9 screeners, 7 CBs, 7 offers, taking ?s on interviewing Forum

[Anonymous User]

My grades were fine--around median at a T6 school. Highest "ranked" firm is V5, lowest is V30 or something.

[Anonymous User]

How do I nail the CB?

[Anonymous User]

urm or female?

[Anonymous User]

How the hell did you only have 9 screeners?

[Grizz]

Why are you bad at bidding?

[johndhi]

which firm did you decide upon? what made you pick it? if you don't want to say name, give description

[terribleperson]

Why are you bad at bidding?

lol

[Anonymous User]

OP here

White male, 9 screeners because I had a 1L big firm job (and an offer to come back). I only bid on firms I would consider going to over it.

My advice is what I do. People have done as well as I have with very different styles. I tend toward the friendly/casual rather than hyper-professional, operator, etc.

The only lawyer-specific preparation I did was write down the lawyers' names, job title and a note if they went to my law school. None of this BS about "so I saw you worked on Awkward v. Canned, what was that like?" Know the firm and the office backward and forward, strengths, weaknesses, etc.

In the interview, keep the energy up, be smiling when you look at them for the first time, smile during the interview, lean forward, make eye contact, speak clearly (not too soft, not too fast, speak through the ends of your sentences), and, above all, mirror the interviewer. Lean when he leans, smile when he smiles, laugh when he laughs, nod constantly, finish a few of his sentences, you are long-lost friends. Be prepared for the typical questions: Why this market? Why this firm? Why law? Which practice area and why? Tell me about yourself. How's law school been? Tell me about your summer at _______. Tell me about [thing on your resume]. And by "be prepared" I mean be ready to quickly give an answer that is straight to the point and doesn't sound canned.

Tie things back to why you love the firm when you can. "Which practice area?" "Well, I really like litigation because what I want out of a career is a consistent, varied intellectual challenge. From my summer at XYZ, the time flies for me when I'm thinking hard about a brief, or chatting with another summer about a tough legal problem. I've talked with So-and-so associate and serveral others about [your firm], and they all say that your firm gives challenging work to young associates, which is exactly what I'm looking for." Don't overdue that stuff, just drop it in when it seems right--firms want to be wanted, but lawyers hate being manipulated. Be honest, be enthusiastic, sounding canned makes you sound manipulative (like you're saying what they want to hear).

Ask good questions, do not ask bad ones. What would you change about your firm? What did you work on yesterday? (If a partner) what were the last couple assignments you gave to junior associates? I've heard that [xyz firm] is known for [some positive quality]--has that been true in your experience? Have you made friends with others in the firm? (If partner) why have you stayed? What do you think sets [your firm] apart from similar firms in this market? What do you wish you had known coming in? What about the firm was different from what you had expected? End on a positive question, lead with something thoughtful (I always started with "what would you change" and, more often than not, got "Oh, that's a good question" and even "That's the best question I've heard in a long time," which is weird because it seems like a stock one to me). I've had interviewers tell me that they will be much harder on an interviewee who asks lame questions (How big is this office? Tell me about [some basic thing about the firm]. etc.)

Practice. Practice, practice, practice. Practice with people who will give you honest feedback, and take it to heart (so, strangers). My first practice interview, the guy said I seemed friendly but didn't have the best eye contact, especially when I was thinking. Made better eye contact. Done. Someone told me my sentences sometimes trail off. Spoke through my sentences. Done. I participated in every mock interview thing the career services office put on, doing about 5-6 in all before OCI.

Small thing: memorize the names of all of your interviewers, people love to ask and few people seem to be able to recite them. Do it and they'll be impressed.

I'll post more if I think of it.

[Anonymous User]

which firm did you decide upon? what made you pick it? if you don't want to say name, give description

OP here

I haven't decided, but leaning toward the one with the best litigation practice and with a culture that suits me--no nonsense, collegial, meritocratic. You can tell a good bit about a firm from doing callbacks, so be a buyer while you're trying to sell.

[Emma.]

Hope you are following the NALP rules about not keeping more than 5 offers open at a time.

[ruski]

i think a large portion of op's success came from already having an offer waiting for him. my view is that that boosted his confidence and allowed him to relax and as a result he came off as much more confident/genuine.

i know for me, after i got my first offer i was aceing callbacks. i felt myself become much more confident/amog, not really caring what the interviewer thought of me but just being myself. i think several law students come off as really nervous/anxious and the key is to finding a way to just be yourself and relax. i know its hard when there is so much pressure to succeed and the stakes are high but if you go in with barney-stinson like attitude i really think it pays off.

[Anonymous User]

i think a large portion of op's success came from already having an offer waiting for him. my view is that that boosted his confidence and allowed him to relax and as a result he came off as much more confident/genuine.

i know for me, after i got my first offer i was aceing callbacks. i felt myself become much more confident/amog, not really caring what the interviewer thought of me but just being myself. i think several law students come off as really nervous/anxious and the key is to finding a way to just be yourself and relax. i know its hard when there is so much pressure to succeed and the stakes are high but if you go in with barney-stinson like attitude i really think it pays off.

Drink Nyquil.

[romothesavior]

This thread sucks hard.

COOL OP.

[wjs98]

.

[bjsesq]

Good for you on your successes. Screw you for this thread.

[Eco]

Thanks for the advice OP. I have to comment on this though- you said that a good question to ask is, "What would you change about your firm?"

I'm wondering if that's always true. Does everyone agree? I have an important CB coming up and I'm coming with a list of questions, and honestly I would actually like to ask that one, but I wonder if it would make sense to ask something like that if you aren't someone with intimate knowledge of the firm?

[Anonymous User]

Did you send e-mails to your interviewers after the CBs? What two firms did you not get CBs from? Are they extremely selective firms (V5s, Quinn, W&C, etc), or did you just not hit it off with the screener?

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Small thing: memorize the names of all of your interviewers, people love to ask and few people seem to be able to recite them. Do it and they'll be impressed.

Wish I had someone tell me this before any of my CB's. This was asked at least once during each CB I've been on, and it was only until the last one I finally learned the lesson and had them all memorized ahead of time.

I really don't think it hurt me at the CB's in which I wasn't able to recite the names, but I most definitely lost an opportunity to impress. It's funny how a simple thing like memorizing names can increase people's impression of you, but I think it's definetely accurate. I mean, just compare the professor you had that knew everyone's name by the end of the 1st or 2nd class, as opposed to the professor who it took them halfway through the semester to finally get names down.

[Anonymous User]

How are you deciding? Are you going back to visit?

[Transferthrowaway]

tagged

[romothesavior]

33 screeners, 28 CBs, 26 offers.

You n00bz have any questions for me?

[Helmholtz]

33 screeners, 28 CBs, 26 offers.

You n00bz have any questions for me?

What happened during those 5 screeners / 2 CBs where you dropped the ball?

[Grizz]

33 screeners, 28 CBs, 26 offers.

You n00bz have any questions for me?

How do you deal with you ass burgers?

[Anonymous User]

Hope you are following the NALP rules about not keeping more than 5 offers open at a time.

OP here

Only have three open at this point.

i think a large portion of op's success came from already having an offer waiting for him. my view is that that boosted his confidence and allowed him to relax and as a result he came off as much more confident/genuine.

i know for me, after i got my first offer i was aceing callbacks. i felt myself become much more confident/amog, not really caring what the interviewer thought of me but just being myself. i think several law students come off as really nervous/anxious and the key is to finding a way to just be yourself and relax. i know its hard when there is so much pressure to succeed and the stakes are high but if you go in with barney-stinson like attitude i really think it pays off.

Confidence is key, for sure. Obviously shouldn't be confused with entitlement. I just internalized the thought that whatever firm I was about to interview at was the only firm I had a CB with.

OP, how did you snag a 1L SA position as a non-URM? Lots of pre-law W/E?

I worked at a firm between college and law school and got some good experience, so I think that helped, but it was only for a year. Honestly, I think the resume got me in the door, but the interviews really are what did it.

Thanks for the advice OP. I have to comment on this though- you said that a good question to ask is, "What would you change about your firm?"

I'm wondering if that's always true. Does everyone agree? I have an important CB coming up and I'm coming with a list of questions, and honestly I would actually like to ask that one, but I wonder if it would make sense to ask something like that if you aren't someone with intimate knowledge of the firm?

I'm not sure why lacking intimate knowledge of the firm would rule out this question. The operating principle is asking thoughtful questions that make it seem like you're trying to get a complete picture of the firm, since you already know all of the basics (anything you can find out from the website, NALP, Chambers, Abovethelaw, etc.). Like I said, I thought it was a humdrum question, but ~75% of interviewers said it was a "good question."

Did you send e-mails to your interviewers after the CBs? What two firms did you not get CBs from? Are they extremely selective firms (V5s, Quinn, W&C, etc), or did you just not hit it off with the screener?

I did not send emails, I don't believe in thank you notes. One of the firms I didn't get a callback from was a "super-elite" boutique that doesn't really hire people right out of law school, the other was a (less prestigious) firm that seemed very suspicious about whether I would work there. I wasn't surprised by either's reluctance.

Small thing: memorize the names of all of your interviewers, people love to ask and few people seem to be able to recite them. Do it and they'll be impressed.

Wish I had someone tell me this before any of my CB's. This was asked at least once during each CB I've been on, and it was only until the last one I finally learned the lesson and had them all memorized ahead of time.

I really don't think it hurt me at the CB's in which I wasn't able to recite the names, but I most definitely lost an opportunity to impress. It's funny how a simple thing like memorizing names can increase people's impression of you, but I think it's definetely accurate. I mean, just compare the professor you had that knew everyone's name by the end of the 1st or 2nd class, as opposed to the professor who it took them halfway through the semester to finally get names down.

Yeah, I think interviewing is all about the small things. For my 1L interviews, I slightly flubbed the "why us" question for a lesser-ranked firm that didn't give me an offer. I nailed it on a higher-ranked firm, for which I ended up working.

How are you deciding? Are you going back to visit?

I'm calling a ton of people (I spent an hour and a half on the phone today talking to two associates). Looking especially for those who worked at both my 1L firm and the new firm, or at both the other firms I'm considering and the front-runner. It's been great info so far--people disconnected from the hiring process don't blow smoke up your ass as much (though still be prepared to read between the lines). One thing I've noticed is that people are fine at listing the things they like or dislike, but not very precise about how much each affects their opinion of the firm. Be prepared to nail people down on how important X or Y factor is and how it's influenced their time there.

[Anonymous User]

Any tips for the "so, why this firm?" question? Honestly they all start to sound the same sometimes. Plus, it's hard to come up with something that doesn't sound like lame/canned bs. Thanks and congrats on your success