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Hi.

So Im interviewing with a corp. firm (legal dept.). Interview didnt go so well and I thought I was no longer going to be considered but, I received an email from one of the individuals I interviewed with and she requested to see a copy of my senior thesis. We spoke about it briefly during the interview but I could barely remember the details (it was half a decade ago!). Anyway, point is, this firm has a copy of my writing sample (my MA thesis) and I dont care to share my sub-par undergrad Sr. thesis for the following reasons:

1) It's quite private. Views/conclusion I made back then I no longer ascribe to
2) It's poorly written - Im in the final interview stage, this paper wld either make it or break it for me -- It's pretty bad, so it'd likely do the latter
3) I dont have time to revise it - it's FINALS

Im adamant on not sending it. I just reviewed it and boy, is it bad. I cannot allow this paper to be used against me. It will not help.

Advise please. Is there any chance I can get out of sending it and still be considered for the position?

THanks!

Why not just send it along with the caveats that you have listed here? At this point, you feel like you've already lost the job, so there is nothing to be lost by sending it along.

But do so with the same things you've noted here, explicitly stated. Or, email her back and explain what you've said here and ask for clarification on why they want it.

I would pay one of your good buddies that has a lot of free time right now to revise it. A person that you know writes very well. Or find someone online to revise it.

this will not make or break you.

Trust me.

bizzybone1313 wrote:I would pay one of your good buddies that has a lot of free time right now to revise it. A person that you know writes very well. Or find someone online to revise it.

Or you could not do this (because it's borderline dishonest) and just send it to them as is.

thesealocust wrote: this will not make or break you.

Trust me.

+1. I'd guess your interviewer was just personally interested in the topic. Just send it, and feel happy for the attention and that they are still thinking about you. Or don't, and say sorry but you can't find a copy anymore. No reason to get bent out of shape about it, though, it's a good thing that they're reaching out to you.

patrickd139 wrote:

bizzybone1313 wrote:I would pay one of your good buddies that has a lot of free time right now to revise it. A person that you know writes very well. Or find someone online to revise it.

Or you could not do this (because it's borderline dishonest) and just send it to them as is.

I would have thought this like 10 months ago. And then I revised people's horrible writing for a year on law review. Now I realize the "value" of journal is teaching you that winners delegate. I have a sneaking suspicion I'm going to learn the same lesson as an associate and clerk. It's a fucking pyramid scheme of trying hard.

KidStuddi wrote:

patrickd139 wrote:

bizzybone1313 wrote:I would pay one of your good buddies that has a lot of free time right now to revise it. A person that you know writes very well. Or find someone online to revise it.

Or you could not do this (because it's borderline dishonest) and just send it to them as is.

I would have thought this like 10 months ago. And then I revised people's horrible writing for a year on law review. Now I realize the "value" of journal is teaching you that winners delegate. I have a sneaking suspicion I'm going to learn the same lesson as an associate and clerk. It's a fucking pyramid scheme of trying hard.

When you are six figures in debt and applying for jobs in a market that is oversaturated, I think the normal rules go out the window. I wouldn't normally do this. It sounds like the firm is being pushy and wanting you to send this during your finals week. That really blows and is unreasonable. You gotta do what you gotta do. It sounds like you don't have an summer 2L yet, so I would bend the rules a little bit.

dixiecupdrinking wrote:

thesealocust wrote: this will not make or break you.

Trust me.

+1. I'd guess your interviewer was just personally interested in the topic. Just send it, and feel happy for the attention and that they are still thinking about you. Or don't, and say sorry but you can't find a copy anymore. No reason to get bent out of shape about it, though, it's a good thing that they're reaching out to you.

This seems far-fetched, but you could maybe try and mitigate by doing something similar. What about sending it along and then saying it's a very early draft and it's all you could find? It's a bit implausible that it was your senior thesis and you don't have any copy, but it's believable that you wouldn't necessarily have every version of it on hand.

frankc wrote:

dixiecupdrinking wrote:

thesealocust wrote: this will not make or break you.

Trust me.

