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Travelled to NY for a CB a few days ago. My first three interviewers had not looked over my resume before and they all worked in the same department and were very busy that day working on a time-sensitive client matter. During two of my interviews, they would check their email, etc. I understood, but it made me feel like there was nothing special about these interviews because they were so caught up in their busy day. Fourth and fifth interviews were much better. I can't help but feel like my first three interviewers will just give a generic evaluation because my interviews with them were pretty generic and it felt like I was intruding on their busy work day. What am I supposed to make of this situation?

Realize what your life is going to be like.

zot1 wrote:Realize what your life is going to be like.

If I'm even granted an offer. I feel like I'm just going to be dinged because the interviewers didnt seem interested in these interviews because their heads were in their work.

Sorry to hear that, I had a similar experience at OCi (interviewer was checking email, said ''sorry I wasn't paying attention'' etc). Just put it behind you and move on; whether you're dinged or offered is out of your control, and worrying about it solves nothing

Anonymous User wrote:

zot1 wrote:Realize what your life is going to be like.

If I'm even granted an offer. I feel like I'm just going to be dinged because the interviewers didnt seem interested in these interviews because their heads were in their work.

I mean, this is just one of those things that is completely out of your control. Don't discard it just yet, but move on just because you should keep hustling.

I don't get why you're so annoyed.

mvp99 wrote:I don't get why you're so annoyed.

Why wouldn't I be? I don't go to a T14 so I'm not blessed with 7+ callbacks. My callbacks are limited, so every single one matters. When I have bad luck with the interviewers I got, of course I am going to be mad because that will dictate whether I receive an offer, and moreso, if I will be able to practice in Big Law.

Anonymous User wrote:

mvp99 wrote:I don't get why you're so annoyed.

Why wouldn't I be? I don't go to a T14 so I'm not blessed with 7+ callbacks. My callbacks are limited, so every single one matters. When I have bad luck with the interviewers I got, of course I am going to be mad because that will dictate whether I receive an offer, and moreso, if I will be able to practice in Big Law.

Understood but there's nothing you can do about it; it's our of your control at this point.

If it's any comfort, I had a callback interview where the person was trying to get a mortgage on a house the whole 30 minutes. The whole time she was filling out an online form and completely distracted. We just talked the whole time about different neighborhoods in the city, and pros and cons of each. Got an offer two days later.

Anonymous User wrote:

mvp99 wrote:I don't get why you're so annoyed.

Why wouldn't I be? I don't go to a T14 so I'm not blessed with 7+ callbacks. My callbacks are limited, so every single one matters. When I have bad luck with the interviewers I got, of course I am going to be mad because that will dictate whether I receive an offer, and moreso, if I will be able to practice in Big Law.

I think you have every right to be annoyed. Because this is annoying. Try going to dinner with a girl, and she is constantly on her phone? Or if you do that when you are out with someone, that annoys anyone.

Nothing you can do at this point, but if for some reason you ever become an interviewer, try to provide mutual respect when someone is interviewing with you.

This is actually very unprofessional, no matter how busy you are.

Okay, but given how busy recruiting season is, the alternative seems likely to be cancelling the callback. I know which one I'd prefer.

landshoes wrote:Okay, but given how busy recruiting season is, the alternative seems likely to be cancelling the callback. I know which one I'd prefer.

Schedule it at some other time if that's the case. Or make it less people as interviewers for the CB. There is no excuse - this is plain unprofessional.

merlin- wrote:

landshoes wrote:Okay, but given how busy recruiting season is, the alternative seems likely to be cancelling the callback. I know which one I'd prefer.

Schedule it at some other time if that's the case. Or make it less people as interviewers for the CB. There is no excuse - this is plain unprofessional.

I wouldn't take it personally. These are busy people. At the end of the day they are evaluated based on how well they serve clients, not based on how much the interviewees like them.

Shit sucks. I mean, I've heard a variety of CB horror stories so I know you're not alone (hopefully you realize that too); not that that's going to make it suck any less.

Unfortunately, I think to ask is to answer. What are you going to do? Write the recruiter and ask for another round? **DING**. Lodge a complaint with NALP? **DING** Ask your career center to press the firm to review you favorably? Maybe not a ding, but probably not useful.

My best guess at the right move is to take the high road. I would hope that you put on a grin and sent all five nice, personalized thank you notes (I'm personally of the opinion that thank you notes seem to be making a difference). And then I would acknowledge that it sucks, appreciate that other people (albeit anonymous) sympathize, and then move on and kick ass in the next one.

Good luck.

merlin- wrote:

landshoes wrote:Okay, but given how busy recruiting season is, the alternative seems likely to be cancelling the callback. I know which one I'd prefer.

Schedule it at some other time if that's the case. Or make it less people as interviewers for the CB. There is no excuse - this is plain unprofessional.

Anyone getting upset by a distracted interviewer is going to have a real tough time the first time they get assigned to a screamer partner or a backstabbing senior. And often times re: distracted interviewers, particularly for junior associates, you don't know what will 2 PM will look like when you walk in the door at 9 AM. If the client needs something, you do it. Prioritizing an interview over doing a good job would be quite literally unprofessional based on the rules of the industry... Which matter infinitely more than some genteel notion of appropriate conduct. Not that I don't wish we had more niceness and respect, but that's not the way biglaw is.

OP: I have been a distracted interviewer before - partner dropped an urgent assignment on me literally minutes before my time was scheduled. I still gave the candidate pretty good marks and a recommendation. Don't assume hope is lost.

