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Summer associate at biglaw (V30-40). It's almost end of my summer, and I just had a call from a senior associate that I am now working on one assignment with. She told me I didn't show a good ("enthusiastic") attitude while communicating about the assignment. I admit it was a mistake on my end--I was actually seeking further guidance but in retrospect it could be viewed in that way. I will try my ass off to submit the best ever final product but what else I can do here? In the call, I told her I really appreciate her constructive feedback. When submitting a final product, should I write more to show I will definitely fix what she pointed out?

On the other hand, is this a clear no-offer sign? The firm is a 95-100% offer firm and every summer had an offer last year, fwiw. Should I start massmailing asap? I was told offers will be given within a couple weeks after summer program. My mid-summer review was positive overall.

first, there’s a strong chance the senior is just overly harsh and nobody in the office takes their opinions on summers or associates seriously. There’s a few in every office. If you’re comfortable and there’s an associate you trust I’d just ask them if you should be worried. They might just laugh and say no, Senior sucks and we all know it.

I wouldn’t be too worried. We had summers that straight blew off work and got offers because we’re a traditionally 100% offer firm. And that negative review isn’t even all that negative. There are summers every year that “lack enthusiasm” because they’re aiming for a certain group and don’t really care for, say, BK work.

Wouldn't really even call that a review, more like some negative feedback. Lalilulelo's suggestion is probably best. Could also consider a quick apology/comment about your lack of enthusiasm and explain. If so, make it brief and move on.

Yeah listen to the above advice - I honestly wouldn’t bring it up to that senior again but would just ask someone else that your close with at the firm. Tbh sounds like you just had a tough time with one person. When I saw the thread title I was expecting some nightmare story but this is tame - someone at my firm was told no one liked their personality and they were overall “average.”

You're in for a stressful career if you panic this much about every little thing.

I know that you're worried, but don't be. Just take the feedback in good form, reflect on whether it's something you truly need to improve on, and move forward.

OP here, a senior associate is in my group and the offer is decided by the group. This is why I am much worried. Would I still have a chance if I eventually submit a glowing product with a brief apology and explanation?

I don't see how an apology when you submit your work product would work against you (assuming it's done tactfully), so might as well?

You'll get an offer, but you'll likely be placed in a shitty group like Finance or Real Estate once you start full time.

LaLiLuLeLo wrote:first, there’s a strong chance the senior is just overly harsh and nobody in the office takes their opinions on summers or associates seriously. There’s a few in every office. If you’re comfortable and there’s an associate you trust I’d just ask them if you should be worried. They might just laugh and say no, Senior sucks and we all know it.

I wouldn’t be too worried. We had summers that straight blew off work and got offers because we’re a traditionally 100% offer firm. And that negative review isn’t even all that negative. There are summers every year that “lack enthusiasm” because they’re aiming for a certain group and don’t really care for, say, BK work.

Agree with this. I've had a summer be openly disinterested in the group and also fall asleep twice in front of us in a conference room in front of a partner, and I'm pretty sure the summer is still going to get an offer with some constructive criticism in their end of summer review.

Apologize succinctly (don't grovel) and tactfully and produce good work product. If you work/have worked with others in the group, if your work for them has been good and they like you enough, it's going to be a wash come time for the group to decide on your offer. I really wouldn't be *that* worried about it--it's nothing to brush off, but I don't think it's going to get you a non-offer.

I tend to agree that this senior is probably difficult to work with, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. What did you say that wasn't "enthusiastic"?

Honestly, I've had summers say dumb things to me, but I didn't feel the need to call them out on it or put it in their review. I give a lot of leeway to summers because there's so much needless anxiety built into the process: no reason to raise concerns unless they're serious interpersonal or work product concerns.

Obviously, some people take a different view, so it's best to be as likeable to as many people as possible, but things happen.

I told her that it wasn't being not enthusiastic but more like I wanted to check if I was meeting her expectation on the assignment. She indeed told me it's an issue about how I communicated with her. She thought I was trying to reduce the amount of work, which wasn't true on my end.