How to answer the, "what other firms are you interviewing" Forum

[Anonymous User]

with question? Especially if you DON'T have any other firms you are interviewing with.

[Anonymous User]

with question? Especially if you DON'T have any other firms you are interviewing with.

ha I was actually wondering the same thing. I only have 1 cb lined up so far and I'm dreading them asking me who else im cb'ing with. gonna look weak when I say no one

[ben4847]

I like to go with a mix of big name firms, and then throw in a few made up ones and roll them off like they've obviously heard of it.

[HeavenWood]

I like to go with a mix of big name firms, and then throw in a few made up ones and roll them off like they've obviously heard of it.

I feel like this can very easily end badly.

[Anonymous User]

This may not be credited but I just said a firm I'd interviewed with at OCI from the same market. That was for my first CB; I didn't have any others at the time. I didn't get the offer and thank God by the time I did my second I had a better answer.

[Anonymous User]

If all they ask about interviewing and don't specify callbacks (they usually don't say "callback") then go ahead and mention firms in that market that you had screeners with. It's not a lie.

[ben4847]

I like to go with a mix of big name firms, and then throw in a few made up ones and roll them off like they've obviously heard of it.

I feel like this can very easily end badly.

Me too, but I try to keep feelings out of it. This is a business relationship.

[mvpforme]

tag. (unfortunately)

[HeavenWood]

I like to go with a mix of big name firms, and then throw in a few made up ones and roll them off like they've obviously heard of it.

I feel like this can very easily end badly.

Me too, but I try to keep feelings out of it. This is a business relationship.

Ok. Let me say it a different way. Firms talk to one another, and they don't take kindly to lying.

[mvpforme]

What is the right answer here?

[Gorki]

I have to admit this would scare the shit out of me. Especially if you are talking up whatever niche practice where X makes up 90% of the firm's work (in my experience, these firms want candidates who are set on doing X w/o having to worry about you bailing on the firm b/c you actually hate X)... then you have to drop the bomb that your other interviews are at traditional firms, or even worse, firms that spend 90% of their time doing Y or Z.

[Anonymous User]

with question? Especially if you DON'T have any other firms you are interviewing with.

ha I was actually wondering the same thing. I only have 1 cb lined up so far and I'm dreading them asking me who else im cb'ing with. gonna look weak when I say no one

When I was at my one callback in 2010 they asked me who else I was interviewing with and I just told them I was only interviewing with them. I then followed it up by saying something that the firm had been my favorite interview during OCI, so I was very happy to be interviewing with them (it sounded less brown-nosy at the time because I gave a few of the hilarious details of my OCI interview, which was really really entertaining). I ended up with an offer, so I guess this approach worked for at least one firm

[ben4847]

I like to go with a mix of big name firms, and then throw in a few made up ones and roll them off like they've obviously heard of it.

I feel like this can very easily end badly.

Me too, but I try to keep feelings out of it. This is a business relationship.

Ok. Let me say it a different way. Firms talk to one another, and they don't take kindly to lying.

Well, I'm clearly pretty good at it. I had all of you.

[fatduck]

I like to go with a mix of big name firms, and then throw in a few made up ones and roll them off like they've obviously heard of it.

I feel like this can very easily end badly.

Me too, but I try to keep feelings out of it. This is a business relationship.

Ok. Let me say it a different way. Firms talk to one another, and they don't take kindly to lying.

"don't namedrop fictional firms in a callback interview," and other groundbreaking advice by HeavenWood

[HeavenWood]

^I missed that part of the post (I thought he was just saying to lie about having interviews with other firms), which is what happens when you have seven interviews in a day running on four hours of sleep.

[shock259]

I have gotten a variation on this question in 2/3 CBs. I've just tried to skirt the line. It's a horse-shit question. If you seem too busy with CBs then the firm probably doesnt want to give you an offer because you aren't serious about joining them. Conversely, if you don't have any other CBs, they will definitely think something is wrong.

[Anonymous User]

I don't think there is a "right" answer. Different interviewers are looking for different things. Some want to see your commitment to the market. Some want to make sure that you are at their level (e.g. interviewing with firms of similar or better caliber than them). I would try and follow a few different guidelines:

1. Don't lie.
2. Avoid saying firms in other markets if you can.
3. Avoid saying firms that are of different caliber if you can.
4. Avoid saying firms that don't line up with the story you are telling that firm (e.g. don't say Quinn if you've been saying that you really want to do transactional).

As for OP's specific circumstances: I'd also say that as long as they say "interview" and not "CB" you can stretch the truth and respond with firms you are screening with. If they do ask for "CB" then you might be able to respond with "I have interviewed with [screenerfirms]" though that is stretching the truth quite a bit in response to "CB" so you might want to append "at OCI" or something like that.

[Anonymous User]

So if you do have a few other CBs, but the other firms are ranked significantly lower in Vault, this is grounds for a ding?