Females: what % of your CBs were from female interviewers? Forum

[Anonymous User]

This post may sound dumb, but I am legitimately intimidated by female interviewers (I have never had a female boss and was the only woman at my previous job). Turns out about 1/3 of my interviews are with women and I'm pretty anxious.

For women who've gone thru OCI, what percentage of your CBs came from fellow ladies?

Also, is it kosher to ask them about how it is for women generally at the firm? How do I phrase that without sounding like a dolt?

[yuqq]

This may sound shallow, but I'm sure it can depend on your attractiveness. If you are a mega attractive bombshell, pretty sure you'll hit it off with male interviewers more than with female interviewers. If you are a plain jane, I doubt it matters whether your interviewer is male or female.

[Anonymous User]

This may sound shallow, but I'm sure it can depend on your attractiveness. If you are a mega attractive bombshell, pretty sure you'll hit it off with male interviewers more than with female interviewers. If you are a plain jane, I doubt it matters whether your interviewer is male or female.

OP here, I think you're probably right. But while the "bombshell" hits it off more with men, do you think she gets dinged by women simply for that reason?

I'm also interested in whether women have an advantage interviewing at firms like Cadwalader which are, for a lack of a better term, an utter sausagefest.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, I'm a transfer so my results may not be helpful.

So far out of my 15 screeners, I've gotten 3 CBs -- one where the interviewer was male, one where the interviewers were one male & one female, and one where the interviewers were both females.

So...yeah. Make of that what you will I guess. For the most part, I didn't find the women any more intimidating than the men. If anything, I was excited to see a female attorney because I thought it might give me an edge.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, I'm a transfer so my results may not be helpful.

So far out of my 15 screeners, I've gotten 3 CBs -- one where the interviewer was male, one where the interviewers were one male & one female, and one where the interviewers were both females.

So...yeah. Make of that what you will I guess. For the most part, I didn't find the women any more intimidating than the men. If anything, I was excited to see a female attorney because I thought it might give me an edge.

Thanks! Very helpful. If I may ask--how many of you other 12 screeners (where you didn't receive CBs) were female? I have 12 screeners and 5 of them are currently listed as ladies.

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

This post may sound dumb, but I am legitimately intimidated by female interviewers (I have never had a female boss and was the only woman at my previous job). Turns out about 1/3 of my interviews are with women and I'm pretty anxious.

For women who've gone thru OCI, what percentage of your CBs came from fellow ladies?

Also, is it kosher to ask them about how it is for women generally at the firm? How do I phrase that without sounding like a dolt?

I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Before school I worked in a part of the world where my clients and coworkers were all males. That was actually something I talked about in the interview and I think most interviewers were impressed or at least thought it was interesting. FWIW, I just finished 10 screeners. The interviewers were: 5 males, 4 females, 1 male/female pair. I got 5 CBs, 3 from male interviewers and 2 from female interviewers. Obviously you can't draw any conclusions from 1 person's experience, but I honestly think that for most meidum to large firms gender is not that big of an issue at the associate level.

If you get a women interviewer it is ok to ask about their experience at the firm. But I would put it as "could you tell me more about the women leadership / training / mentoring program you have at blah & blah?" Be sure to look at the firm's website first to make sure that they have one. That is an easy way to get into the conversation. If the interviewer offers more about her personal experience you could then take that conversation further.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, I'm a transfer so my results may not be helpful.

So far out of my 15 screeners, I've gotten 3 CBs -- one where the interviewer was male, one where the interviewers were one male & one female, and one where the interviewers were both females.

So...yeah. Make of that what you will I guess. For the most part, I didn't find the women any more intimidating than the men. If anything, I was excited to see a female attorney because I thought it might give me an edge.

Thanks! Very helpful. If I may ask--how many of you other 12 screeners (where you didn't receive CBs) were female? I have 12 screeners and 5 of them are currently listed as ladies.

Thanks!

Well, I'm still hoping for CBs from some of the other 12! I haven't been dinged anywhere yet, but the other 12 have been silent. Just finished interviewing yesterday so I still have some hope. But let's see -- of the other 12 interviews, 2 were all female, 2 were one female + one male, and 8 were men only. Men pretty much dominated my interviews.

[Anonymous User]

0%

the interviews all went well, but no cbs. i'm not attractive.

[Anonymous User]

0%

the interviews all went well, but no cbs. i'm not attractive.

how many did you have in total? also, did you get CBs from men?

[ilovesf]

So far I've gotten a cb from a male interviewer and one from a 2 person interview that was both male and female. I don't think it matters that much, though I do prefer interviewing with men in general. I find them to be less serious in interviews, so far at least.

[Haymarket]

Do any of you honestly think that after controlling for grades, work experience, journals, fatal personality flaws, and regional ties that the gender of the interviewer has any impact on whether you get a callback? Really? That seems ridiculously unlikely.

[MarylandGirl]

If it makes you feel any better, the women that I interviewed with seemed to be more receptive than the men (this is completely anecdotal, of course). Two out of three of the female interviewers brought up the low percentage of women at their firms and mentioned that it was important for them to recruit women who are interested in staying for the long run.

[Rocío]

I dread female interviewers. The worst arrangement, from my experience, was at panel interviewers where everyone was male except for *one* female interviewer. In that set up, for some reason, the odds of that female interviewer just hating you seems to skyrocket. I personally don't understand why women are so competitive with one another. Men tend to take younger men under their wings and mentor one another, whereas (some) women have this strange mentality that there is only so much room at the top. /rant

[Borhas]

Do any of you honestly think that after controlling for grades, work experience, journals, fatal personality flaws, and regional ties that the gender of the interviewer has any impact on whether you get a callback? Really? That seems ridiculously unlikely.

Considering how lots of people have the same grades, work experience, law review and lack of fatal personality flaws, yes, under the general "how well you click with the interviewer" category.

I know that I wouldn't want to hire any attractive people unless they're going to be trial lawyers (I'm not a female)

[Rocío]

I know that I wouldn't want to hire any attractive people unless they're going to be trial lawyers (I'm not a female)

Really? Why? Does this go for attractive men, too? A couple attractive men I knew often complained about male interviewers just not liking them, but I often hear more complaints from women about female interviewers.

[ilovesf]

Do any of you honestly think that after controlling for grades, work experience, journals, fatal personality flaws, and regional ties that the gender of the interviewer has any impact on whether you get a callback? Really? That seems ridiculously unlikely.

Considering how lots of people have the same grades, work experience, law review and lack of fatal personality flaws, yes, under the general "how well you click with the interviewer" category.

I know that I wouldn't want to hire any attractive people unless they're going to be trial lawyers (I'm not a female)

Phew. Thank god I'm not attractive.

[Borhas]

I know that I wouldn't want to hire any attractive people unless they're going to be trial lawyers (I'm not a female)

Really? Why? Does this go for attractive men, too? A couple attractive men I knew often complained about male interviewers just not liking them, but I often hear more complaints from women about female interviewers.

Yup, attractive people have more options, and thus less tied down to the work. More likely to have kids, unstable marriages, have sex with their co-workers, be insecure or need attention, push work on people that are attracted to them, and lastly, all things being equal they've had it easier.

If I were to hire drones I would go
1) Plain 2) fat 3) attractive 4) hideous

w/ that said, I don't think hiring panels think like I do.

[sundance95]

^ outed as perceiving self as plain and fat, which unfortunately probably = hideous IRL

[Borhas]

^ outed as perceiving self as plain and fat, which unfortunately probably = hideous IRL

No, you!

[sundance95]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo