OCI Strike Out Thread 2021 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Thread for those who have struck out or are at risk of striking out to get advice, figure out next steps, and commiserate.

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone had any luck with mass mailing? I'm fine to send out a bunch of apps, but it seems like radio silence on that front.

[Anonymous User]

Here to bump this up. Any idea on what to do next? A lot of 2L hiring is closed. What's the best strategy moving forward?

[Anonymous User]

Mass mailing is a term thrown around here like it's 1998 and folks are stuffing envelopes full of resumes. So what does that term mean in 2021? I assume the idea is to send a cold email to recruiters listed on firm websites with a short intro and application packet (resume and transcript)—are cover letters, writing samples a good idea, too? Or wait until contacted to include that stuff, if asked? As someone stated, most firms had a Feb 1 deadline for website applications, so the idea is to ignore this and fire off emails anyway? Or would it only be appropriate to email firms that didn't have a stated deadline that has passed?

Or maybe it's time to head out to buy some envelopes, stamps, and a quill.

[Wubbles]

Mass mailing is a term thrown around here like it's 1998 and folks are stuffing envelopes full of resumes. So what does that term mean in 2021? I assume the idea is to send a cold email to recruiters listed on firm websites with a short intro and application packet (resume and transcript)—are cover letters, writing samples a good idea, too? Or wait until contacted to include that stuff, if asked? As someone stated, most firms had a Feb 1 deadline for website applications, so the idea is to ignore this and fire off emails anyway? Or would it only be appropriate to email firms that didn't have a stated deadline that has passed?

Or maybe it's time to head out to buy some envelopes, stamps, and a quill.

Mass mailing means to go on NALP firm search, find firm's recruiting contacts, and send them a cover letter, resume, and transcript either through email or through a portal is they have one open for 2Ls. Email is faster in my experience. The trick is to have a good base cover letter where you just edit the header with the firm's mailing information from NALP, and then tailor the first paragraph for a particular market. Change the firm name and chip away at the firms in each market. It's about volume at this point. Also go on Chambers for the different markets and find ranked firms for particular practice areas that might not be NALP firms (very common is smaller markets that decent sized and respected firms are not on NALP). Find their contact info on their websites and apply away.

I found it was best to start with your favorites first and put a little more effort in, but really volume helps.

[mwells_56]

I struck out at OCI as a 2L and ended up landing an in-house summer gig that led to a full-time offer with a six-figure salary. Obviously a bit of a unicorn outcome, but here's how I did it:

After my first semester 1L, I was in the bottom 3rd or so at a lower t14. Some of this advice is going to be a little late because I made a lot of these moves as a second semester 1L, but maybe the advise could still be useful.

Basically, I knew Big Law was going to be an uphill battle, so I resolved to making the rest of my resume unimpeachable. First, I joined a secondary journal and got on Barristers' Council. My feelings on journal is that if you're not getting on main journal, join the one that either (1) has a subject matter that interests you, or (2) has the least amount of work possible. I was lucky in that the journal I was on also wasn't that much work.

As far as Barristers' goes, everyone talks about Moot Court and Mock Trial, but I'm a big advocate of ADR if your school has it. Moot Court and Mock Trial are only useful if you want to be a litigator, and even then, most cases settle out of court anyway. Negotiations, arbitrations, and mediations are much more common, and that's what you do in ADR. Much more practical skill-building, if you ask me. Especially for people who want to go transactional, building your negotiation skills is critical.

I also picked up an externship. Helped me put more WE on my resume. If you can't find anything directly in the field you want to go into, make sure it's at least tangentially related. For example: I knew I wanted to go into corporate/finance work, but I couldn't find any transactional externships. So I got a gig doing Enforcement at the SEC for the semester. Showed subject matter interest and gave me something to talk about in interviews.

Now, what job searching entails for Big Law strikeouts: you're going to have to get creative. I'm a big advocate of trying to work for government agencies. I applied to a billion federal government honors programs. Some of the summer honors programs can lead to post-grad honors programs, but not all of them do. If there's any state or federal government agency that does something that's even a little related to what you want to do: apply. I even applied to a few DA offices, trying to get in on the money laundering and financial crimes group.

