Advice Needed- Callback Interview Question Forum

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for taking the time to read this and reply!

I had a callback interview with a vault firm on Wednesday. It went decently, although I must say, it was not as good as the initial interview. They seemed distracted- like the partners would rather have been working on a case than interviewing me.

I was supposed to meet with 3 partners- one of them is the managing partner of the group. The managing partner was unable to meet with me because he was with a client.

I believe that the managing partner is the key to getting an offer. If I were to secure his approval, I'm sure I would get an offer. It's troubling to me that I was not given an opportunity to meet with him.

In my followup Thank You letter to the recruiting coordinator, I expressed interest in rescheduling my planned meeting with the managing partner. She has not yet returned my email.

What is the best course of action in this situation? I could 1) call the recruiting coordinator and ask her if I will be able to meet with the managing partner; 2) email the managing partner directly and politely express interest in speaking with him; or 3) remain silent and wait for them to get back to me.

I don't like the idea of remaining silent, because I don't want to pass up an opportunity. I don't think that the last interview was good enough to rely on it for an offer.

Thank you for considering my question.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Jeez. Calm down. The die is cast.

[Anonymous User]

Remain silent, although the damage could be done already. You bothering them to speak with the managing partner after you've already had an interview will not get you his approval or the job. Why would you think that the interview not going well would result in an offer outside of the interview itself? So just relax and hope the people you did interview with liked you...

[RaceJudicata]

You already made a critical mistake. Now just wait and see what happens. It is out of your hands at this point.

[pancakes3]

sounds like you were distracted and would rather have been doing something else during the interview too.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. What was the "critical mistake?"

I hit all the main points that I wanted to talk about during the interview. I just didn't feel as though there was sufficient connection with the interviewers. My social intuition suggested that they were distracted.

My credentials are on the same level as the firm's typical incoming associates.

Thanks for the advice, I won't send any follow up communications

[RaceJudicata]

OP here. What was the "critical mistake?"

I hit all the main points that I wanted to talk about during the interview. I just didn't feel as though there was sufficient connection with the interviewers. My social intuition suggested that they were distracted.

My credentials are on the same level as the firm's typical incoming associates.

Thanks for the advice, I won't send any follow up communications

Shouldn't have strangely emailed to set up a meeting with the managing partner. And the fact you want to continue following up is stranger.

Eta: not even gonna touch the thank you note situation, as we have been down that rabbit hole too many times.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for taking the time to read this and reply!

I had a callback interview with a vault firm on Wednesday. It went decently, although I must say, it was not as good as the initial interview. They seemed distracted- like the partners would rather have been working on a case than interviewing me.

I was supposed to meet with 3 partners- one of them is the managing partner of the group. The managing partner was unable to meet with me because he was with a client.

I believe that the managing partner is the key to getting an offer. If I were to secure his approval, I'm sure I would get an offer. It's troubling to me that I was not given an opportunity to meet with him.

In my followup Thank You letter to the recruiting coordinator, I expressed interest in rescheduling my planned meeting with the managing partner. She has not yet returned my email.

What is the best course of action in this situation? I could 1) call the recruiting coordinator and ask her if I will be able to meet with the managing partner; 2) email the managing partner directly and politely express interest in speaking with him; or 3) remain silent and wait for them to get back to me.

I don't like the idea of remaining silent, because I don't want to pass up an opportunity. I don't think that the last interview was good enough to rely on it for an offer.

Thank you for considering my question.

out of curiosity, which practice group is still interviewing at this point in the year?

[1styearlateral]

I think when people do not get offers extended, and not just in law but in general, they try to rationalize the end result, which in my opinion is a fool's errand. Each firm works differently and most times particular groups within a firm work differently from one another. To say you hit every checkbox that you think is important and which should equate to an offer is misguided. You may fit the criteria for incoming fall associates, but the practice group head might be looking for someone with experience in a niche area of law and is less concerned with academic pedigree. Landing an interview is difficult in and of itself these days, and they can only offer the position to one person of about probably 2 dozen people they interview (out of hundreds if not thousands of apps). Sometimes an offer is extended and sometimes it's not; you just have to leave it at that and move on.

[LurkerTurnedMember]

You should just remain quiet now. Whether it was a mistake for you to try to reschedule the meeting with the managing partner, as someone above mentioned, depends, I think, on how you did it. If you straight up said, "I wanna meet with him/her because I didn't get a chance to," or something as forceful as that, it was a mistake. But if you said, "I definitely understand the managing partner's meeting with his client. Please feel free to let him/her know that I am available any time if she/he wants to reach out to me," then that's ok I think. That's why I do e-mails, not letters. You can send each person an e-mail that's short and a bit personalized. Had you done that you could've sent one to the managing partner and said directly, after introducing yourself, "I'm sorry we didn't get to meet today. But if you are still interested in talking a bit about my application, please let me know. Thank you again for the opportunity to interview. I appreciate it." Something like that.

[lolwat]

You should just remain quiet now. Whether it was a mistake for you to try to reschedule the meeting with the managing partner, as someone above mentioned, depends, I think, on how you did it. If you straight up said, "I wanna meet with him/her because I didn't get a chance to," or something as forceful as that, it was a mistake. But if you said, "I definitely understand the managing partner's meeting with his client. Please feel free to let him/her know that I am available any time if she/he wants to reach out to me," then that's ok I think. That's why I do e-mails, not letters. You can send each person an e-mail that's short and a bit personalized. Had you done that you could've sent one to the managing partner and said directly, after introducing yourself, "I'm sorry we didn't get to meet today. But if you are still interested in talking a bit about my application, please let me know. Thank you again for the opportunity to interview. I appreciate it." Something like that.

Agree with this

[Npret]

OP here. What was the "critical mistake?"

I hit all the main points that I wanted to talk about during the interview. I just didn't feel as though there was sufficient connection with the interviewers. My social intuition suggested that they were distracted.

My credentials are on the same level as the firm's typical incoming associates.

Thanks for the advice, I won't send any follow up communications

Have you done much interview practice? You sound as if you were following a formula even though you sensed you weren't connecting.
Just FYI when interviews are scheduled you should know that people doing the interviews may change depending on work. Also, if the other partners didn't connect with you, it's unlikely the managing partner will override their decision.

[NYC2012]

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