+1. I'd guess your interviewer was just personally interested in the topic. Just send it, and feel happy for the attention and that they are still thinking about you. Or don't, and say sorry but you can't find a copy anymore. No reason to get bent out of shape about it, though, it's a good thing that they're reaching out to you.

This seems far-fetched, but you could maybe try and mitigate by doing something similar. What about sending it along and then saying it's a very early draft and it's all you could find? It's a bit implausible that it was your senior thesis and you don't have any copy, but it's believable that you wouldn't necessarily have every version of it on hand.

Why is it implausible to not have your Sr thesis? The average age of an incoming law student is 24, so 25 by OCI. Probably wrote it 3-4 years prior. I've changed computers twice since writing my senior thesis and don't have access to my old .edu email account. That thing is long gone for me.

nonprofit-prophet wrote:

frankc wrote:

dixiecupdrinking wrote:

thesealocust wrote: this will not make or break you.

Trust me.

+1. I'd guess your interviewer was just personally interested in the topic. Just send it, and feel happy for the attention and that they are still thinking about you. Or don't, and say sorry but you can't find a copy anymore. No reason to get bent out of shape about it, though, it's a good thing that they're reaching out to you.

This seems far-fetched, but you could maybe try and mitigate by doing something similar. What about sending it along and then saying it's a very early draft and it's all you could find? It's a bit implausible that it was your senior thesis and you don't have any copy, but it's believable that you wouldn't necessarily have every version of it on hand.

Why is it implausible to not have your Sr thesis? The average age of an incoming law student is 24, so 25 by OCI. Probably wrote it 3-4 years prior. I've changed computers twice since writing my senior thesis and don't have access to my old .edu email account. That thing is long gone for me.

Yeah, agreed. I know some people/schools take it real seriously and get nice copies bound and all that, but mine was just a long paper I laser-printed, stapled, and then promptly lost.

All I have is the draft version of my thesis saved in my email somewhere. I lost the final version when an old computer died. I would think that sort of thing is a legit excuse.

cinephile wrote:All I have is the draft version of my thesis saved in my email somewhere. I lost the final version when an old computer died. I would think that sort of thing is a legit excuse.

This happened to me too. And I only had it in my now defunct UG email.

When an employer asks for something that specific, you risk more by NOT submitting it. It makes you look like you can't follow directions and/or you're not interested in the job. It's more likely than not that it won't be as closely read as your Master's thesis. It's expected that your writing will not be as good as it is now, half a decade and two schools later.

Agree on these:

dixiecupdrinking wrote:

thesealocust wrote: this will not make or break you.

Trust me.

+1. I'd guess your interviewer was just personally interested in the topic. Just send it, and feel happy for the attention and that they are still thinking about you. Or don't, and say sorry but you can't find a copy anymore. No reason to get bent out of shape about it, though, it's a good thing that they're reaching out to you.

hiima3L wrote:

cinephile wrote:All I have is the draft version of my thesis saved in my email somewhere. I lost the final version when an old computer died. I would think that sort of thing is a legit excuse.

This happened to me too. And I only had it in my now defunct UG email.

I would come up with a story like this. Say you don't have the final version anymore.

I definitely wouldn't want to send mine either. Hell, I hardly want anyone to read my soon-to-be-published LR note, let alone my freakin' senior thesis.

.

+1.

linquest wrote:When an employer asks for something that specific, you risk more by NOT submitting it. It makes you look like you can't follow directions and/or you're not interested in the job. It's more likely than not that it won't be as closely read as your Master's thesis. It's expected that your writing will not be as good as it is now, half a decade and two schools later.

Agree on these:

dixiecupdrinking wrote:

thesealocust wrote: this will not make or break you.

Trust me.

+1. I'd guess your interviewer was just personally interested in the topic. Just send it, and feel happy for the attention and that they are still thinking about you. Or don't, and say sorry but you can't find a copy anymore. No reason to get bent out of shape about it, though, it's a good thing that they're reaching out to you.

If you don't send it, you have a 0% chance of getting an offer.

If you do send it, you have a chance, no matter how insignificant, of getting an offer.

Decision seems pretty simple here.

Also, as an aside, you shouldn't put forward any written document on your resume without being prepared to show it if asked.