Post CB rejections for 1L SA Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm curious if I should be concerned after a couple of post cb dings. I thought the both went amazing after I walked out of the office, so I was a little taken back with the dings. I guess I just don't know how big law works. I know 1L SA positions are extremely hard to get, but I kind of thought once you got the CB it was yours to lose. Does a ding mean I am screwing up somehow in my interviewing and need to fix it, or is it really just more of a fate/right time right interviewer thing and I shouldn't stress out. If it matters the firms were NY vault firms and I am top 5% at a T6, non diverse.

Again I know 1L SA is hard to get, but I feel like I have destroyed my own shot somehow and I don't want to keep it up for OCI if I am somehow terrible at interviewing and don't even know it.

[RaceJudicata]

Maybe you messed it up, maybe you didn't (i.e. firm was looking for diversity candidates (even if it wasn't a diversity program), different pre-law background requirements, etc.).

That said, do some mock interviews to see what the OCS people think. Better to get the bad interviews out of your system now rather than in July/August.

[Npret]

I'm curious if I should be concerned after a couple of post cb dings. I thought the both went amazing after I walked out of the office, so I was a little taken back with the dings. I guess I just don't know how big law works. I know 1L SA positions are extremely hard to get, but I kind of thought once you got the CB it was yours to lose. Does a ding mean I am screwing up somehow in my interviewing and need to fix it, or is it really just more of a fate/right time right interviewer thing and I shouldn't stress out. If it matters the firms were NY vault firms and I am top 5% at a T6, non diverse.

Again I know 1L SA is hard to get, but I feel like I have destroyed my own shot somehow and I don't want to keep it up for OCI if I am somehow terrible at interviewing and don't even know it.

A callback does not mean that the job is yours to lose. I'm not sure where you got that impression. You are probably being too hard on yourself.

Also, most (but by no means all) interviewers are chosen by their biglaw firm because they are personable. You will leave most of your biglaw interviews feeling that you did well or had a good connection.

Do some practice interviews and get your confidence back.

[Anonymous User]

Maybe you messed it up, maybe you didn't (i.e. firm was looking for diversity candidates (even if it wasn't a diversity program), different pre-law background requirements, etc.).

That said, do some mock interviews to see what the OCS people think. Better to get the bad interviews out of your system now rather than in July/August.

That makes me feel a bit better, that it may have just been out of my control or I did alright but I really needed a perfect 10/10 performance. No one told me cbs were a mine to lose thing, I just didn't know if it was a situation where they like your cv/transcript and the cb was just to make sure they wouldn't hate spending 12 hours a day in the same office as you. Which made me think I failed some sort of are you a normal human I'd be ok talking to consistently test. Yea I know I'm being neurotic, but I am a law student.

[RaceJudicata]

Maybe you messed it up, maybe you didn't (i.e. firm was looking for diversity candidates (even if it wasn't a diversity program), different pre-law background requirements, etc.).

That said, do some mock interviews to see what the OCS people think. Better to get the bad interviews out of your system now rather than in July/August.

That makes me feel a bit better, that it may have just been out of my control or I did alright but I really needed a perfect 10/10 performance. No one told me cbs were a mine to lose thing, I just didn't know if it was a situation where they like your cv/transcript and the cb was just to make sure they wouldn't hate spending 12 hours a day in the same office as you. Which made me think I failed some sort of are you a normal human I'd be ok talking to consistently test. Yea I know I'm being neurotic, but I am a law student.

Yeah, shake these interviews off, but do learn from them. Obviously, 25+k in your pocket is awesome, but the real ball game is 2L SA. Chin up and learn from it.

[Anonymous User]

I'm curious if I should be concerned after a couple of post cb dings. I thought the both went amazing after I walked out of the office, so I was a little taken back with the dings. I guess I just don't know how big law works. I know 1L SA positions are extremely hard to get, but I kind of thought once you got the CB it was yours to lose. Does a ding mean I am screwing up somehow in my interviewing and need to fix it, or is it really just more of a fate/right time right interviewer thing and I shouldn't stress out. If it matters the firms were NY vault firms and I am top 5% at a T6, non diverse.

Again I know 1L SA is hard to get, but I feel like I have destroyed my own shot somehow and I don't want to keep it up for OCI if I am somehow terrible at interviewing and don't even know it.

In a similar position. T14 top 10%, diverse (not AA). 0/6 so far on CBs, most of which I feel like I killed. Have also been told by interviewers (both from the CBs and on other occasions) that I'm a good interviewer. 3 left to go before I strike out. The competition is real

[Npret]

I'm curious if I should be concerned after a couple of post cb dings. I thought the both went amazing after I walked out of the office, so I was a little taken back with the dings. I guess I just don't know how big law works. I know 1L SA positions are extremely hard to get, but I kind of thought once you got the CB it was yours to lose. Does a ding mean I am screwing up somehow in my interviewing and need to fix it, or is it really just more of a fate/right time right interviewer thing and I shouldn't stress out. If it matters the firms were NY vault firms and I am top 5% at a T6, non diverse.

