how many lateral interviews before getting an offer? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Just curious.

For those who lateralled. How many applications did you send? How many interviews? How many offers?

Curious about your ratio. I was 10:3:1.

edit: this is for big law and boutiques. mid law okay too.

[Anonymous User]

Hard to remember, since I went through recruiters. But it was probably 8:2:1.

A note on the 2:1. I was offered a callback after one of them, but I didnt accept, as I didnt like the vibe I got after the screener.

Also, for those who look at this later, applications cost you nothing, so a low yield is probably normal.

[Anonymous User]

? applied - 6 interviews -4 offers (1 ding, 1 withdraw)

I think my recruiter only applied to six, but for all I know she applied to a lot more.

[Anonymous User]

I got interviews from about half the places I applied. At most firms the first round seems like more of a formality so almost all of those resulted in second round interviews- I'm not a great interviewer. Got offers from 50% of the places where I did the final round interviews.

[Anonymous User]

Hard to remember, since I went through recruiters. But it was probably 8:2:1.

A note on the 2:1. I was offered a callback after one of them, but I didnt accept, as I didnt like the vibe I got after the screener.

Also, for those who look at this later, applications cost you nothing, so a low yield is probably normal.

OP on this. I should note that I do corporate M&A. I think number of positions open/number of interviews/yield will depend on group.

[Anonymous User]

? applied - 6 interviews -4 offers (1 ding, 1 withdraw)

I think my recruiter only applied to six, but for all I know she applied to a lot more.

wow, 6:6:4 is pretty amazing. practice area? stats?

[Anonymous User]

??? applied, 2 interviews, 1 offer (withdrew from the other just before the in-person interview to accept the offer). Recruiter applied to some open positions on my behalf, but not sure how many (maybe 4?), and recruiter may have shopped the resume around a little, who knows. The firm I lateraled to moved really quickly and were super eager to hire, so I wasn't on the market very long.

[Anonymous User]

Biglaw: 6 formal applications, 1 informational interview, 3 formal interviews, 1 offer, 1 likely offer (turned down before final decision), 1 pigeonhole (firm decided not to hire until business picked up)

Boutiques: 2 formal applications, 1 informational interview, 1 formal interview, 1 likely offer (turned down before final decision).

In-house: 2 formal applications, 2 formal interviews, 1 offer, 1 likely offer (turned down before final decision).

Ended up with the first in-house offer.

I should note that I was very strategic about my applications. There was absolutely no spamming or blind applications. I was moving from NYC to a smaller market, and there are only ~2 dozen associates in my practice area in town, so I carefully felt out all firms before applying. I had a personal connection for both in-house jobs.

[Anonymous User]

I was T14 grad who started in arguably shitlaw. Had maybe 10 interviews before I got an offer with a mid law firm.

[Anonymous User]

? applied - 6 interviews -4 offers (1 ding, 1 withdraw)

I think my recruiter only applied to six, but for all I know she applied to a lot more.

wow, 6:6:4 is pretty amazing. practice area? stats?

The application number should probably be taken with a grain of salt - like any good recruiter would, my recruiter did some screening by seeing if firms would be interested in a hypothetical candidate of my nature before actually applying.

I was a general lit 2nd year, HYS /w good grades, started at a well known firm. Good story about why I was leaving that firm which had been in the news a bunch at the time, so everyone accepted it. It was just a combo of decent interviewing and a good story. Plus, having a number of interviews / offers in hand really makes things go faster. If you don't pressure firms, many will take their sweet time in deciding.

[Anonymous User]

Just curious.

For those who lateralled. How many applications did you send? How many interviews? How many offers?

Curious about your ratio. I was 10:3:1.

edit: this is for big law and boutiques. mid law okay too.

1:1:1. I knew where I wanted to go, and got poached though, so the biggest stress was telling my old bosses.

[Anonymous User]

7. 4 from headhunters and 3 from me. I was no-offered 5 times, two from firms not ranked in the top 100…..the two highest ranked firms I interviewed made an offer......these firms are ones I solicited. While I waited for the conflicts to clear I took a two-week vacation.

5 of the 7 firms had me interview twice. One three times (that firm dinged me via mail and two weeks later called and dinged me).

ig

[Anonymous User]

Thoughts on reneging on a lateral offer? I already signed the offer letter ... I would be making a practice area switch and kind of have cold feet.

