why would you massmail a firm without an opening? (non-OCI) Forum

[Anonymous User]

After MMing about 60-70 firms and getting about 4 interviews, I realized this indiscriminate MMing is a giant waste of time. No partner makes hiring decision in isolation even if some position opens up in his department that hasn't yet been posted under careers webpage. You would still need to go through HR and since you are not a special snowflake the firm will want a pool of candidates to choose the best hire from. So eventually the opening will be posted.

If you just apply anyway then the next time there is an opening, you look a little desperate/silly reapplying again within 6 months. Not only that, they will really know you haven't been able to find a job since your last application. The four interviews I got were from firms that were already hiring for a particular position. Just sayin it makes no sense to see people spend hours and hours to send 200-300 MMs and get like 1-3 interviews.

[r6_philly]

So it is your position that 1-3 interviews is not worth hours of your time?

[pancakes3]

does it make *no* sense?

[Anonymous User]

I MMed extensively. I sent hundreds of mails, including a second round to the same firms. The point of MMing isn't to bypass HR, it's to get in the pool at all. I developed a number of interviews, got my BigLaw offer, and still work here. It's also not true that firms will always post jobs. If they have a batch of resumes they can just choose among them without going through everything again (that's how I got my job).

Also, no one at the firm will know you applied more than once. HR gets thousands of resumes and doesn't keep a file on who applied (other than the circular file). I flat out asked our recruiting people and they had no idea I applied more than once, or whether anyone else had either.

Every interview is another shot at a job. If you don't think 3 more chances is worth it, don't do it. But don't be surprised when your job prospects are bleaker than they would have been.

[2014]

OP do you believe all openings are posted on the careers page?

[Anonymous User]

After MMing about 60-70 firms and getting about 4 interviews, I realized this indiscriminate MMing is a giant waste of time. No partner makes hiring decision in isolation even if some position opens up in his department that hasn't yet been posted under careers webpage. You would still need to go through HR and since you are not a special snowflake the firm will want a pool of candidates to choose the best hire from. So eventually the opening will be posted.

If you just apply anyway then the next time there is an opening, you look a little desperate/silly reapplying again within 6 months. Not only that, they will really know you haven't been able to find a job since your last application. The four interviews I got were from firms that were already hiring for a particular position. Just sayin it makes no sense to see people spend hours and hours to send 200-300 MMs and get like 1-3 interviews.

why are you only MMing partners? I go through the recruiting manager/director

[barkschool]

I think the point OP is making is a smart one. A few interviews don't give you a great shot at getting a job. It's probably not work putting any time into something like that.

I'll roll the dice at oci.

[Anonymous User]

I think it's worth the effort to contact firms directly. I have a couple of offers already (though tbh I had some connections I relied on), so now I can go into OCI with some peace of mind.

I'm not sure what I did qualifies as MM, though, because I sent out around 50-70 apps to firms I was interested in, and tailored my cover letter to each firm. It really was time-consuming, but like I said, I think it's worth it

[J9ofDiamonds]

Lol, 4 interviews for 60 MMs is a solid hit rate. Plz no one listen to op

[Anonymous User]

It is not that blind applying to firms that dont show job opening is a guaranteed failure but it is so fat fetched that your time isnt worth pursuing those firms for reasons I mentioned above. Your time can be spent more strategically. If you are going to send blind apps at least reach out to ppl whom you have some connection and ask for some guidance, hookup, referral etc.

[Bluem_11]

I cold called the firm I work at now. You never know.

[Big Red]

It is not that blind applying to firms that dont show job opening is a guaranteed failure but it is so fat fetched that your time isnt worth pursuing those firms for reasons I mentioned above. Your time can be spent more strategically. If you are going to send blind apps at least reach out to ppl whom you have some connection and ask for some guidance, hookup, referral etc.

I mean of course having someone inside the firm pushing your resume is the most ideal scenario. The original post reads "there is no reason to MM - even though I got FOUR interviews out of it - because I should just wait for a resume drop to open up on symplicity"

I find it very that people in their 1L summer are talking like they don't have any time to do anything when they're working 40 hours a week.

Better conversation to have is whether it is worth the time to tailor your cover letter to the individual employer

[Anonymous User]

It is not that blind applying to firms that dont show job opening is a guaranteed failure but it is so fat fetched that your time isnt worth pursuing those firms for reasons I mentioned above. Your time can be spent more strategically. If you are going to send blind apps at least reach out to ppl whom you have some connection and ask for some guidance, hookup, referral etc.

this doesn't make a lot of sense. if you want to mass-mail 200 firms (like me and many other TLS posters did during OCI), and you only have personal connections into 4 firms, what are you gonna do - just reach out to your connections and ignore the other 194 firms? of course not


and the OP itself is wrong on a lot of levels. my firm regularly hires people without posting the position on Symplicity. and yes, many partners have the power to hire whoever the fuck they want without anyone's approval. HR might have to do the paperwork, but the partner can skip all of the HR's processes whenever he or she wants. if the head of my firm's M&A group said he wanted to hire a 2L from a TTT with a 2.0, i can guarantee none of the glorified secretaries in HR would put up the least bit of resistance

TL;DR - stop being lazy OP and just mass-mail