Again I know 1L SA is hard to get, but I feel like I have destroyed my own shot somehow and I don't want to keep it up for OCI if I am somehow terrible at interviewing and don't even know it.

In a similar position. T14 top 10%, diverse (not AA). 0/6 so far on CBs, most of which I feel like I killed. Have also been told by interviewers (both from the CBs and on other occasions) that I'm a good interviewer. 3 left to go before I strike out. The competition is real

If you are 0/6 in callbacks you need to go do some mock interviews ASAP. Interviewing is a skill you can learn and improve with practice. There could be a simple fix that could get you over the line at the next interview.
Yes, the competition is tough but just double check your interview skills. It cant hurt and might help.

[acr]

You're being a little neurotic after two callback interviews. Your dings could be contributed to many many factors beyond your interviewing skills. If you go, say, 0/10 on callbacks then I would start to be concerned. But as others have mentioned in this thread, all you can really do is get feedback on your interviewing skills and practice.

[Anonymous User]

I'm curious if I should be concerned after a couple of post cb dings. I thought the both went amazing after I walked out of the office, so I was a little taken back with the dings. I guess I just don't know how big law works. I know 1L SA positions are extremely hard to get, but I kind of thought once you got the CB it was yours to lose. Does a ding mean I am screwing up somehow in my interviewing and need to fix it, or is it really just more of a fate/right time right interviewer thing and I shouldn't stress out. If it matters the firms were NY vault firms and I am top 5% at a T6, non diverse.

Again I know 1L SA is hard to get, but I feel like I have destroyed my own shot somehow and I don't want to keep it up for OCI if I am somehow terrible at interviewing and don't even know it.

In a similar position. T14 top 10%, diverse (not AA). 0/6 so far on CBs, most of which I feel like I killed. Have also been told by interviewers (both from the CBs and on other occasions) that I'm a good interviewer. 3 left to go before I strike out. The competition is real

If you are 0/6 in callbacks you need to go do some mock interviews ASAP. Interviewing is a skill you can learn and improve with practice. There could be a simple fix that could get you over the line at the next interview.
Yes, the competition is tough but just double check your interview skills. It cant hurt and might help.

Let me clarify: 4 of those callbacks were for offices that had 1 1L summer associate position, and 2 of those callbacks were for offices that had 2 positions. I have a very solid backup so I'm not that concerned for this summer. However, I will definitely be more serious with interviewing for 2L OCI.

[Anonymous User]

Update, 5 cbs, 4 dings. F this 1L SA hustle. What a confidence destroyer. Got some feedback on one of my cbs and it was just I was "fine" but didn't wow them enough. Apparently they said I probably would have got the offer if it was 2L with more spots. I'm not an unsocial awky, and have always been told I interviewed great. What do you have to do to impress these people? If you aren't a Bono like charismatic king who fills the entire room with your presence is "fine" the best you can really do? I'd try to sell myself more and demonstrate I did my research and know my shit, but almost all the interviewers directed conservations to light-hearted casual topics where you don't really have an opportunity to do anything but try and be personable.

[Anonymous User]

Update, 5 cbs, 4 dings. F this 1L SA hustle. What a confidence destroyer. Got some feedback on one of my cbs and it was just I was "fine" but didn't wow them enough. Apparently they said I probably would have got the offer if it was 2L with more spots. I'm not an unsocial awky, and have always been told I interviewed great. What do you have to do to impress these people? If you aren't a Bono like charismatic king who fills the entire room with your presence is "fine" the best you can really do? I'd try to sell myself more and demonstrate I did my research and know my shit, but almost all the interviewers directed conservations to light-hearted casual topics where you don't really have an opportunity to do anything but try and be personable.

I completely empathize with you. I was the anon who posted going 0/6. Got an unexpected offer after my 7th one that happened to be my #1 choice. The process is extremely difficult and requires a lot of luck given the limited pool of 1L SA jobs out there.

A few important things to keep into perspective (that kept me sane throughout the rejections): (1) based on how many callbacks you got, you should be more than fine at 2L OCI; (2) 1L summer jobs really don't matter; (3) it seems like a lot of people gun for 1L SA positions because of the prestige and money involved, and setting aside the ego and prestige, not getting a 1L SA job isn't going to impact anything that happens down the road; (4) you're probably more prepared than most of your peers from doing so many callbacks; (5) you finally have time to get back to the books.

Again, this was the logic and self-talk that kept me sane, and I just thought that I'd share

Good luck with everything!