Age at OCI Forum
-
stewart23
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:09 pm
Age at OCI
After reading a thread the other day regarding OCI recruitment, I'm wondering about the role age might play. All things being equal, does being 34 at OCI have any impact on getting a position?
-
nygrrrl
- Posts: 4434
- Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 1:01 am
Re: Age at OCI
I don't think that it did, for me. At least, I don't think it had a negative impact. If anything, the fact that I was an older student with W/E was considered a plus to the firm where I landed. I think that older students have a bit of an advantage in interviews, as we are - as a rule - more accustomed to interviewing and it's not so nerve-wracking. Also, many of us have had to sell ourselves before in situations like this. The one thing I would note is that many of my screening interviewers were very young - 3rd or 4th year Associates, late 20s, maybe early 30s. The more difficult interviews - for me - were call backs. I did find the, "why law, why now, aren't you worried about starting so late?" questions to be more pointed, from the older interviewers.
Mind you, it's different for everyone - just my personal experience.
Mind you, it's different for everyone - just my personal experience.
-
AntipodeanPhil
- Posts: 1352
- Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:02 pm
Re: Age at OCI
There have been other threads on this, and I think the general consensus is that it doesn't make a difference, overall.
I was about the same age as you during OCI, and age didn't seem to be a problem. I did about as well as you'd predict based on my grades and interviewing skill.
As above, I think it depends on a couple of factors, though. If you have good work experience and a good story to tell about what led you to biglaw, you probably have an advantage over a K-JD student. If you have bad work experience and can't tell a plausible story, that probably hurts.
A friend of mine who's about the same age fell in the latter category. His previous work experience showed a lack of direction - maybe even bad judgment - and he had no coherent narrative to explain how his experiences led him to biglaw. He got a job, but definitely under-performed his grades.
I was about the same age as you during OCI, and age didn't seem to be a problem. I did about as well as you'd predict based on my grades and interviewing skill.
As above, I think it depends on a couple of factors, though. If you have good work experience and a good story to tell about what led you to biglaw, you probably have an advantage over a K-JD student. If you have bad work experience and can't tell a plausible story, that probably hurts.
A friend of mine who's about the same age fell in the latter category. His previous work experience showed a lack of direction - maybe even bad judgment - and he had no coherent narrative to explain how his experiences led him to biglaw. He got a job, but definitely under-performed his grades.
