First in class, no oci call backs. Forum

[Boxer1214]

Hi,
I am a 2l at a tier one school. I ranked first in my class last year but I haven't been called back for a secondary interview (I've had 12 OCIs)
I've been to career services & they told me the fact that I am originally from out of state &have not visited these cities is probably why I am not being called (which I can't do now between school, work, and law review). I've been to speak to the dean but I'm nervous about hurting my relationship w/career services. Any advice?

[Desert Fox]

[Anonymous User]

This sounds to me like it was all about your actual performance in the interviews. Did you do mock interviews? If someone asked you why you wanted to live in X city, could you formulate a good reason for it? Did you focus on multiple markets or just one city/region? At the very least you could have just made up some good reasons and they could have taken it, but you can't just tell the interviewers "I've never been to X city ever, but I think that I'd like to be there." That shows the firm you are a total flight risk and may end up leaving after a year or two.

CSO needs to mock interview you to see what's up, because #1 should not be CB less, no matter where you are in T1 (unless you maybe exclusively tried to go with V50 firms?). Also, no offense, but what realistically do you expect a Dean to do? You need to hustle now and be sending out multiple applications/mass mail to any and all firms. You'll be in much better position to get hits from this than others given your rank.

[Companion Cube]

The struggle is real. Work on interviewing skills as you continue to apply. Nothing is over and nothing is certain. Even if you get a below market paying job you need to work on getting something experience-wise so if you have to go through the shit-show that is 3L OCI you'll have some ammunition.

[MCFC]

Hi,
I am a 2l at a tier one school. I ranked first in my class last year but I haven't been called back for a secondary interview (I've had 12 OCIs)
I've been to career services & they told me the fact that I am originally from out of state &have not visited these cities is probably why I am not being called (which I can't do now between school, work, and law review). I've been to speak to the dean but I'm nervous about hurting my relationship w/career services. Any advice?

How many emails have you sent?

[lavarman84]

Hi,
I am a 2l at a tier one school. I ranked first in my class last year but I haven't been called back for a secondary interview (I've had 12 OCIs)
I've been to career services & they told me the fact that I am originally from out of state &have not visited these cities is probably why I am not being called (which I can't do now between school, work, and law review). I've been to speak to the dean but I'm nervous about hurting my relationship w/career services. Any advice?

Keep hustling. I didn't pick up any CBs from OCI despite being top 1% in my class at a T1. Why? My interviewing skills sucked. My personality isn't an issue. I just did a poor job of answering the stock questions.

I improved my interviewing skills by recognizing my weaknesses and picked up interviews through mass-mailing. Things ended up working out for me. It's not too late.

[Big Dog]

I am originally from out of state &have not visited these cities

Which cities?

Pretty much everything outside of Manhattan requires a darn good reason for them to relocate you there, particularly if you have never visited. Why would you think that you could waltz into a town site-unseen?

Time to mass mail NYC. And sign up for practice interviews.

[AT9]

Yeah I'd start making up ties to the local markets and mass mailing anywhere else you have a connection or an interest. I say "make up ties" bc I was honest in similar situations about cities where I hadn't lived and thought I had good reasons (and still think they're good, genuine reasons - but they don't know that), and I think it really hurt me in callbacks.

If they have a choice between you at #1 and some home-grown kid at #15 (and there are probably a bunch of them at a T1), my experience is that home grown kid wins 9/10 times with most other factors being equal.

And make those ties to the city itself. The region itself probably won't cut it.

[jbagelboy]

Worried about hurting your relationship with career services?

Give me a goddamn break. Those people do more damage than good. Look out for yourself and get employed.

Class and law review?

Come on you're a 2L. All of that pales in comparison to your job search. Quit the school gunning (that small fries shit) and get a job.

[BasilHallward]

You must be in a tiny market and an out-of-stater at a school like Alabama or Iowa.

[Anonymous User]

No ties?

Make up some ties.

[BlackAndOrange84]

No ties?

Make up some ties.

And apply to NY firms.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Apply to NY firms immediately. All of them.