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August 30, 2007
Common Questions after EIW
8/30/07
As EIW comes to a close, students will have any variation of three basic questions relating to EIW: 1) When should I hear back from employers about callbackss? 2) What do I do if I don’t get my desired callbacks (or any callbacks?) 3) How do I schedule and prepare for callbacks?
While the OCS staff is certainly available to meet with you on an individual basis to address your concerns and answer questions, below is some general guidance from OCS counselors on the three basic questions.
1. What should I hear back from employers about callbacks?
While it’s true that you or some of your peers may have received callback invitations during EIW (and in some cases the day of the screening interview) employers are all different and handle callbacks differently. Students can typically expect to wait anywhere between 1-2 weeks to hear back from employers. Some of your peers may get callback offers earlier than others-the fact that you have had to wait does not necessarily mean that you are not getting a callback. Similar to your experience with law school admissions, some get accepted earlier, some later, and so on.
2. What do I do if I don’t get callbacks?
After two weeks or so of waiting for a callback you might be in either of two positions: (1) received rejection letter from firm(s) or (2) not heard back from firm(s). For the firms that have rejected you, put them to bed and don’t waste time mourning over or thinking about them. For those that you have not heard back from, you should be proactive and follow up with the firms by both leveraging other callback offers against this particular firm and/or by expressing your great interest in visiting with the firm on a callback. To leverage an offer, you simply let the firm that you seek a callback from know that although you already have a callback from firm X, but that you are really interested in interviewing this particular firm. In short, don’t give up until you either get the callback or a rejection.
3. How do I schedule and prepare for callbacks?
Scheduling callbacks is relatively painless. Typically you’ll be given the number of the law firm recruitment coordinator (or travel agent) who will help you schedule your callback interview. While it might be advantageous to schedule a callback soon after you receive the invitation, there may be other good reasons to not schedule it as soon as possible. For callbacks on the West Coast, due to the travel time and time change, you might consider blocking off several days to complete all your callbacks in that region. For callbacks where travel time is not a major issue, you can plan your callbacks to best fit your class and personal schedules over a period of weeks.
As far as preparing for callbacks, for the most part think of them as multiple screening interviews. You should be prepared to speak to your resume, about your grades, and of course why you are specifically interested in their firm. Often times you will get a schedule of interviewers before the callback, which makes it possible to research your interviewers to come up with good questions and points for discussion. You can also ask for a schedule a day or two before the callback.
Posted by hafeezt at August 30, 2007 02:53 PM