[SmokeytheBear]

Thoughts on reneging on a lateral offer? I already signed the offer letter ... I would be making a practice area switch and kind of have cold feet.

My thoughts would just be for you to figure out what you want. Presumably if you have an offer already in hand, it means that you thought about it enough to go through the application and interview process. So now that you're getting cold feet . . . ?

[Anonymous User]

Wow this is crazy.

Just for some perspective, I have been trying to lateral for about a year.

I'm a 4th year associate at a corporate boutique.

Bottom 3rd of t20 - medium-size market.

Here are my lateral stats:

~50-60 applications (about 1/2 submitted by recruiters, and 1/2 personally).

3 interviews

0 offers.

I think I have a good resume/cover letter. I've asked people to review and I've gotten good feedback.

[SmokeytheBear]

Wow this is crazy.

Just for some perspective, I have been trying to lateral for about a year.

I'm a 4th year associate at a corporate boutique.

Bottom 3rd of t20 - medium-size market.

Here are my lateral stats:

~50-60 applications (about 1/2 submitted by recruiters, and 1/2 personally).

3 interviews

0 offers.

I think I have a good resume/cover letter. I've asked people to review and I've gotten good feedback.

To help you figure this out, can you give me an idea of what a "corporate boutique" is? I know plenty of top notch litigation boutiques, but in my several years practicing corporate, I dont know a corporate boutique. Do you just mean a small firm?

[ithrowds]

Wow this is crazy.

Just for some perspective, I have been trying to lateral for about a year.

I'm a 4th year associate at a corporate boutique.

Bottom 3rd of t20 - medium-size market.

Here are my lateral stats:

~50-60 applications (about 1/2 submitted by recruiters, and 1/2 personally).

3 interviews

0 offers.

I think I have a good resume/cover letter. I've asked people to review and I've gotten good feedback.

To help you figure this out, can you give me an idea of what a "corporate boutique" is? I know plenty of top notch litigation boutiques, but in my several years practicing corporate, I dont know a corporate boutique. Do you just mean a small firm?

Only one that comes to mind for me is Gundersom Dettmer - some like to call it a transactional boutique, although "boutique" might not really fit the bill anymore

[SmokeytheBear]

Wow this is crazy.

Just for some perspective, I have been trying to lateral for about a year.

I'm a 4th year associate at a corporate boutique.

Bottom 3rd of t20 - medium-size market.

Here are my lateral stats:

~50-60 applications (about 1/2 submitted by recruiters, and 1/2 personally).

3 interviews

0 offers.

I think I have a good resume/cover letter. I've asked people to review and I've gotten good feedback.

To help you figure this out, can you give me an idea of what a "corporate boutique" is? I know plenty of top notch litigation boutiques, but in my several years practicing corporate, I dont know a corporate boutique. Do you just mean a small firm?

Only one that comes to mind for me is Gundersom Dettmer - some like to call it a transactional boutique, although "boutique" might not really fit the bill anymore

Yeah I don't think they are a boutique anymore. They're in the big leagues for sure.

[Anonymous User]

Wow this is crazy.

Just for some perspective, I have been trying to lateral for about a year.

I'm a 4th year associate at a corporate boutique.

Bottom 3rd of t20 - medium-size market.

Here are my lateral stats:

~50-60 applications (about 1/2 submitted by recruiters, and 1/2 personally).

3 interviews

0 offers.

I think I have a good resume/cover letter. I've asked people to review and I've gotten good feedback.

To help you figure this out, can you give me an idea of what a "corporate boutique" is? I know plenty of top notch litigation boutiques, but in my several years practicing corporate, I dont know a corporate boutique. Do you just mean a small firm?

Only one that comes to mind for me is Gundersom Dettmer - some like to call it a transactional boutique, although "boutique" might not really fit the bill anymore

Yeah I don't think they are a boutique anymore. They're in the big leagues for sure.

We have about 20 lawyers - I get paid ~140k-150k all in - work mainly on small & mid-market deals. I say boutique because the pay is good, maybe it should be small firm.

[Anonymous User]

3 apps (1 boutique and 2 biglaw) - 3 interviews - 1 offer.

Ended up at the boutique (my top choice). I knew exactly what I wanted tho and was very picky about where I applied.