Post Interview Ghosting Forum

[Anonymous User]

I have been fortunate and have had 4 interviews in the past month, 2 right before the COVID outbreak and 2 recently. I was wondering how common it is to be ghosted completely? At all the interviews, they said they would be in touch soon. Any insight is appreciated.

[LBJ's Hair]

Not saying you got dinged, but that's how a lot of judges do it. Just never call you back.

[nixy]

That said - judges have TONS of things competing for their attention right now.

[Anonymous User]

I also interviewed like a month ago and have not heard back; will pretty annoyed if the judge just ghosted me even if that is commonplace

[Anonymous User]

Not saying you got dinged, but that's how a lot of judges do it. Just never call you back.

That is such a bizarre practice. Why say that you will be in touch soon if you don't intend to ever reach back out. I know it happens, I guess I just don't understand it.

I also interviewed like a month ago and have not heard back; will pretty annoyed if the judge just ghosted me even if that is commonplace

I agree with this sentiment 100%. It is so hard to tell right now with COVID. I'm sure hiring is definitely in the backburner. The judges I have interviewed after the outbreak said that their hiring timeline is up in the air with everything going on.

[LBJ's Hair]

Not saying you got dinged, but that's how a lot of judges do it. Just never call you back.

That is such a bizarre practice. Why say that you will be in touch soon if you don't intend to ever reach back out. I know it happens, I guess I just don't understand it.

I also interviewed like a month ago and have not heard back; will pretty annoyed if the judge just ghosted me even if that is commonplace

I agree with this sentiment 100%. It is so hard to tell right now with COVID. I'm sure hiring is definitely in the backburner. The judges I have interviewed after the outbreak said that their hiring timeline is up in the air with everything going on.

Honestly -- because they can. No idea if that's what happened to you though.

[nixy]

I'm sure there are judges who ghost, but I don't think it's even close to standard.

[Wild Card]

Do you know whether you judges like to interview "everyone" before making offers?

For example, some judges are not following the Plan at all and take their time; other judges interview both before and after the Plan--and take their time.

I'm sure there are judges who ghost, but I don't think it's even close to standard.

E.g., Koeltl (S.D.N.Y.).

[Anonymous User]

Do you know whether you judges like to interview "everyone" before making offers?

For example, some judges are not following the Plan at all and take their time; other judges interview both before and after the Plan--and take their time.

Not sure. One of them had a hiring window of 2 weeks, with interviews throughout the two weeks, but then corona hit, and its in one of the very badly affected markets. The other said they will be in touch by the end of the month, and others we open that the timelines were completely up in the air.

[Anonymous User]

I have been fortunate and have had 4 interviews in the past month, 2 right before the COVID outbreak and 2 recently. I was wondering how common it is to be ghosted completely? At all the interviews, they said they would be in touch soon. Any insight is appreciated.

It's funny to think of this as "ghosting," but yes, many judges do it and you're not alone. Of my 6 post-interview rejects over 2 cycles, only 3 judges got back to me within 1-2 months with a formal reject. 2 judges completely no-replied. One got back to me on such a delayed timeline (6 months maybe) that it was pretty irrelevant.

This process can suck and is pretty unfair. I can only imagine how COVID is affecting it too. But if you keep at it and your clerkship office tells you you are in the right range or whatever, more likely thank not you will get something, eventually.

[Anonymous User]

I have been fortunate and have had 4 interviews in the past month, 2 right before the COVID outbreak and 2 recently. I was wondering how common it is to be ghosted completely? At all the interviews, they said they would be in touch soon. Any insight is appreciated.

It's funny to think of this as "ghosting," but yes, many judges do it and you're not alone. Of my 6 post-interview rejects over 2 cycles, only 3 judges got back to me within 1-2 months with a formal reject. 2 judges completely no-replied. One got back to me on such a delayed timeline (6 months maybe) that it was pretty irrelevant.

This process can suck and is pretty unfair. I can only imagine how COVID is affecting it too. But if you keep at it and your clerkship office tells you you are in the right range or whatever, more likely thank not you will get something, eventually.

OP here. Thank you for some encouraging words. Did you end up securing a clerkship? I plan to keep at it, I started applying in January, so I might be early in the 2021 cycle.

[lavarman84]

I'm sure there are judges who ghost, but I don't think it's even close to standard.

Agree. The norm for me was an email rejection. I definitely prefer that to snail mail and telephone call rejections (phone call was easily the most painful because that usually means good news).

[Wild Card]

I'm sure there are judges who ghost, but I don't think it's even close to standard.

Agree. The norm for me was an email rejection. I definitely prefer that to snail mail and telephone call rejections (phone call was easily the most painful because that usually means good news).

An amusing rejection of mine:

The week after my interview, OSCAR "Clerkship Position Status" updated to "Filled" on Friday, late afternoon. I receive my snailmail rejection three weeks later.

Still better than nothing, I guess.

[objctnyrhnr]

So ghosting definitely happens and it’s rude and it sucks. It’s happened to me.

That being said, the probability that a lack of response constitutes a full on ghost right now is probably much lower than usual.

I spoke to the judge I clerked for a week or two ago and he, his law clerks, and the other staff are (or at least were) extremely stressed/busy with switching basically the entire job to being remote. I don’t know if he was actively looking to hire at that time, but if he was and regardless of whether he had started, I believe it would have been temporarily put on pause to deal with the more pressing things.

