I work too hard
So, OCI (for me at least) ended on Wednesday, and there was no better feeling than not having to go through any more repetitive 20-minute "so how do you like law school " "tell me about your summer" and "why firm x" interviews.
While it is hard to tell during a screening interview how you're doing, here are my general observations:
You know interviews are going bad when:
-interviewer, around the 7 minute mark, starts the "so, do you have any questions for me" routine
-looks at the resume of the next interviewee during your interview
-interviewer tells you that it's been a long day and that he's ready to get out of there
-checks his crackberry during interviews
-you make an anti-SC comment to an interviewer who went to SC
Interviews go well when:
-you talk about your shared favorite sports team for most of the interview
-interviewer says: "when you come in to the office, I want you to meet x,y,z."
-interviewer tells you about the terrible interviews he/she has had today
-interviewer offers you callback on the spot
I also subscribe to the school of thought that you should be relaxed and make several semi-inappropriate jokes during the interviews, something that Career Services explicitly warns us not to do. Granted, it's easier for me to not stress out about the process since I already have a fallback offer from 1L summer, but being fun definitely made me stand out (read: be memorable) when most others go in really professional, be a robot, and give the stock answers we're taught to give (What is your greatest weakness? I am a perfectionist and I work too hard.)
But the downside with the informal attitude is that the interviews I've really bombed have been with really formal interviewers who didn't take too kindly to my semi-inappropriate jokes. My response to the weakness question? I have a weakness for cheap beer and for easy women. (OK, so maybe I don't actually say the second part out loud, but cheap beer is always my response when asked about my weaknesses.)
Anyway, I have a slate of callbacks lined up for the next month or so. Even though we will all continue to hate the process, at least we'll get a free lunch out of each callback. Good luck to all.
P.S. you guys should also continue to watch the UC Irvine Law fiasco continue to unfold.
While it is hard to tell during a screening interview how you're doing, here are my general observations:
You know interviews are going bad when:
-interviewer, around the 7 minute mark, starts the "so, do you have any questions for me" routine
-looks at the resume of the next interviewee during your interview
-interviewer tells you that it's been a long day and that he's ready to get out of there
-checks his crackberry during interviews
-you make an anti-SC comment to an interviewer who went to SC
Interviews go well when:
-you talk about your shared favorite sports team for most of the interview
-interviewer says: "when you come in to the office, I want you to meet x,y,z."
-interviewer tells you about the terrible interviews he/she has had today
-interviewer offers you callback on the spot
I also subscribe to the school of thought that you should be relaxed and make several semi-inappropriate jokes during the interviews, something that Career Services explicitly warns us not to do. Granted, it's easier for me to not stress out about the process since I already have a fallback offer from 1L summer, but being fun definitely made me stand out (read: be memorable) when most others go in really professional, be a robot, and give the stock answers we're taught to give (What is your greatest weakness? I am a perfectionist and I work too hard.)
But the downside with the informal attitude is that the interviews I've really bombed have been with really formal interviewers who didn't take too kindly to my semi-inappropriate jokes. My response to the weakness question? I have a weakness for cheap beer and for easy women. (OK, so maybe I don't actually say the second part out loud, but cheap beer is always my response when asked about my weaknesses.)
Anyway, I have a slate of callbacks lined up for the next month or so. Even though we will all continue to hate the process, at least we'll get a free lunch out of each callback. Good luck to all.
P.S. you guys should also continue to watch the UC Irvine Law fiasco continue to unfold.
posted by The Fox at 11:45 PM
3 Comments:
Have interviewers really, and routinely, asked you the "greatest weakness" question? If so, I feel utterly blessed that I've managed to avoid it -- at least this far. I can't imagine a more inane question. But if I am ever asked, the answer, without a doubt, will be a sheepish look, followed by a barely audible "airport mens rooms." (That'll show them to reassess the question.)
The one I get consistenly is: "What sets you apart form your classmates? Why should I hire YOU?"
I think my new answer might be mumbling, "[candidate before me] airport mens rooms."
So far I've escaped the weakness question. I agree with Fox that the must mutually enjoyable (and productive so far as call backs go) interviews have been the ones where I took the most relaxed and informal approach.
Back to the thing about interview questions: I've got a lot of invitations to gossip about the firm where I was a paralegal. Lots of haterade out there on the interviewer side.
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