Rising Mid-Level (V10) + OCI Interviewer Taking Questions. Forum

[Anonanonymous]

TLS helped a lot when I was a student. Time to repay the favor. AMA

[sublime]

What is your practice group?

[Anonanonymous]

What is your practice group?

Corporate - primarily M&A and Private Equity

[mrs.miawallace]

do you work with itbvorm

[Anonymous User]

Are your initials AB? If so, thank you x 100000

[Anonanonymous]

do you work with itbvorm

Haha, not that I'm aware of.

[Anonymous User]

Are your initials AB? If so, thank you x 100000

Nope, sorry.

[Anonymous User]

Good questions to ask or advice when an interviewer says "what questions do you have for me?"

[UMichUG2015]

What do you like the most about the job? What do you like the least? What do you wish you would have known going into your group that you know now? Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous User]

Top 25% + secondary journal at T20 but likely struck out at OCI. 15+ screeners and no CBs. Feedback from CSO and mock interviews suggest that my interviewing skills aren't terrible and I felt like many of the screeners went well, i.e., not awkward, easy conversations about things besides law...Any advice or pointers about interviewing going forward?

[Anonymous User]

Good questions to ask or advice when an interviewer says "what questions do you have for me?"

Best questions here are those that subtly show you've done your homework on our firm. Do not ask something that I think you could have learned online.

[Anonymous User]

Top 25% + secondary journal at T20 but likely struck out at OCI. 15+ screeners and no CBs. Feedback from CSO and mock interviews suggest that my interviewing skills aren't terrible and I felt like many of the screeners went well, i.e., not awkward, easy conversations about things besides law...Any advice or pointers about interviewing going forward?

Hmm. A couple of questions here before I can advise on specifics:

1. What does "not terrible" mean. Did they have any kind of critiques?
2. Is your school pre-select, lottery, or mix?
3. What market(s) are you targeting?
4. When did these 15 interviews start and when did they end? One week? Two weeks?

[Anonymous User]

.

[Anonymous User]

1. Going into a similar practice group. Any advice for a new associate on overcoming the learning curve? When did you feel like you started to understood wtf was going on?

2. How do you think the PE/M&A space sets up people for edit options?

3. Any general tips on surviving the first few years? Do you think anyone can or a specific personality?

Thanks a bunch.

[Anonymous User]

Top 25% + secondary journal at T20 but likely struck out at OCI. 15+ screeners and no CBs. Feedback from CSO and mock interviews suggest that my interviewing skills aren't terrible and I felt like many of the screeners went well, i.e., not awkward, easy conversations about things besides law...Any advice or pointers about interviewing going forward?

Hmm. A couple of questions here before I can advise on specifics:

1. What does "not terrible" mean. Did they have any kind of critiques?
2. Is your school pre-select, lottery, or mix?
3. What market(s) are you targeting?
4. When did these 15 interviews start and when did they end? One week? Two weeks?

1. Mock interviewers thought I carried the conversations and responded to their questions well. No real critiques other than generic advice like do your research/homework on the firm, show enthusiasm, prepare firm/practice group specific questions, etc.
2. Mix, my screeners ended up being 50-50 lottery and preselect
3. CA markets (SF, LA, OC, SD) + NY (have family/undergrad ties to CA)
4. One week since last screener, 5-6 dings and silence from the rest

[Anonymous User]

Might be a weird question but what do you do as a screener? Does recruiting give you a form asking if you'd recommend the person for a callback or how does it work?

[Anonymous User]

What exactly are you looking for as an interviewer? Obviously a candidate who makes it to the interview looked good and paper, but what character trait are you looking for? Also what character trait are you trying to avoid?

[Anonymous User]

What's the best/satisfying answer you got to a question of "Why are you leaving your firm?"

[Anonanonymous]

1. Going into a similar practice group. Any advice for a new associate on overcoming the learning curve? When did you feel like you started to understood wtf was going on?

