Post-OCI
Here is my post on-campus interviewing report:
So I have some callbacks, but none of them came from OCI. There are several OCI firms I have not heard from, but I'm not putting any stock in those working out. Unfortunately, I have heard negatively from most of the firms I interviewed with in my first-choice city. So it does not look like I will be going there this summer. Still, I'm not giving up. The way I got the callbacks I have is by sending out resumes to firms that didn't come to campus, and I found a few in my first-choice city I can send resumes to.
After the responses I have gotten, I would definitely say OCI is all about grades, whether you're at a school that pre-screens or not. I have a friend who has the best personality you can find among a law student, but her grades are in the can. She did 32 interviews and got three callbacks. Two were from firms that have GPA requirements higher than what she had, and the other firm's reqs basically is like that, also, but they have taken people with lower GPA's in the past. I know that for at least one of those she met with and impressed the hiring partner...so I think that's key when you have lower grades but the right personality (impressing the hiring partner). Still, I had a really good interview with a hiring partner and still got dinged (and my friend with the personality also has several stories like this). With as long as the decision took, I get the sense that the decision was made by a committee, though--not him. For me, the places I've gotten callbacks from are places that never asked for my transcript (seriously). My non-law school best friend and I joke about it--I say things like, "So, this firm I e-mailed the other day just e-mailed me back and asked for my transcript. That means I will not be getting a callback from THEM!" haha. At least I have a sense of humor about this!
For law students reading and dealing with the job search, I hope everything is going well. For those who are having trouble or for those 1Ls/pre-law students who are interested, here was/is my approach: I knew this summer that OCI was basically going to be a bust, and my Career Services office didn't hesitate to let me know that's how it'd be. I started looking at firms and sending out resumes this summer, continued through OCI and am continuing until the end of September (when many firms have deadlines) and then maybe somewhat afterwards for smaller firms if I don't have anything else or still want to be in my first-choice city.
If you are at a top law school like me and don't make the grades, what you want to do is look at firms that pay a bit less, are less prestigious and aren't going to be as snobbish in their reqs or will be impressed by your school. Or if you're like me and lucky enough to be from an area where there are no top schools, send your resume down and you might find a firm that won't hold it against you that you went far away to school and/or that your school is considered more prestigious than the schools of every lawyer in that office. Look for postings that merely say "Send your resume" or are not clear about what all they want you to send, and then just send a resume. This works if you have a good resume, so at least work on building up your resume by doing moot court or getting on a journal or even just getting leadership spots in campus orgs. (By the way, instead of doing moot court, I got an opportunity to get on a journal at my school and took it. I also got a leadership position over the summer in an organization.) If they say to send a transcript upfront...do it if you think it's a firm you'd really want to be at or it's a firm that's not so snobbish. If they contact you and ask for a transcript after you sent your resume, send it but crack a joke to your friends like I do with mine.
If you attend a lower-ranked school and didn't make the grades, keep looking for the lower-paying, less prestigious firms than those others in your class go to, or look at opportunities with pro bono/public interest organizations that will fund your summer and/or look for outside funding. The same as far as what I said above about sending resumes applies. If you attend a lower-ranked school but made top 10-top 30 percent, you're in a good position. My observation is that firms are shifting away from being school snobs towards being grade snobs regardless of the school you come from. I have a friend here who is a transfer student from a school that is either 3rd tier or 4th tier. For him to transfer to a top 10 law school is serious business--this means he made top 5% or top 10% at whatever school he came from. He has gotten a good number of callbacks, more than anyone I know other than my law school best friend.
This will work if you're a 2L, because, per the rest of my plan, what you're doing is spending the summer where you can get it while working on your GPA. Then you will come back the next year and do OCI again and/or do a mail campaign with better grades and hopefully have better luck getting where you want. So you won't have to be stuck somewhere you don't totally want to be. This is my thinking, anyway. There's always the chance your grades won't go up or won't improve enough, but then at least you might have an offer from your 2L experience.
I keep being told by my school not to write about the OCI experience in blogs and things (not that they are telling me directly--they tell us collectively), but I can't help but want to help others. There are so many things you're not told, and I and others at my school wish we had been told.
