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Duke OCI 2011: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=163414
Duke OCI 2012: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=190306
Duke OCI 2013: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=214767

Hey all,

First, lets beat the 2013 thread and get this to at least 4 pages. Come on Blue Devils!

Welcome to Duke OCI 2014! Let's help each other throughout the process and go get ourselves a job. This is the thread to talk about grades, bid list, callbacks, interviews and so on. Some ground rules rules:

Please Use Anonymous Handles

We all want to maintain some privacy during this process. That said, it is also nice to keep track of who is saying what. I’m going to recommend that everyone pick a handle to sign their anonymous posts with (you obviously don’t have to) so that we can keep track of one another.

Bidding

The basics of bidlist stuff should be straightforward even if you’re not Socrates: if you think other people are more likely to bid on a firm, you should bid it high. Firms that are less grade-selective or that have fewer interview spots are more competitive, so you should probably rank them higher. Don’t rank a firm high just because you want it, but if you really want a particular firm it might be good to rank it high for your peace of mind. Finally, you should probably avoid spreading your bids out between multiple markets unless you have strong ties to all of those markets. We’ve all seen the data: there are just more jobs in New York, so NY is a solid backup for folks who are trying to head to California, Chicago or DC.

Callbacks

Once we’re at least part way through the first rings of interviewing hell, people will get callbacks. In past years, people would post the firm name and the initials of the person who interviewed them when they received a callback so that people would know that callbacks had gone out.

Good luck.

Thanks for starting this. Does anyone know if we will be getting data on how fast firms go, or how many students bid a firm last year?

Career Center wouldn't release the bid info to me. Not sure about data on how fast firms move.

-Chuck Loper

Any good reason for not providing this information to students?

Dirk

They are probably trying to make the system more fair and put the onus of researching firms on the students. Oh how we love career services...

-Chuck

Career services is by far the biggest group of inept individuals I have ever met.

Does anyone know about Baker & McKenzie? I'm shocked there isn't more about them given the fact that they are behemoths. I think I might know someone who graduated who got no-offered... jeeezzz.

When is it appropriate to start putting bid lists up?

Has anyone heard from career counselors/upper classmen friends an updated ETA for journal assignments? Thinking about Quinn trying to decide if its worth waiting....

From the upper classmen I talked to it seems like journals are mid-July at the earliest. I have heard it is more likely to be 3rd week of July.

Who is taking part in the On Tour Interviewing event? Also, any rising 3L's or former OTIP participants out there that can speak to the grades needed to get a pre-select interview at OTIP?

This is a terrible showing fellow Dukies. I am disappointed.

Anyone want to comment in general on how accurate those CSO reports are. I'm above median and in range for a lot of firms but still pretty nervous because some are weird outliers.

I don't want to get too specific (because the mods will delete the post) but other Dukies will know what I'm talking about when I mention hogan lovells (NYC vs. DC?) or Paul Hastings (NY, idk it seems super low compared to the rest) or Dechert (NYC is higher than DC, small sample size?)

I'm thinking maybe people with IP backgrounds mess up the stats??? Also anyone want to talk about how we've done historically I guess in the job market in general? Sorta freaking out about this OCI crap, have trouble sleeping, no appetite.

You can't change your numbers. So only worry about what you can still control at this point: being an excellent interviewer.

Shoot me a PM if you have any Duke OCI questions and I will see if I can help. But most importantly eat!

Anonymous User wrote:Who is taking part in the On Tour Interviewing event? Also, any rising 3L's or former OTIP participants out there that can speak to the grades needed to get a pre-select interview at OTIP?

I know people who had GPA's 3.50-3.55 who got ~4 interviews in Miami last year, that includes those with ties and those with only weak ties.

Has anyone got career services to review a draft bid list? Have you found this worth while if so?

--Dirk

Are you guys doing interviews this summer before OCI? I'm scared to put all my eggs in one basket.

My career counselor told me which firms in my desired market are most "popular" and told me to bid those highest. He/she didn't give me exact numbers of past bids but I could work with that.

Also, re: Baker & McKenzie, my understanding is that they are primarily a tax firm. Not as many people are interested in that.

Guy's we're in this rat race together but I genuinely hope we do really well overall this upcoming OCI. Seriously out of the bottom of my heart, I don't even want to see my worst enemy at Duke unemployed.

At ~3.5, how conservatively do I have to bid for NYC...other than the obvious (SullCrom, Cravath) which firms are out of reach?

Anonymous User wrote:Career services is by far the biggest group of inept individuals I have ever met.

I think they're somewhat helpful. Are they worth the $$$$ spent? no.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Who is taking part in the On Tour Interviewing event? Also, any rising 3L's or former OTIP participants out there that can speak to the grades needed to get a pre-select interview at OTIP?

I know people who had GPA's 3.50-3.55 who got ~4 interviews in Miami last year, that includes those with ties and those with only weak ties.

Did Chicago OTIP in 2012 with a ~3.5 GPA. Memory's a little fuzzy now, but I'm pretty sure I landed screeners with every firm that I bid (except maybe one or two tiny offices?), and ended up getting callbacks from a couple. OTIP is definitely worth doing if you're able.

Any OTIP people out there from UVA/NU/Duke/Georgetown who got interviews/CB's from it?

Anonymous User wrote:Are you guys doing interviews this summer before OCI? I'm scared to put all my eggs in one basket.

My career counselor told me which firms in my desired market are most "popular" and told me to bid those highest. He/she didn't give me exact numbers of past bids but I could work with that.

Also, re: Baker & McKenzie, my understanding is that they are primarily a tax firm. Not as many people are interested in that.

Yes, I am in a major city U.S. city that career services all but ignores, and I'm beginning to send out my emails this week to try to get into contact with alums and send my resume to recruiting to try to line up some interviews before OCI. Definitely do not put all of your eggs in one basket. Virtually no one is safe. Even at OCI, a lot of callbacks do not translate into a lot of offers and callbacks and offers can turn on elements completely beyond your control.

Anybody started mailing firms that won't be at our OCI?

Anonymous User wrote:Thanks for starting this. Does anyone know if we will be getting data on how fast firms go, or how many students bid a firm last year?

So does this mean we won't be getting info on how high the first failed bid was for a given firm?