2. How do you think the PE/M&A space sets up people for edit options?

3. Any general tips on surviving the first few years? Do you think anyone can or a specific personality?

Thanks a bunch.

1. Biggest tip is not to sweat it. The firm knows you are useless at first, particularly as a corporate associate. Best approach is to appear earnest/interested/engaged and to make sure you nail the stuff you can control (spelling, punctuation, basic stuff). A lot of this job is optics, and giving the appearance that you care and are trying, and trying to keep the sloppy stuff to a minimum, will go a long way. Takes 6 months - one year to get baseline comfortable with expectations and your role. Continues to get easier but is always a work in practice.

2. M&A is probably the best in terms of maximizing potential exit options. PE is good if you are at a well respected firm in the area and are interested in potentially going in-house at a PE or investment firm.

3. This ties in to my answer to (1) above. Other than that, try and find allies; good associates or partners who dont have reputations for being assholes, who will mentor you, or whom you otherwise like working with. Stick closely with them, earn their trust, and depending on office politics, they will help give you cover from the undesirable work/associates/partners who you want to avoid.

[Anonanonymous]

Top 25% + secondary journal at T20 but likely struck out at OCI. 15+ screeners and no CBs. Feedback from CSO and mock interviews suggest that my interviewing skills aren't terrible and I felt like many of the screeners went well, i.e., not awkward, easy conversations about things besides law...Any advice or pointers about interviewing going forward?

Hmm. A couple of questions here before I can advise on specifics:

1. What does "not terrible" mean. Did they have any kind of critiques?
2. Is your school pre-select, lottery, or mix?
3. What market(s) are you targeting?
4. When did these 15 interviews start and when did they end? One week? Two weeks?

1. Mock interviewers thought I carried the conversations and responded to their questions well. No real critiques other than generic advice like do your research/homework on the firm, show enthusiasm, prepare firm/practice group specific questions, etc.
2. Mix, my screeners ended up being 50-50 lottery and preselect
3. CA markets (SF, LA, OC, SD) + NY (have family/undergrad ties to CA)
4. One week since last screener, 5-6 dings and silence from the rest

OK, a couple of things are probably work here. First, top 25% at T20 is definitely not "guaranteed" a big law job but you are in the hunt. Also, CA can be extremely competitive, probably most so outside of DC. LA is probably easiest market of those you mentioned to the extent you want to be in CA and can focus there. SF will be a stretch with your stats and the other markets are very small/attractive. I'd focus on LA + NY moving forward. Which leads me to my next piece of advice, continue to hustle. At my T14, I knew students who struck out at median and below. I knew below median students who got 8+ offers. You are not out of the running by a long shot. Often, callbacks come in waves and just because you aren't in the first wave doesnt mean you are out of it. Mass mail target firms in all of your interested markets + reach out to alums at those firms immediately after you apply. Tell them you have applied and would like to talk about their experience. If you can connect with them, at the end of talk, ask them to recommend you or reach out to recruiting on your behalf. This approach works well, speaking from personal experience.

[Anonanonymous]

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[Anonymous User]

What exactly are you looking for as an interviewer? Obviously a candidate who makes it to the interview looked good and paper, but what character trait are you looking for? Also what character trait are you trying to avoid?

Assuming not an auto-ding based on grades (again, some flexibility here, see previous comment), we basically are going to extend a callback if we like you. As simple as that. This "fit" portion becomes more important if you arent extremely strong grade wise. Out of 20 interviews, we might call back 4-8. So not any specific character trait, but being personable, non-aspie, excited (or appear that way), passionate (or appear that way), easy to smile, etc. will go a long way.

[Anonanonymous]

What's the best/satisfying answer you got to a question of "Why are you leaving your firm?"

No one specific answer here, depends on your narrative and how long you have been there. A lot of potential possibilities. Can give more guidance on your specific situation with more information.

[Anonymous User]

Do firms "yield protect" with callbacks?

[Anonymous User]

How do you feel about a resume that lists experience before education? Career services suggested this to me but I am skeptical