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I was wondering if any of you guys with offers can shed light on how you felt after the callback with the firm that offered you.

In general, did you walk out feeling you rocked it and everyone liked you or was it generally a mixed bag?

IStillPlayVideoGames wrote:I was wondering if any of you guys with offers can shed light on how you felt after the callback with the firm that offered you.

In general, did you walk out feeling you rocked it and everyone liked you or was it generally a mixed bag?

there is 0 correlation

I thought I did awesome on one, & my rejection letter almost beat me home. I think how well you did is only part of it, b/c you don't know how your competition did, how many people they're taking, whether they need someone in the dept. you're interested in, & all of that.

I have to disagree with the poster(s) above me based on my own experiences.

I felt great about the CB where I got an offer, I loved the firm, loved the people, loved everything about it. They spent extra time with me to make sure all of my questions were answered and even during the CB and screening stages they were working on selling themselves just as much as I was. Walked away hoping to goodness they would love me back... and they did!

I've had one ding from a CB so far and I hated the interview. I didn't like anyone I met with and thought it was all just awkward. The entire lunch I just wanted to get out. They dinged me 4 days later (and I was borderline happy about it since I really didn't want to work there).

I've had 2 other CBs and both were "ok." I haven't heard a peep from my first one (its been about 3 weeks). Sent an email asking for a timeline, though I'm planning to accept my other offer Monday so maybe I shouldn't have bothered. The other firm said they won't make decisions until the 2nd week of October so I'll never know if I would have received an offer. And I have 3 more CB's scheduled that I need to cancel (not really excited about writing those emails or making those calls).

This says nothing about a correlation between screening interviews and callbacks though. I had some great screening interviews (Skadden I'm talking to YOU) and did not get a CB and some of my not so great screening interviews got me CBs.

I haven't talked to enough people about whether they saw a correlation so this is all purely anecdotal based on my experience.

I don't think this helps much but this was my experience:

Didn't get offer from firm that I thought I had my best CB at (read: positive feedback during CB)

Got an offer from the only CB that I actually wanted to cry in the middle of (interviewer forced me to re-answer a question because she hated my first answer; got ripped on for no WE)

DId get an offer from a firm that I thought I had my 2nd best callback at. Also, at this firm almost all my interviewers answered my e-mails - so there might be some correlation there (at least, overly positive response = good news; but not necessarily the other way (no answer = bad news))

Went on 9 callbacks, 3 offers and 2 dings so far.

First offer, interview went great, I liked them and they liked me - was very optimistic it would work out. Second offer, they were selling hard the whole time - was very confident it would work out. Third offer, interview did not go great. One associate interview was fantastic, another was awkward-ish, partner interviews (including hiring and executive committee members) were not great at all.

First ding, interview was Ok but not great. Second ding, interview went great and I was very qualified (far more qualified than for any other CB I had... over-qualified?).

The previous poster mentioned over qualification. I wonder whether this can actually be a reason for a ding. I'm in the top 10% of a T14. Our school published median GPAs for offers at those firms as well as the top GPA. Two firms dinged me where I was either about at their top GPA ever hired or exceeded their top GPA. I've received offers higher up the Vault rankings over firms where I received dings. What gives? Do you think committees ever say, "he's not gonna accept our offer, so let's not waste our time?"

Anonymous User wrote:The previous poster mentioned over qualification. I wonder whether this can actually be a reason for a ding. I'm in the top 10% of a T14. Our school published median GPAs for offers at those firms as well as the top GPA. Two firms dinged me where I was either about at their top GPA ever hired or exceeded their top GPA. I've received offers higher up the Vault rankings over firms where I received dings. What gives? Do you think committees ever say, "he's not gonna accept our offer, so let's not waste our time?"

My experience has been similar. Indeed, even at the screening stage I found that, despite doing equivalent research for all firms, I was disproportionately dinged by lower ranked firms. At the CB stage, it seems like such firms are looking for you to really be able to articulate a compelling reason for choosing them over a random V10, and desperation does not count.

Minimal correlation, I'd say. I had callbacks I felt great about that I got dinged from, callbacks that I felt great about that I didn't hear back from for awhile and one callback in particular that I thought went horribly and I had an offer an hour after. All were V20-V50 in a major market, too, so I don't think it was due largely to variability in selectivity.

I also went with the offer that I felt great about but didn't hear back from for awhile. I ended up getting a full-time offer at the end (and it was Summer 09, too), so, on a side note, I don't think not hearing back right away necessarily equals that the firm sees you as less deserving than others in the grand scheme of things.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:The previous poster mentioned over qualification. I wonder whether this can actually be a reason for a ding. I'm in the top 10% of a T14. Our school published median GPAs for offers at those firms as well as the top GPA. Two firms dinged me where I was either about at their top GPA ever hired or exceeded their top GPA. I've received offers higher up the Vault rankings over firms where I received dings. What gives? Do you think committees ever say, "he's not gonna accept our offer, so let's not waste our time?"

My experience has been similar. Indeed, even at the screening stage I found that, despite doing equivalent research for all firms, I was disproportionately dinged by lower ranked firms. At the CB stage, it seems like such firms are looking for you to really be able to articulate a compelling reason for choosing them over a random V10, and desperation does not count.

I felt like I sold myself on the "why this firm" question. I sent an email to this V50 firm where I interviewed saying that I have an offer from a V20 firm. BTW, I didn't literally say V20, I said the name of the firm, of course. I got digned postmarked on the very next day that I sent the email. It really makes me wonder if I should have mentioned my V20 firm, even despite the fact that I said I'm still very interested and am willing to seriously consider an offer from the V50 firm. Can't complain too much, I guess.

Anonymous User wrote:Went on 9 callbacks, 3 offers and 2 dings so far.

First offer, interview went great, I liked them and they liked me - was very optimistic it would work out. Second offer, they were selling hard the whole time - was very confident it would work out. Third offer, interview did not go great. One associate interview was fantastic, another was awkward-ish, partner interviews (including hiring and executive committee members) were not great at all.

First ding, interview was Ok but not great. Second ding, interview went great and I was very qualified (far more qualified than for any other CB I had... over-qualified?).

Quoted post is me. Ended up going on 10 CB's, 4 offers and 4 dings (2 still outstanding). Fourth offer (at a very selective firm), hit the callback out of the park and got offer 3 business days later. I'd say that overall there was a pretty good correlation for me between how I felt about the CB and ultimate success.