you feel pretty consistent/confident overall with this element or were there some recruiters who seemed tougher to read than others and why?

[Anonymous User]

Did you send the all important thank you notes after CB's?

Yep. Handwritten to each interviewer + recruiting coordinator.

top 20% at CCN, also 6 for 6 at cbs with V10 firms - did not write a single thank-you note.

[Anonymous User]

Did you send the all important thank you notes after CB's?

Yep. Handwritten to each interviewer + recruiting coordinator.

top 20% at CCN, also 6 for 6 at cbs with V10 firms - did not write a single thank-you note.

Haha, I guess I should do a hybrid of you two. What would that be? A single thank you note to the recruiter?

[Anonymous User]

Do any lunches at the firms? If so, any tips?

[Anonymous User]

How specific were your questions to attorneys? I want to litigate, but I don't know what areas I want to specialize in. I told a CB firm that I am interested in IP… but I don't know much about IP :/

[Grizz]

How specific were your questions to attorneys? I want to litigate, but I don't know what areas I want to specialize in. I told a CB firm that I am interested in IP… but I don't know much about IP :/

Assuming the firm had othe large practice groups, why the hell did you say that.

[Anonymous User]

Because IP is interesting and it's the firm's specialty.

[Grizz]

Because IP is interesting and it's the firm's specialty.

Ah okay. I've done something similar with another niche practice. If I get the CB, I will have to do some ridiculous research.

[Anonymous User]

1. What was the best meal you had during a callback?

2. Did you practice fake laughing to prepare? Did you find it to be beneficial for meeting with partners? I've found that practicing a fake chuckle or laugh has gone a long way. I try to think of being Tom Cruise in that scientology movie. Who do you find for inspiration for your laughter?

[Anonymous User]

"Can you tell me more about the content of your interviews?"

It depends. Like you said earlier, I mirror the style of whoever I interview with. Usually, it's the normal introductory fluff + why I went to law school + talk about my "unique" work experience + me asking them questions about their practice area and work. On a couple of occasions, an associate steered the conversation towards less interviewy stuff like what bars they like to go to and things like that, so I went that way with them.

One thing I will say is that I'm not ultra-prepared according to TLS standards (I don't have a list of cases to discuss and my interests are general), but I don't think it has hurt me so far; I don't have a problem keeping the conversation going.

[Anonymous User]

Since u r the CB expert and seem to be able to "read" interviewers, what do u make of this uncomfortable situation I had during a interview at a the CB stage with a partner:

I walk into the partner's office, and I already get this cold reception. I sit down and the first thing he asks me, "so what can I tell u about X firm." I usually have 3-4 questions prepared and I might have made it through the interview with just that BUT everytime I asked a question he would reply with a yes/no answer followed by 2-3 lines at most, and then sit quietly waiting for me to ask another question. After 20 mins of this, I just said do u have any questons for me.

I have been wrapping my head about what this means. This was the CB stage so I presume that the firm had some interest in meeting me? I wonder whether it could be some sort of bias this particular partner had against me from the beginning or whether he does this to all interviewees at the CB stage?

[Anonymous User]

How much of your success do you think is reasonably attributable to your interviewing prowess rather than your paper qualifications? How'd you do at OCI? How'd other Law Review people do at your school?

[09042014]

Why did you only get 6 CB from 10% LR + T14? Everyone I know who has that has 10+ CBs.

Are you sure you didn't get aspie dinged at the screener round for every firm that cares about personality?

Top 10%, LR + T14 + great at interviewing should get you 4/5 of the V5.

[Anonymous User]

Why did you only get 6 CB from 10% LR + T14? Everyone I know who has that has 10+ CBs.

Are you sure you didn't get aspie dinged at the screener round for every firm that cares about personality?

Top 10%, LR + T14 + great at interviewing should get you 4/5 of the V5.

Don't want to be too specific, but I only did 8 screeners. I got 7 CBs, cancelled one.
Received a few offers very quickly, so cancelled other screeners.

[RMstratosphere]

This thread has yet to live up to its potential.

[Anonymous User]

How much of your success do you think is reasonably attributable to your interviewing prowess rather than your paper qualifications? How'd you do at OCI? How'd other Law Review people do at your school?

