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Any advice for a 2L who completely screwed up the whole OCI process and has no idea what to do now? Have a solid resume (~top 5% grades at a T20, good 1L summer job, typical biglaw extra-currics, etc.), but was rejected from all 10 callbacks I did (most LA, couple in SF). Clearly not the best interviewer, but I don't think its something I'm truly terrible at. Can generally hold a conversation and am a pretty regular/average person. Think I got pretty unlucky and had a hard time standing out at the callback stage, but it is what it is.

Any tips on where I should focus my efforts now? Small firms, government internships, maybe a judicial externship? Ideally, would like biglaw to still be a possibility in the future, even if it is a very long-shot. Already applied to every large firm in California and a handful in NY with no results. My original goal going into this summer was to clerk --> biglaw --> government. Now I think I am going to try my hardest to get a clerkship for after graduation and then see if I have better luck at getting biglaw as a 3L or post-clerkship. I could potentially go back to the LA government office I did my 1L summer at as a 2L, but that seems like it might limit my future opportunities to the public sector.

My school's career office has been no help and I really don't know where to turn at this point. Overall this has been an incredibly isolating and demoralizing experience, and any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know everything will probably turn out fine, but just the uncertainty and constant rejections have really taken a toll on me. Thanks in advance.

Now what, you ask? If you truly want BigLaw, mass mail the stuffing out of NY. You don't have the luxury at this point of just applying to a "handful in NY." You gotta carpet the city asap. Also apply to any other markets where you have ties. That's where your focus ought to be now, not on trying to do a term-time judicial externship or small firm gig.

Don't just sit back and wait for 3L to apply to more BigLaw shops. Keep mass mailing.

You either need to accept that you won’t get biglaw in CA this summer (therefore, not do biglaw) OR massmail everywhere you have any connection. Firms are still hiring.

I think your mistake was focusing (only?) on CA. There was a thread earlier where a Stanford student struck out bidding LA.

2Ls think that biglaw is done hiring after OCI. That’s completely false. My T6 still has 2L summer associate postings listed DAILY. If you’re interested, I can post them on here later.

Yes, I focused heavily on LA/CA because that is where my school/ties are and I think that was a big part of my problem. Originally, I applied to all the NY firms that take 40-50+ summer associates but will broaden my search and send out more apps. Students/alumni from my school are very underrepresented in NY, which always made it seem like it was never really a possibility. I guess it doesn't hurt to try. Thanks for your help.

Anonymous User wrote:You either need to accept that you won’t get biglaw in CA this summer (therefore, not do biglaw) OR massmail everywhere you have any connection. Firms are still hiring.

I think your mistake was focusing (only?) on CA. There was a thread earlier where a Stanford student struck out bidding LA.

2Ls think that biglaw is done hiring after OCI. That’s completely false. My T6 still has 2L summer associate postings listed DAILY. If you’re interested, I can post them on here later.

That would be great, thanks so much

Anonymous User wrote:You either need to accept that you won’t get biglaw in CA this summer (therefore, not do biglaw) OR massmail everywhere you have any connection. Firms are still hiring.

I think your mistake was focusing (only?) on CA. There was a thread earlier where a Stanford student struck out bidding LA.

2Ls think that biglaw is done hiring after OCI. That’s completely false. My T6 still has 2L summer associate postings listed DAILY. If you’re interested, I can post them on here later.

I would appreciate it too!

Probably a long shot from CA, but my school just posted a listing for Proskauer Boston.

All NY firms I did cbs at this month asked about my ties to NY (I got to law school here but undergrad in the west coast). Not sure if ties would matter at this point, but might as well try.

Your grades are competitive for federal clerkships, so I'd start applying for those too.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:You either need to accept that you won’t get biglaw in CA this summer (therefore, not do biglaw) OR massmail everywhere you have any connection. Firms are still hiring.

I think your mistake was focusing (only?) on CA. There was a thread earlier where a Stanford student struck out bidding LA.

2Ls think that biglaw is done hiring after OCI. That’s completely false. My T6 still has 2L summer associate postings listed DAILY. If you’re interested, I can post them on here later.

That would be great, thanks so much

Different anon, but here are the few we have:

Stoel Rives Environmental Summer Associate (Seattle)
Katten Muchin (Dallas)
Steptoe & Johnson - IP (NY)
Hausfeld - small firm (DC)

Just my two cents: you don't need ties to NY to get a NY biglaw offer. They will obviously ask you "Why NY?" in your screener and callback, but given that so many people want to work there and have no previous ties to there, it's not hard to come up with an intelligent, reasonable answer—i.e. about NY as a large legal market, the clients you'd be able to interact with in NY, etc. (This is coming from someone who doesn't go to law school in NY, never lived in NY, but nevertheless will be working at a biglaw firm in NY next summer).

Pneumonia wrote:Your grades are competitive for federal clerkships, so I'd start applying for those too.

Unless you have a complete aversion to clerking this would be a great parachute for you