[mjb447]

One of my classmates called a chambers something like two months after his interview to follow up because he never heard back, and the JA said something like "we were hoping you'd take the hint." I hope intentional ghosting to that degree is far outside the norm, but, for whatever reason, ghosting definitely happens.

That said, if right before the COVID outbreak was sometime around mid-March when it really started making headlines and changing behavior on a large scale, it hasn't even been a full month for most (all?) of these judges yet. Even under normal circumstances, I wouldn't read into that delay that you're out of the running (even if the judge gave you a tighter timeline).

[lavarman84]

One of my classmates called a chambers something like two months after his interview to follow up because he never heard back, and the JA said something like "we were hoping you'd take the hint." I hope intentional ghosting to that degree is far outside the norm, but, for whatever reason, ghosting definitely happens.

That said, if right before the COVID outbreak was sometime around mid-March when it really started making headlines and changing behavior on a large scale, it hasn't even been a full month for most (all?) of these judges yet. Even under normal circumstances, I wouldn't read into that delay that you're out of the running (even if the judge gave you a tighter timeline).

Sounds like he dodged a bullet. Doesn't take more than a few minutes to do a form rejection and email it out. But if you are going to ghost, you can at least not be a dick about it when a person calls. Jeez.

[Anonymous User]

Just to add an in-chambers perspective: Judges don't always *decide* not to hire someone. Sometimes the person comes in and interviews, and for some reason the judge and/or clerks just aren't sure whether or not to hire the person. So they say "let's wait and see how the next interview or two or three go." And sometimes the next ones are not immediate. And eventually the candidate slips off the radar. I know that's not ideal from a candidate's perspective (I've also been on that end and waited six or more months to hear either way and sometimes never did), but some candidates are under at least some consideration long after the interview.

[Anonymous User]

Figured this fit into this thread. I had a clerkship interview mid-march in a major market and was told I would hear back from them by the end of March. I noticed about 2 weeks ago on Oscar the position went from expired to filled. Does that definitely mean it was a dig? I figured it might be a dealyed because it was in one of the most affected cities.

[Anonymous User]

Just to add an in-chambers perspective: Judges don't always *decide* not to hire someone. Sometimes the person comes in and interviews, and for some reason the judge and/or clerks just aren't sure whether or not to hire the person. So they say "let's wait and see how the next interview or two or three go." And sometimes the next ones are not immediate. And eventually the candidate slips off the radar. I know that's not ideal from a candidate's perspective (I've also been on that end and waited six or more months to hear either way and sometimes never did), but some candidates are under at least some consideration long after the interview.

Based on my experience as a clerk, I agree with this. Also, it's worth noting that I actually got one of my clerkships 4-5 months after interviewing. I hadn't heard anything in the interim, and thought for sure I had been ghosted. Turned out not to be the case.

[Anonymous User]

I have been fortunate and have had 4 interviews in the past month, 2 right before the COVID outbreak and 2 recently. I was wondering how common it is to be ghosted completely? At all the interviews, they said they would be in touch soon. Any insight is appreciated.

It's funny to think of this as "ghosting," but yes, many judges do it and you're not alone. Of my 6 post-interview rejects over 2 cycles, only 3 judges got back to me within 1-2 months with a formal reject. 2 judges completely no-replied. One got back to me on such a delayed timeline (6 months maybe) that it was pretty irrelevant.

This process can suck and is pretty unfair. I can only imagine how COVID is affecting it too. But if you keep at it and your clerkship office tells you you are in the right range or whatever, more likely thank not you will get something, eventually.

OP here. Thank you for some encouraging words. Did you end up securing a clerkship? I plan to keep at it, I started applying in January, so I might be early in the 2021 cycle.

Yes, I did! Just keep at it. Best of luck.

[Anonymous User]

OP, ever hear back?

In general, is a brief email of continued interest ever worth it or a good idea if you have nothing substantive to update about? i.e. Dear Judge, I'm writing to express my continued interest in clerking for you... I really enjoyed our conversation/interview/meeting...

I interviewed about a month ago

[nixy]

I really don’t think it is. They’re not going to forget that they interviewed you. Either they genuinely haven’t decided yet, or they have and haven’t got around to rejecting people yet/have ghosted you. Whatever the situation, an email from you isn’t going to make a difference.

The only real reason to get back in touch is if you get another offer and need to know for certain about the clerkship.

[mjb447]

Yeah, not worth it. It's not going to help you - they're not going to forget someone they want to hire - and it could read as impatient or pushy.

[Anonymous User]

Related to OP, at what point is it likely you have been ghosted? Basically, when do most people hear back by if it is a yes? I interviewed 2 weeks ago and am wondering if I should assume it's a no/likely no at this point. I've seen posts where people heard back months later but those seem like outliers.

[lavarman84]

Related to OP, at what point is it likely you have been ghosted? Basically, when do most people hear back by if it is a yes? I interviewed 2 weeks ago and am wondering if I should assume it's a no/likely no at this point. I've seen posts where people heard back months later but those seem like outliers.

If the judge didn't give you a timeline, you'll just have to wait it out. If the judge did give you a timeline and the timeline has lapsed, it means that it probably won't go your way. But that's not guaranteed. I got offered 8 to 10 weeks after my interview, which was a good month after the judge planned to make offers (and said judge offered all the clerks at the same time). So you can never say for sure. Judges do things on their own schedules.