Lastly, and this one's obvious: get your grades up, if that's what held you back like it did for me. I put a lot of effort into introspecting on why I underperformed my 1L year and ways to fix it. I climbed from the bottom 3rd of the class as a first semester 1L, to a bit below median going into OCI, and now as a second-semester 3L, I'm flirting with top 3rd (although I probably won't quite reach it). Showing an upward trend not only looks great to anyone who bothers to actually look at your transcript, if you end up with a Big Law-worthy GPA, you might get some bites as a 3L from employers.

Beyond that, apply to literally everything you can find online. I must've applied to over 100 jobs in 2-3 months or something. Think about niche subject areas that you might be interested in. For example: I enjoyed one of my tax classes. So I applied to some Big 4's and flirted with the idea of getting an LLM. I ended up with a couple of Big 4 interviews, although I didn't get any offers. I ditched the LLM idea when I got the offer I ended up taking, but you get the idea.

The job I ended up landing I found through some janky jobs site that I got linked to through Google jobs or something. The posting honestly looked fake, but I threw together a quick cover letter and applied. Lo and behold, it ended up being an awesome outcome. I must've checked Google and LinkedIn and indeed and others multiple times a day with multiple search terms like "summer legal intern," "summer associate," "summer law clerk," "law intern," "2L summer internship," etc. Just keep searching, there's more out there then you realize. Be flexible on geography if you can swing it (probably easier these days with remote work).

All in all, finding a job outside of OCI sucks, especially if you don't want to litigate. The joke I also make is that the career office will tell you "there's more than one way to find a job!" but then the only way they give you any details about is OCI. You're going to have to forge your own path a bit, be creative, use whatever network you have.

PM me if you want any more details or questions if you want.

[feminist.supporter]

I think I know exactly who you are. For those who struck out, this is sound advice.

I struck out at OCI as a 2L and ended up landing an in-house summer gig that led to a full-time offer with a six-figure salary. Obviously a bit of a unicorn outcome, but here's how I did it:

After my first semester 1L, I was in the bottom 3rd or so at a lower t14. Some of this advice is going to be a little late because I made a lot of these moves as a second semester 1L, but maybe the advise could still be useful.

Basically, I knew Big Law was going to be an uphill battle, so I resolved to making the rest of my resume unimpeachable. First, I joined a secondary journal and got on Barristers' Council. My feelings on journal is that if you're not getting on main journal, join the one that either (1) has a subject matter that interests you, or (2) has the least amount of work possible. I was lucky in that the journal I was on also wasn't that much work.

As far as Barristers' goes, everyone talks about Moot Court and Mock Trial, but I'm a big advocate of ADR if your school has it. Moot Court and Mock Trial are only useful if you want to be a litigator, and even then, most cases settle out of court anyway. Negotiations, arbitrations, and mediations are much more common, and that's what you do in ADR. Much more practical skill-building, if you ask me. Especially for people who want to go transactional, building your negotiation skills is critical.

I also picked up an externship. Helped me put more WE on my resume. If you can't find anything directly in the field you want to go into, make sure it's at least tangentially related. For example: I knew I wanted to go into corporate/finance work, but I couldn't find any transactional externships. So I got a gig doing Enforcement at the SEC for the semester. Showed subject matter interest and gave me something to talk about in interviews.

Now, what job searching entails for Big Law strikeouts: you're going to have to get creative. I'm a big advocate of trying to work for government agencies. I applied to a billion federal government honors programs. Some of the summer honors programs can lead to post-grad honors programs, but not all of them do. If there's any state or federal government agency that does something that's even a little related to what you want to do: apply. I even applied to a few DA offices, trying to get in on the money laundering and financial crimes group.

Lastly, and this one's obvious: get your grades up, if that's what held you back like it did for me. I put a lot of effort into introspecting on why I underperformed my 1L year and ways to fix it. I climbed from the bottom 3rd of the class as a first semester 1L, to a bit below median going into OCI, and now as a second-semester 3L, I'm flirting with top 3rd (although I probably won't quite reach it). Showing an upward trend not only looks great to anyone who bothers to actually look at your transcript, if you end up with a Big Law-worthy GPA, you might get some bites as a 3L from employers.