People with similar stats are doing well, for the most part, but not all of them. I do think interviewing skills are the reason I was so fortunate at the CB stage.

[Anonymous User]

Your ability to read people and respond accordingly. Did you feel pretty consistent/confident overall with this element or were there some recruiters who seemed tougher to read than others and why?

Since u r the CB expert and seem to be able to "read" interviewers, what do u make of this uncomfortable situation I had during a interview at a the CB stage with a partner:

I walk into the partner's office, and I already get this cold reception. I sit down and the first thing he asks me, "so what can I tell u about X firm." I usually have 3-4 questions prepared and I might have made it through the interview with just that BUT everytime I asked a question he would reply with a yes/no answer followed by 2-3 lines at most, and then sit quietly waiting for me to ask another question. After 20 mins of this, I just said do u have any questons for me.

I have been wrapping my head about what this means. This was the CB stage so I presume that the firm had some interest in meeting me? I wonder whether it could be some sort of bias this particular partner had against me from the beginning or whether he does this to all interviewees at the CB stage?

I think that the cold interview is sometimes used as a tactic to see how you act when you're put on the spot. I had one CB experience in particular where this happened. All the people I met at that CB were very friendly and talkative, with the exception of one partner, who was a complete hard-ass. Didn't want to talk about anything light, didn't really want to talk about my non-law experiences. Would answer my questions with great brevity and sometimes even with a snarly tone in his voice. What he focused on was grilling me about a particular area of the law that I have a somewhat decent (for a STUDENT, of course) knowledge of. It threw me off my game at first, for sure, because he kept pressing me and pressing me in a cold and unfriendly way - but I handled it. Coming out of that interview I was sure I was not going to get an offer, but I did, and in fact was told that he gave me a glowing eval.

When you're in a situation like that, try to turn the convo around to the partner. I had a different CB interview where the partner started out cold with the "what can I tell you about the firm" line and I asked a few questions, got lukewarm/brief responses, then told that person what I *really* was interested in hearing about was why he came to firm X and how he'd developed his practice in X area. A minute or two into that line of questioning, cold demeanor went out the window and by the end of the interview he was laughing.

So yeah, there were tougher interviewers, but I feel pretty good about getting a read on people overall.

[Anonymous User]

Do any lunches at the firms? If so, any tips?

Yes, all with lunches. Ask the questions you felt awkward asking an interviewer in a more formal scenario, or if all of your questions have already been answered, ask all of them again. The lunches are more relaxed and they are with associates, so you can open up a bit more.

I personally found the lunches to be more important for MY eval of the particular firm than for their eval of me. Read between the lines.

How specific were your questions to attorneys? I want to litigate, but I don't know what areas I want to specialize in. I told a CB firm that I am interested in IP… but I don't know much about IP :/

It's OK to not know what you want to specialize in. Do be able to articulate reasons WHY you don't know what you want to specialize in. Do you have a tech background? (If not, you should probably not say you are interested in IP, unless you're talking soft side.) I had a number of interviewers tell me that they are skeptical of people who say they are dead-set on doing one or even two areas - these folks were sitting in your shoes at one time, they know you aren't really sure about anything. Just be sincere and honest.

One caveat - I would suggest at least knowing whether you lean corp or lit.

[Anonymous User]

Did you send the all important thank you notes after CB's?

Yep. Handwritten to each interviewer + recruiting coordinator.

top 20% at CCN, also 6 for 6 at cbs with V10 firms - did not write a single thank-you note.

Also just wanted to say this is TCR. The utility of thank-yous is extremely debatable and probably negligible at best. For a few of the firms I did thank-you emails. Honestly, I did them because I figured better safe than sorry. Cue tons of people saying "but you could make a TYPO!!!!" or "I heard they HATE TY letters!!!!" I hear you, and I get it. Don't make a typo, and don't send a tome. My personal opinion is that no one hates to be sincerely thanked.

[Anonymous User]

I always write thank-yous because if I didn't my mother would kill me. As would my Gran. And if I've been killed it's unlikely I'll receive a biglaw offer.

[Anonymous User]

I always write thank-yous because if I didn't my mother would kill me. As would my Gran. And if I've been killed it's unlikely I'll receive a biglaw offer.

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