Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged? Forum

(On Campus Interviews, Summer Associate positions, Firm Reviews, Tips, ...)
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
thejaquio

New
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 1:26 am

Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by thejaquio » Mon Jun 19, 2017 9:47 pm

Does an unusually short (20 min) law firm interview (personal injury law) in front of all 8 partners simultaneously mean that I am dinged? They only asked extremely generic questions ("How are you with writing skills?"; "What types of law are you most interested in?"; "What brings you to this area of the country?"). At the end, they did ask salary expectations. But when it was my turn to ask questions, they only gave me time for about two. I am a strong interviewer, and I definitely did not say anything that should have resulted in an autoding, e.g., "I like to watch co-workers through the bathroom keyhole"...etc.

Has anyone ever heard of this? They called me for the interview literally the day after I turned in my resume.

User avatar
rpupkin

Platinum
Posts: 5653
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:32 pm

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by rpupkin » Mon Jun 19, 2017 9:55 pm

thejaquio wrote:Does an unusually short (20 min) law firm interview (personal injury law) in front of all 8 partners simultaneously mean that I am dinged?
No.

thejaquio

New
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 1:26 am

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by thejaquio » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:04 pm

rpupkin wrote:
thejaquio wrote:Does an unusually short (20 min) law firm interview (personal injury law) in front of all 8 partners simultaneously mean that I am dinged?
No.
Could you kindly elaborate on this? It seems intuitive that interested employers would tend to ask more questions and follow-ups.

BTW, I did ask, "should [they] choose to go forward, when I might hear from [them] for the next steps." They said "within a week."

User avatar
rpupkin

Platinum
Posts: 5653
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:32 pm

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by rpupkin » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:08 pm

thejaquio wrote:
rpupkin wrote:
thejaquio wrote:Does an unusually short (20 min) law firm interview (personal injury law) in front of all 8 partners simultaneously mean that I am dinged?
No.
Could you kindly elaborate on this?
My answer speaks for itself. A short interview doesn't mean you are dinged. It could just be that's how the firm interviews people. Or it could be that the firm usually spends more time on an interview but they had to rush because a couple of the partners had time conflicts.

It could, of course, also be true that the interviewers disliked you so much that they decided to cut the interview short, but you would have no way of knowing that.

thejaquio

New
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 1:26 am

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by thejaquio » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:18 pm

rpupkin wrote:
thejaquio wrote:
rpupkin wrote:
thejaquio wrote:Does an unusually short (20 min) law firm interview (personal injury law) in front of all 8 partners simultaneously mean that I am dinged?
No.
Could you kindly elaborate on this?
My answer speaks for itself. A short interview doesn't mean you are dinged. It could just be that's how the firm interviews people. Or it could be that the firm usually spends more time on an interview but they had to rush because a couple of the partners had time conflicts.

It could, of course, also be true that the interviewers disliked you so much that they decided to cut the interview short, but you would have no way of knowing that.
So what's the next step? Would they call with an offer, or would they call to set up a follow up interview? I've interviewed for a buttload of law jobs, but this interview was the biggest outlier in terms of process/decorum that I've ever experienced. Either way, as with most things in life, I don't see how short=good.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


User avatar
rpupkin

Platinum
Posts: 5653
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:32 pm

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by rpupkin » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:21 pm

thejaquio wrote: So what's the next step?
Sorry, I don't know. I don't work at the firm you interviewed at.

RaceJudicata

Gold
Posts: 1867
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 2:51 pm

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by RaceJudicata » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:23 pm

Hey... better to get dinged after a 20 minute interview than to get your hopes up and get dinged after a 2+ hour interview.

User avatar
cavalier1138

Moderator
Posts: 8007
Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2016 8:01 pm

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by cavalier1138 » Tue Jun 20, 2017 5:15 am

thejaquio wrote: So what's the next step? Would they call with an offer, or would they call to set up a follow up interview? I've interviewed for a buttload of law jobs, but this interview was the biggest outlier in terms of process/decorum that I've ever experienced. Either way, as with most things in life, I don't see how short=good.
I think the next step would be to publicly freak out about the interview and examine all the things that could have gone wrong. Then ignore everyone who tells you that it's probably fine. But the most important next step is to spend all your mental energy obsessing over something that you have literally no power to change.

User avatar
TooMuchTuna

Silver
Posts: 1066
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2015 10:35 am

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by TooMuchTuna » Tue Jun 20, 2017 8:45 am

Did you send a thank you note?

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


User avatar
elendinel

Silver
Posts: 975
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 12:29 pm

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by elendinel » Tue Jun 20, 2017 10:01 am

Oh I remember you.

No one here can really answer any of your questions without knowing where you interviewed and who you interviewed with. Interviews are person and personality-specific; what is normal for some people is abnormal for others. Interview processes are firm-specific; what is normal for one organization will be abnormal for another. Don't use what you would do as a metric for how every firm you apply to will operate; that is an exercise in futility.

redsox550

Moderator
Posts: 323
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2011 3:15 am

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by redsox550 » Tue Jun 20, 2017 10:43 am

apparently I have trouble reading bc based on how I read the title I thought OP was unusually short in terms of height and therefore wasn't sure if it will hurt his interview chances. lol

blueapple

Silver
Posts: 599
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:56 am

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by blueapple » Tue Jun 20, 2017 10:53 am

I certainly can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to hire you.
thejaquio wrote:
EzraFitz wrote:
thejaquio wrote:
PennBull wrote:
thejaquio wrote:
rpupkin wrote:Callback at a V35 firm. I'm waiting in the lobby for someone to bring me up to the office. All of a sudden, I let out a sneeze. A man walking by says "bless you." Later, I learned that the man was the managing partner! I was horrified.