Beyond that, apply to literally everything you can find online. I must've applied to over 100 jobs in 2-3 months or something. Think about niche subject areas that you might be interested in. For example: I enjoyed one of my tax classes. So I applied to some Big 4's and flirted with the idea of getting an LLM. I ended up with a couple of Big 4 interviews, although I didn't get any offers. I ditched the LLM idea when I got the offer I ended up taking, but you get the idea.

The job I ended up landing I found through some janky jobs site that I got linked to through Google jobs or something. The posting honestly looked fake, but I threw together a quick cover letter and applied. Lo and behold, it ended up being an awesome outcome. I must've checked Google and LinkedIn and indeed and others multiple times a day with multiple search terms like "summer legal intern," "summer associate," "summer law clerk," "law intern," "2L summer internship," etc. Just keep searching, there's more out there then you realize. Be flexible on geography if you can swing it (probably easier these days with remote work).

All in all, finding a job outside of OCI sucks, especially if you don't want to litigate. The joke I also make is that the career office will tell you "there's more than one way to find a job!" but then the only way they give you any details about is OCI. You're going to have to forge your own path a bit, be creative, use whatever network you have.

PM me if you want any more details or questions if you want.

[Anonymous User]

Struck out! I'm only just coming to terms with how dire this situation is. Hoping for a miracle.

[Mr. Kister]

Mass mailing is a term thrown around here like it's 1998 and folks are stuffing envelopes full of resumes. So what does that term mean in 2021? I assume the idea is to send a cold email to recruiters listed on firm websites with a short intro and application packet (resume and transcript)—are cover letters, writing samples a good idea, too? Or wait until contacted to include that stuff, if asked? As someone stated, most firms had a Feb 1 deadline for website applications, so the idea is to ignore this and fire off emails anyway? Or would it only be appropriate to email firms that didn't have a stated deadline that has passed?

Or maybe it's time to head out to buy some envelopes, stamps, and a quill.

Mass mailing means to go on NALP firm search, find firm's recruiting contacts, and send them a cover letter, resume, and transcript either through email or through a portal is they have one open for 2Ls. Email is faster in my experience. The trick is to have a good base cover letter where you just edit the header with the firm's mailing information from NALP, and then tailor the first paragraph for a particular market. Change the firm name and chip away at the firms in each market. It's about volume at this point. Also go on Chambers for the different markets and find ranked firms for particular practice areas that might not be NALP firms (very common is smaller markets that decent sized and respected firms are not on NALP). Find their contact info on their websites and apply away.

I found it was best to start with your favorites first and put a little more effort in, but really volume helps.

Get a friend to help you if necessary or possible. During my OCI year, a friend of mine who was in danger of striking out made a new email address just for mass mailing (so we would both have access) and using the info from NALP and doing the above, she and I emailed around 150 firms. She ended up two offers from pretty solid firms (v50 and v70).

[Anonymous User]

T14, above median, struck out after only a few callbacks. Anyone having luck at this point in the process with mass mailings or has the big law ship sailed?

[Anonymous User]

T14, above median, struck out after only a few callbacks. Anyone having luck at this point in the process with mass mailings or has the big law ship sailed?

I'm in the exact same position.

[Anonymous User]

Had about 15 OCI screeners. Zero CB, rejected for all but 2 screeners that have been radio silence for almost a month.

Also about 15 non-OCI screeners. 1 CB but radio silence for 1 month. Rejected for all but 2 screeners that have been radio silence for over a month.

Might panic accept a regional offer that expires soon but I'll definitely want to switch out in 3L year.

I have one more screener left in my goal market and really hope that works out before I have to accept the regional offer because I'm not getting any additional extensions.

[moofintop]

T14, above median, struck out after only a few callbacks. Anyone having luck at this point in the process with mass mailings or has the big law ship sailed?

I'm in the exact same position.

I am also in this position. We're not alone, not by a long shot.

[Anonymous User]

Are there even any positions available at firms anymore?