Is This A Bad Sign During A CB Interview? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Had a CB with a NY firm today. One of the partners I was interviewing with went to the "do you have any questions for me" part really early. We were talking about my education and work experience and then he was like "ok, we've talked about your background and your work experience, do you have any questions for me?" To me it seemed like he had nothing else to talk about with me and just cut to the questions part after only about 10 minutes into the interview. Has anyone had interviews where this comes up early and what was the outcome? Is it a sign of disinterest by the interviewer?

[Anonymous User]

Had a CB with a NY firm today. One of the partners I was interviewing with went to the "do you have any questions for me" part really early. We were talking about my education and work experience and then he was like "ok, we've talked about your background and your work experience, do you have any questions for me?" To me it seemed like he had nothing else to talk about with me and just cut to the questions part after only about 10 minutes into the interview. Has anyone had interviews where this comes up early and what was the outcome? Is it a sign of disinterest by the interviewer?

I've had it happen in screeners that became dings... So yeah I'd say it's not the best possible outcome.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

I've been doing callback interviews and I can say it is a really good thing if the person being interviewed has good questions. I think this could be nothing more than the interviewer just trying to pass the mic.

[Anonymous User]

I can see why it would give you pause, but partners are busy people. It's possible that he just wasn't that familiar with your application materials, felt like he had exhausted his questions and needed your help in carrying the interview the rest of the way. Isn't that a big part of why people have those dumb "personal interest" sections on their resume, to stimulate conversation during desperate times?

I've heard from upper classmen that you always need to be prepared to carry conversation in these interviews. I've had interviews where all we talked about was fancy dinners. I've heard of an interview where someone literally helped their interviewer decide on an online fashion purchase and never got around to discussing themselves. Both successful interviews.

Firm interviews can be idiosyncratic. I don't know if anything can be read into your experience. If I were you, I would just relax, move on, and be prepared to carry your next call backs by asking good questions.

[Anonymous User]

Had a CB with a NY firm today. One of the partners I was interviewing with went to the "do you have any questions for me" part really early. We were talking about my education and work experience and then he was like "ok, we've talked about your background and your work experience, do you have any questions for me?" To me it seemed like he had nothing else to talk about with me and just cut to the questions part after only about 10 minutes into the interview. Has anyone had interviews where this comes up early and what was the outcome? Is it a sign of disinterest by the interviewer?

Or it can be a good sign, depending on tone. I had V10 CBs where partners punt to me early in the interview ("what can I tell you about us"/"what questions can I answer"), and I got offers. The subtext was: I can tell you're a strong candidate, what can I tell you about our firm to persuade you. Friends had similar experiences, too.

[Anonymous User]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Although not completely on point, some anecdata from my own CB experience is that I had one interview that ended up being a reverse-interview, where the interviewer was completely silent at the start and it was on me to get the ball rolling with questions. I somehow managed to carry on for around 15 minutes before I finally ran out of questions and asked the interviewer whether they had any questions for me (at which point they asked a few questions about my resume to finish things out). This was a V15 firm and I got an offer shortly thereafter.

In short, the point of that story is that each interviewer has a different style, and that they may decide not to play 20 questions with your resume during your interview (CB or screener, for that matter) doesn't mean anything significant necessarily.

[Anonymous User]

Not to hijack this thread, but do you guys think fumbling on one or two questions in a callback is enough to ding me? I had a callback where I interviewed with a total of 7 attorneys. I'd say 4 of those interviews went good, and my interview with the senior partner was very good. With the first 2 partners I fumbled on 1 or 2 questions that were quite difficult. I did however end on a good note and I made them laugh. Any thoughts? I need to sleep easier tonight since this firm is my top choice. V40sh regional.

[Anonymous User]

I can see why it would give you pause, but partners are busy people. It's possible that he just wasn't that familiar with your application materials, felt like he had exhausted his questions and needed your help in carrying the interview the rest of the way. Isn't that a big part of why people have those dumb "personal interest" sections on their resume, to stimulate conversation during desperate times?

I've heard from upper classmen that you always need to be prepared to carry conversation in these interviews. I've had interviews where all we talked about was fancy dinners. I've heard of an interview where someone literally helped their interviewer decide on an online fashion purchase and never got around to discussing themselves. Both successful interviews.

Firm interviews can be idiosyncratic. I don't know if anything can be read into your experience. If I were you, I would just relax, move on, and be prepared to carry your next call backs by asking good questions.

Yeah, he did seem to be looking through my resume the whole time as if it was his first time looking at it, so it seems like this may be the case. I did end up carrying the conversation with questions about his practice and the firm for the remainder of the interview, and there were no awkward pauses after that. So hopefully all is well, we'll see!