Got an offer.
This is literally the worst story I have ever heard.

I have no idea what possessed you to post it on this board. We are all less entertained for having heard it. Thank you, and may God have mercy on your soul.
thats the joke, dipshit
That didn't fully come through. The irony was a bit too subtle, especially seeing as how his mock-stories closely mirror the lameness of many of the unnecessarily long female stories being passed off here as legitimately "bad interview moments," just so they can talk about themselves.

But on second thought, man do I feel retarded. Gonna edit and hope no one else notices my exceedingly low IQ.
Wow, are you serious about the bolded? Wow.
And trigger faux-umbrage...now.

You're right, women are well known for their brevity and pith in relaying humorous, entertaining, non-self-centered anecdotes. It's almost a stereotype. I therefore retract my previous statement and beg your pardon.

Now, before further derailment, any other funny stories? I know a guy that sharted in his whitish tan pants while at the interview location for an AUSA internship. The shart was so wet that it bled through his pants, and the interviewing attorney ended up asking him what was on his pants. I am not sure how he responded. Offer. Epic story.
ETA:
thejaquio wrote:She has corrected like four different people on this very thread (who had comparatively way more interesting and insightful stories/anecdotes than what she just said) for saying things MILDLY off-topic, and the hypocrisy was just too rank to not call out with great relish. Just sick of the smug self-satisfaction, and the unchallenged feminist tripe (that apparently is thought to be above the rules)---such as that it's pregnancy discrimination to not promote a woman, who due to taking maternity leave, has done 10/12 of the work of her male coworkers. It would be actual discrimination against men (and non-pregnant women, BTW) to promote women who had only done a fraction of the work of the childless.
Last edited by blueapple on Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
mjb447

Silver
Posts: 1419
Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:36 am

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by mjb447 » Tue Jun 20, 2017 11:55 am

blueapple wrote:I certainly can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to hire you.
Hey, at least he didn't say "I like to watch co-workers through the bathroom keyhole."

Register now!

Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.

It's still FREE!


blueapple

Silver
Posts: 599
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:56 am

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by blueapple » Tue Jun 20, 2017 11:56 am

mjb447 wrote:
blueapple wrote:I certainly can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to hire you.
Hey, at least he didn't say "I like to watch co-workers through the bathroom keyhole."
:D
Last edited by blueapple on Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ur_hero

Bronze
Posts: 210
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2016 6:52 pm

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by ur_hero » Tue Jun 20, 2017 4:09 pm

One possibility is that Partners are busy...20 minutes for all 8 partners can actually be quite a commitment, depending on the firm size and how much work they have going on.

Maybe they have lots of candidates and want to narrow it down before spending more time with any one person.

Real talk though - no way to know what's going through a bunch of partner's heads unless they just tell you. I'd (1) send a thank you (i know these are controversial in this forum - but i feel like they usually can't hurt, even if they don't always help); (2) wait one-two weeks, then follow up.

User avatar
rpupkin

Platinum
Posts: 5653
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:32 pm

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by rpupkin » Tue Jun 20, 2017 4:13 pm

ur_hero wrote:I'd (1) send a thank you (i know these are controversial in this forum - but i feel like they usually can't hurt, even if they don't always help)
Which partner should he send the thank-you note to?

User avatar
elendinel

Silver
Posts: 975
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 12:29 pm

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by elendinel » Tue Jun 20, 2017 5:10 pm

rpupkin wrote:
ur_hero wrote:I'd (1) send a thank you (i know these are controversial in this forum - but i feel like they usually can't hurt, even if they don't always help)
Which partner should he send the thank-you note to?
The most attractive one.

Get unlimited access to all forums and topics

Register now!

I'm pretty sure I told you it's FREE...


malibustacy

Bronze
Posts: 287
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2014 3:34 am

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by malibustacy » Tue Jun 20, 2017 5:27 pm

Not necessarily. Lawyers are busy people who aren't going to spend an entire hour of billable time interviewing someone who might not even end up working for them. If they like you, they'll ask you to come in for more interviews, dinner, or something of that sort.

You're probably not the only candidate for the job, and they'll look into others that they might like as well, and 20 minutes is probably all they can manage for the busy and varied schedules for 8 different partners.

I'd stop reading tea leaves and continue applying for jobs.

User avatar
mjb447

Silver
Posts: 1419
Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:36 am

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by mjb447 » Tue Jun 20, 2017 5:54 pm

elendinel wrote:The most attractive one.
Too bad this firm is probably too small for the relative hotness of each partner to have been ranked by some major publication. What's a TLSer to do?

thejaquio

New
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 1:26 am

Re: Unusually short Law Firm Interview? Dinged?

Post by thejaquio » Tue Jun 20, 2017 6:49 pm

elendinel wrote:
rpupkin wrote:
ur_hero wrote:I'd (1) send a thank you (i know these are controversial in this forum - but i feel like they usually can't hurt, even if they don't always help)
Which partner should he send the thank-you note to?
The most attractive one.
Should the thank you note have a dick pic in it too?

E-mail or snail mail?

Communicate now with those who not only know what a legal education is, but can offer you worthy advice and commentary as you complete the three most educational, yet challenging years of your law related post graduate life.

Register now, it's still FREE!


Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Legal Employment”