Cancelling OCI screeners to do callback? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I participated in a pre-OCI job event and have received 5 callbacks so far from the event. I've already scheduled one callback after my school's OCI because I wanted to do OCI but now I'm reconsidering whether to try and do my callbacks earlier. What're your thoughts on cancelling some OCI screeners to make myself available for callbacks? Is there a benefit to doing callbacks as early as possible that would make it worthwhile to cancel OCI screeners?

I'm just outside top 1/4 at a T25, LR, STEM major.

[Anonymous User]

I canceled my entire third day of OCI to do callbacks. I had pre-OCI offers and callbacks already and knew that I wouldn’t go to any of my day 3 firms over what I already had.

If you are in the same boat, please be considerate of your peers and cancel the interview. Also make sure you let career services know and explicitly ask them to let students know that there may be openings

[QContinuum]

I canceled my entire third day of OCI to do callbacks. I had pre-OCI offers and callbacks already and knew that I wouldn’t go to any of my day 3 firms over what I already had.

Critical part bolded. A callback isn't a guarantee of an offer. Callback-to-conversion rate varies not only between firms but also between interviewees. At my T14, some folks converted almost all of their callbacks into offers. I also know of folks who converted only 1 out of every 4-6 callbacks into an offer. No one can really predict, with certainty, how high their personal conversion rate will be.

IMO, 5 callbacks isn't "too many." I would not recommend canceling one or two day's worth of OCI screeners just to do one or two callbacks a day or two sooner. The potential upside of moving callbacks forward by a day or two is minimal, whereas the guaranteed downside of missing out on numerous firms is significant.

Only cancel screeners (or callbacks, for that matter) if you have at least one offer on hand and are sure there's no way you'd pick those firms over your offer(s). If you're even the slightest bit unsure, I'd recommend going through the process to maximize your options.

Also note that some schools (my T14 is one of these) do not allow rising 2Ls to cancel OCI screeners.

[NoBladesNoBows]

I canceled my entire third day of OCI to do callbacks. I had pre-OCI offers and callbacks already and knew that I wouldn’t go to any of my day 3 firms over what I already had.

Critical part bolded. A callback isn't a guarantee of an offer. Callback-to-conversion rate varies not only between firms but also between interviewees. At my T14, some folks converted almost all of their callbacks into offers. I also know of folks who converted only 1 out of every 4-6 callbacks into an offer. No one can really predict, with certainty, how high their personal conversion rate will be.

IMO, 5 callbacks isn't "too many." I would not recommend canceling one or two day's worth of OCI screeners just to do one or two callbacks a day or two sooner. The potential upside of moving callbacks forward by a day or two is minimal, whereas the guaranteed downside of missing out on numerous firms is significant.

Only cancel screeners (or callbacks, for that matter) if you have at least one offer on hand and are sure there's no way you'd pick those firms over your offer(s). If you're even the slightest bit unsure, I'd recommend going through the process to maximize your options.

Also note that some schools (my T14 is one of these) do not allow rising 2Ls to cancel OCI screeners.

Seconding this. Five callbacks is a good start but not a guaranteed offer. Scheduling callbacks sooner rather than later is also a good idea, but not at the expense of securing more callbacks. If you already had an offer at a firm you'd take over any of the screener firms on the days you'd miss I'd recommend canceling. Because it sounds like that isn't the case, I strongly suggest you go through with all your screeners.

I knew at least one person with 5-6 callbacks with no offers. I converted about 50% of mine IIRC but that rate really can be all over the board, don't count on anything.

[Anonymous User]

I had something like 15 callbacks and 2 offers. CB:Offer varies wildly from person to person and firm to firm...especially if you're looking at non-NYC markets like I was. Don't start to get complacent now that you have 5 callbacks, and don't cancel anything until you have an offer in hand that you'd accept over the cancelled firm.

[Anonymous User]

OP here, thanks for the responses. I understand CBs are no guarantee of an offer and am not getting complacent. I just much more prefer the firms I do have CBs with than the firms with which I'd be giving up screeners. I'll keep hustling and I'll do those OCI screeners and hope I can kill the CBs so I can be done with this whole process!

[QContinuum]

OP here, thanks for the responses. I understand CBs are no guarantee of an offer and am not getting complacent. I just much more prefer the firms I do have CBs with than the firms with which I'd be giving up screeners. I'll keep hustling and I'll do those OCI screeners and hope I can kill the CBs so I can be done with this whole process!

Best wishes! I'm sure you'll do great.