Hi all, I totally struck out last cycle, with good grades and good recs. I got a ton of interviews, and only 1 offer (which I accepted).
As I'm readying for new applications, then, I'm wondering what it really means in the eyes of the judge when you receive an interview and not the offer. That is, what factors come into play at the interview stage that come into play that aren't necessarily at play at the "pulling" stage. If I got so many interviews, can I still surmise that there was a problem with my grades, recommenders, etc. or is it solely interview skills/demographics/etc. that come into play, and I can assume my ECs, recs, grades are sound because I received the interview?
What does getting to the interview stage mean? Forum
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Re: What does getting to the interview stage mean?
So first, you didn't totally strike out, because you did get an offer.
As to your actual question, clerkship hiring is idiosyncratic so it's hard to be dogmatic about this. Basically, though, if you got an interview, the judge considers you hirable; they're not going to go to the trouble of interviewing someone they know they wouldn't hire. So generally, I would say that an interview is mostly about determining fit, and whether the judge sees you as someone they would like to work with for a year. A lot of this very personal and subjective, so the judge may just have liked someone else better (based on the limited information that an interview provides). It may be that you came off as a jerk, but it's more likely it's just a subjective thing (the judge prefers really quiet people, or really rambunctious people, or they bonded over discussion of fishing, or whatever). That's not really something you can always do much about, except cross your fingers that you interview with a judge you click with and that other applicants do worse.
However, a judge could still consider you eminently qualified, and someone they could happily work with, and go with another candidate whom they also liked as a person whose grades are just a little better, or whose recommenders the judge knows better, or any other of the more "objective" qualifications. You might have sufficient grades, recs, etc. but other candidates may surpass you in that respect, and it becomes a way for a judge to make a final decision. So those things can continue to play a role post-interview. The thing is, it's unlikely that you can do very much about those things by now. So again, you just have to hope that you're not up against a charismatic Rhodes scholar with top of the class grades from Yale and a LOR from SCOTUS, or something.
Or it may be that there was something substantive in the interview and the judge didn't think you answered very well (some judges/their clerks go much more into substantive legal questions than others). This could be just saying something kind of stupid, or it could be more that it suggests you're not going to fit well with the judge's jurisprudence or how they prefer to work.
And you could have had a really bad luck of the draw and ended up with some combination of all the above. It's a little hard to tell from the outside.
I don't know what "a ton" of interviews actually means here, and the higher that number is, the more I'd wonder if there's something wrong with your interviewing, but really it's just going to be hard to determine from the outside. Maybe do some mock interviews to get some feedback? In any case, chances are good you can't do much about grades/recs at this point, so to the extent you want to try to change anything, interviewing seems the main factor.
As to your actual question, clerkship hiring is idiosyncratic so it's hard to be dogmatic about this. Basically, though, if you got an interview, the judge considers you hirable; they're not going to go to the trouble of interviewing someone they know they wouldn't hire. So generally, I would say that an interview is mostly about determining fit, and whether the judge sees you as someone they would like to work with for a year. A lot of this very personal and subjective, so the judge may just have liked someone else better (based on the limited information that an interview provides). It may be that you came off as a jerk, but it's more likely it's just a subjective thing (the judge prefers really quiet people, or really rambunctious people, or they bonded over discussion of fishing, or whatever). That's not really something you can always do much about, except cross your fingers that you interview with a judge you click with and that other applicants do worse.
However, a judge could still consider you eminently qualified, and someone they could happily work with, and go with another candidate whom they also liked as a person whose grades are just a little better, or whose recommenders the judge knows better, or any other of the more "objective" qualifications. You might have sufficient grades, recs, etc. but other candidates may surpass you in that respect, and it becomes a way for a judge to make a final decision. So those things can continue to play a role post-interview. The thing is, it's unlikely that you can do very much about those things by now. So again, you just have to hope that you're not up against a charismatic Rhodes scholar with top of the class grades from Yale and a LOR from SCOTUS, or something.
Or it may be that there was something substantive in the interview and the judge didn't think you answered very well (some judges/their clerks go much more into substantive legal questions than others). This could be just saying something kind of stupid, or it could be more that it suggests you're not going to fit well with the judge's jurisprudence or how they prefer to work.
And you could have had a really bad luck of the draw and ended up with some combination of all the above. It's a little hard to tell from the outside.
I don't know what "a ton" of interviews actually means here, and the higher that number is, the more I'd wonder if there's something wrong with your interviewing, but really it's just going to be hard to determine from the outside. Maybe do some mock interviews to get some feedback? In any case, chances are good you can't do much about grades/recs at this point, so to the extent you want to try to change anything, interviewing seems the main factor.