So I have some callbacks, but none of them came from OCI. There are several OCI firms I have not heard from, but I'm not putting any stock in those working out. Unfortunately, I have heard negatively from most of the firms I interviewed with in my first-choice city. So it does not look like I will be going there this summer. Still, I'm not giving up. The way I got the callbacks I have is by sending out resumes to firms that didn't come to campus, and I found a few in my first-choice city I can send resumes to.
After the responses I have gotten, I would definitely say OCI is all about grades, whether you're at a school that pre-screens or not. I have a friend who has the best personality you can find among a law student, but her grades are in the can. She did 32 interviews and got three callbacks. Two were from firms that have GPA requirements higher than what she had, and the other firm's reqs basically is like that, also, but they have taken people with lower GPA's in the past. I know that for at least one of those she met with and impressed the hiring partner...so I think that's key when you have lower grades but the right personality (impressing the hiring partner). Still, I had a really good interview with a hiring partner and still got dinged (and my friend with the personality also has several stories like this). With as long as the decision took, I get the sense that the decision was made by a committee, though--not him. For me, the places I've gotten callbacks from are places that never asked for my transcript (seriously). My non-law school best friend and I joke about it--I say things like, "So, this firm I e-mailed the other day just e-mailed me back and asked for my transcript. That means I will not be getting a callback from THEM!" haha. At least I have a sense of humor about this!
For law students reading and dealing with the job search, I hope everything is going well. For those who are having trouble or for those 1Ls/pre-law students who are interested, here was/is my approach: I knew this summer that OCI was basically going to be a bust, and my Career Services office didn't hesitate to let me know that's how it'd be. I started looking at firms and sending out resumes this summer, continued through OCI and am continuing until the end of September (when many firms have deadlines) and then maybe somewhat afterwards for smaller firms if I don't have anything else or still want to be in my first-choice city.
If you are at a top law school like me and don't make the grades, what you want to do is look at firms that pay a bit less, are less prestigious and aren't going to be as snobbish in their reqs or will be impressed by your school. Or if you're like me and lucky enough to be from an area where there are no top schools, send your resume down and you might find a firm that won't hold it against you that you went far away to school and/or that your school is considered more prestigious than the schools of every lawyer in that office. Look for postings that merely say "Send your resume" or are not clear about what all they want you to send, and then just send a resume. This works if you have a good resume, so at least work on building up your resume by doing moot court or getting on a journal or even just getting leadership spots in campus orgs. (By the way, instead of doing moot court, I got an opportunity to get on a journal at my school and took it. I also got a leadership position over the summer in an organization.) If they say to send a transcript upfront...do it if you think it's a firm you'd really want to be at or it's a firm that's not so snobbish. If they contact you and ask for a transcript after you sent your resume, send it but crack a joke to your friends like I do with mine.
If you attend a lower-ranked school and didn't make the grades, keep looking for the lower-paying, less prestigious firms than those others in your class go to, or look at opportunities with pro bono/public interest organizations that will fund your summer and/or look for outside funding. The same as far as what I said above about sending resumes applies. If you attend a lower-ranked school but made top 10-top 30 percent, you're in a good position. My observation is that firms are shifting away from being school snobs towards being grade snobs regardless of the school you come from. I have a friend here who is a transfer student from a school that is either 3rd tier or 4th tier. For him to transfer to a top 10 law school is serious business--this means he made top 5% or top 10% at whatever school he came from. He has gotten a good number of callbacks, more than anyone I know other than my law school best friend.
This will work if you're a 2L, because, per the rest of my plan, what you're doing is spending the summer where you can get it while working on your GPA. Then you will come back the next year and do OCI again and/or do a mail campaign with better grades and hopefully have better luck getting where you want. So you won't have to be stuck somewhere you don't totally want to be. This is my thinking, anyway. There's always the chance your grades won't go up or won't improve enough, but then at least you might have an offer from your 2L experience.
I keep being told by my school not to write about the OCI experience in blogs and things (not that they are telling me directly--they tell us collectively), but I can't help but want to help others. There are so many things you're not told, and I and others at my school wish we had been told.