Anonymous User wrote:

merlin- wrote:

landshoes wrote:Okay, but given how busy recruiting season is, the alternative seems likely to be cancelling the callback. I know which one I'd prefer.

Schedule it at some other time if that's the case. Or make it less people as interviewers for the CB. There is no excuse - this is plain unprofessional.

Anyone getting upset by a distracted interviewer is going to have a real tough time the first time they get assigned to a screamer partner or a backstabbing senior. And often times re: distracted interviewers, particularly for junior associates, you don't know what will 2 PM will look like when you walk in the door at 9 AM. If the client needs something, you do it. Prioritizing an interview over doing a good job would be quite literally unprofessional based on the rules of the industry... Which matter infinitely more than some genteel notion of appropriate condyct. Not that I don't wish we had more niceness and respect, but that's not the way biglaw is.

OP: I have been a distracted interviewer before - partner dropped an urgent assignment on me literally minutes before my time was scheduled. I still gave the candidate pretty good marks and a recommendation. Don't assume hope is lost.

Thanks, thats comforting. Just to clarify, I'm not annoyed because I felt disrespected. Of course they have to prioritize their urgent client matters. I'm annoyed because of the bad luck I got which could possibly dictate my future.

Should they have given you your full attention? Yes absolutely. Can I understand why they might not have? Yes absolutely.

It could be a really shitty day for a lot of those people in the department. They need to finish whatever in hopes of getting home at a reasonable hour or they have a client being a pyscho or somebody fucked up something and they have to fix it asap. Meanwhile recruiting and HR (who have no idea about how busy attorneys might be right now) tell them they have to talk to a summer associate candidate for 20 minutes who in all honesty is one of several not so special candidates ( no offense). So I get why they need to check their emails during your interview and why they didn't have time to read your resume.

Does that make it ok? No, they should have told HR or recruiting to find someone else that day to interview you who hasn't so busy. Still, I get it. This is biglaw life, shit comes up big time and needs your full attention, so other things (like interviewing a single law student) get pushed to the side. Their reviews of you might be generic sure, but generic always beats bad reviews.

Edit: saw earlier comment. OP I wouldn't be too worried about it. Seems like you still had some good ones, which is all you need. Just need a few people to say they like you and a few others to go along with it.

this is life and shit happens...I have more than one callback with situations like this, and I get a ding every time this happens...

merlin- wrote:

landshoes wrote:Okay, but given how busy recruiting season is, the alternative seems likely to be cancelling the callback. I know which one I'd prefer.

Schedule it at some other time if that's the case. Or make it less people as interviewers for the CB. There is no excuse - this is plain unprofessional.

You don't understand. A law firm isn't like law school, where your class schedule and finals schedule are set up for you in advance. The OP's interviewers may have been hit with a client demand 45 minutes before the scheduled interview. Unexpected problems pop up all the time. If that bothers you, don't work at a law firm. I'm serious.

rpupkin wrote:

merlin- wrote:

landshoes wrote:Okay, but given how busy recruiting season is, the alternative seems likely to be cancelling the callback. I know which one I'd prefer.

Schedule it at some other time if that's the case. Or make it less people as interviewers for the CB. There is no excuse - this is plain unprofessional.

You don't understand. A law firm isn't like law school, where your class schedule and finals schedule are set up for you in advance. The OP's interviewers may have been hit with a client demand 45 minutes before the scheduled interview. Unexpected problems pop up all the time. If that bothers you, don't work at a law firm. I'm serious.

If that's the case, then cancel it, let someone else interview. I am pretty sure I understand the difference between law school and law firms. I never stated that it was scheduled in such a way. What I am saying is that, if you are on a busy deal/week/deadlines/etc, or you are swamped for whatever reason, have someone else interview.

If there is no way to do that, then its completely understandable, but if you are just doing it because you figured you can multi-task well, then that's a problem in and of itself.

If their only other option was to reschedule, they may have not been able to interview you for a month+. Maybe after all their offers went out.

I get the annoyance/anger but I think it's misplaced.

It's pretty obvious when interviewers are multi-tasking (no reasonable person thinks they can hide it). I just don't think it's going to significantly torpedo OP's chances like he/she assumes. The problem with multi-tasking is not that it makes it hard to evaluate an interviewee, it's that it doesn't look good to the interviewee.

If the firm is fine with that, then who cares? If it turns you off, don't work there.

bk1 wrote:It's pretty obvious when interviewers are multi-tasking (no reasonable person thinks they can hide it). I just don't think it's going to significantly torpedo OP's chances like he/she assumes. The problem with multi-tasking is not that it makes it hard to evaluate an interviewee, it's that it doesn't look good to the interviewee.

If the firm is fine with that, then who cares? If it turns you off, don't work there.

Oh yeah, I agree.

This is more of an annoyance, I don't think anyone should be visibly upset about this.

merlin- wrote:
If that's the case, then cancel it, let someone else interview. I am pretty sure I understand the difference between law school and law firms. I never stated that it was scheduled in such a way. What I am saying is that, if you are on a busy deal/week/deadlines/etc, or you are swamped for whatever reason, have someone else interview.

If there is no way to do that, then its completely understandable, but if you are just doing it because you figured you can multi-task well, then that's a problem in and of itself.

1. This happens literally all the time working as an associate.

2. CBs take a lot of bodies. It may be that they asked recruiting but there was no one else, or they didn't want to ask and have recruiting call a swamped partner to fill in on their behalf.

OP - I agree in your situation it really sucks but don't assume an outcome one way or another.