Yeah, you know.
Anyway, here at SMU we're in the middle of the OCI bidding season. Fun, fun, fun. I think I've maybe done two hours of substantive work at my current summer job in the last three days. The rest of my time has been spent on making a targeted bid list, rewriting cover letters for each job, and trying to pray to tiny baby Jesus that I get at least a few screening interviews.
Because bitch please, if I get a screening interview, how can they resist this face?
(I'm making puppy-dog eyes, but you just can't see it. Trust me, it's irresistible).
Anyway, OCI at SMU is completely pre-select interviews, there is no lottery involved. This year we have 51 employers coming to campus, most with between 9 and 18 interview slots, some with as many as 38. Each person has 35 bids, but you're not advised to use all of them unless you're between the top third and top half. If you're in the top 25%+, using every bid will mean getting more screening interviews than you can handle.
But if you're paranoid, you know, go for it.
Last year at SMU's OCI, only 6 students in the top 50% of the class that went through OCI didn't get screening interviews. 43 out of the 66 students that were in the bottom 50% that participated in OCI received screening interviews. And most students between the top 33% and the top 50% bid on 35 firs and received screening interviews on about a quarter of their bids. And the numbers only get better for the top 25% and top 10%. Everyone in the top 10% received screening interviews on a majority of their bids. All but one in the top 25% received screening interviews.
To clear it up: a bid is not really a "bid." It's just an entry. The firms don't take only the highest bidders, and they don't see what order you bid in. It's just the submission of your resume and other documents for their review.
Now, a screening interview is what happens on campus within the first week of classes. If a firm selects you for a screening interview, you'll go in and chat with them wherever they happen to be camped out on campus that day for about 20 minutes. They'll do all of their interviews in one day, and then release call back offers within the next week or so.
A call back is generally a half day interview at the firm itself, where they take you to lunch and take you around to meet and interview with several different partners and associates. It's a big time commitment, so they're given with far less frequency than screening interviews.
After you've had a call back, you can generally expect to get an offer or a rejection by mid-September.
Now, OCI is but one way of getting a firm gig after 2L. But you really really REALLY should go through it if you can. It never hurts, it's good practice for interviews even if you don't get a CB or an offer, and it gets you in front of the people making recruitment and hiring decisions, which is always a good thing.
So, in sum, OCI is a necessary distraction. Sometimes it's an ego-booster, sometime you're crushed. If you have the opportunity, definitely sign up and go through OCI. But don't go to any of the programs that OCS puts on about OCI. They're a HUGE waste of time. You just learned everything you need to know. ;)
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
You Couldn't Figure Out What to do With Your Life...
...so you decided to go to law school?
Having now made it through the hellish ordeal that is 1L (seriously, it's like hazing for attorneys. Everyone went through it, and if you make it out alive you are worthy), I've had a few friends from undergrad and high school approach me about making the move into the legal field. Most of these friends have jobs, if not careers (we graduated undergrad 3 years ago), and most of them are just feeling kind of...stuck.
I get it. I do.
But that is quite possibly the (second) WORST reason to go to law school.
Making BOATLOADS of money is the worst reason, because unless you're in the top 10% at a T14 school, odds are you're not coming out with a job paying $160k off the bat. Nationwide, only 55% of the graduates in the Class of 2011 had full-time legal employment 9 months after graduation. And only 5,500 out of the roughly 44,000 grads entering the legal job market were able to find employment with firms of 50+ attorneys. Out of the Class of 2010 grads who landed private sector jobs, 62.6% were in small firms (less that 50 attorneys -- and a majority of that number went into firms with between 2 and 10 lawyers), 16.2% went into firms with between 50 and 500 lawyers, and 21.2% went to the biglaw (501+) firms. You think you're coming out of law school and going to immediately be rolling in the dough? Think again.
But I digress.
I finally had a friend the other day, who has NEVER expressed any interest in school, or the law, or being a lawyer, tell me, "You know, I'm thinking about law school. I don't know what else I want to do, so I might as well try it." And although I smiled politely and gave him some sage advice (study hard for the LSAT, retake it at least once if you don't hit at least a 161 on your first try, and check out TLS), inside I was thinking, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
Going to law school because you can't figure out what else to do means that you're going to have an EVEN harder time with 1L, because your heart won't be in it. When other people are bogged down but enjoying the analytical reading, you will slowly be losing your mind trying to determine what sort of message Satan whispered in your ear to make you decide to subject yourself to this. And you, in all likelihood, will be so unhappy you'll consider leaving, but you'll already be so far in debt that it won't be worth it and you'll find yourself stuck in a career you're not sure you even want.
Now, I know this might seem like strange advice coming from me. You all know I'm not really a pessimist by nature. But I have seen too many of my friends and classmates come to this realization to NOT say something.
Please, if you are just stuck in your job/career/field and you don't know what to do and think law school *might* not be that bad of an idea, make sure it's something you'll actually enjoy. It's not like Law & Order, or Suits, or Franklin & Bash. You're not going to be making $160k as soon as you graduate. It's harder work than most fields, and the rewards can be intermittent.
What I did, and what I thank God every day for, was take a year to work in a law firm, and make sure that the practice of law was something I could see myself working in for the foreseeable future. If you're considering leaving your job to go to law school, leave your job for a job in a firm or within a legal department at a company or something. You'll get to see the practice first hand, and make sure it's something you can stomach doing every day for the rest of your life. Not everyone can. And if you're one of those people who thought it was going to be a lot more glamorous than it actually is and decide you hate it, well then at least you're not out a year of your like and $50k.
Please, for your sake, make sure you're not just doing it because you feel like you're in a rut. If you are in a rut, there are way more easy and pleasant rut-breakers than law school.
Having now made it through the hellish ordeal that is 1L (seriously, it's like hazing for attorneys. Everyone went through it, and if you make it out alive you are worthy), I've had a few friends from undergrad and high school approach me about making the move into the legal field. Most of these friends have jobs, if not careers (we graduated undergrad 3 years ago), and most of them are just feeling kind of...stuck.
I get it. I do.
But that is quite possibly the (second) WORST reason to go to law school.
Making BOATLOADS of money is the worst reason, because unless you're in the top 10% at a T14 school, odds are you're not coming out with a job paying $160k off the bat. Nationwide, only 55% of the graduates in the Class of 2011 had full-time legal employment 9 months after graduation. And only 5,500 out of the roughly 44,000 grads entering the legal job market were able to find employment with firms of 50+ attorneys. Out of the Class of 2010 grads who landed private sector jobs, 62.6% were in small firms (less that 50 attorneys -- and a majority of that number went into firms with between 2 and 10 lawyers), 16.2% went into firms with between 50 and 500 lawyers, and 21.2% went to the biglaw (501+) firms. You think you're coming out of law school and going to immediately be rolling in the dough? Think again.
But I digress.
I finally had a friend the other day, who has NEVER expressed any interest in school, or the law, or being a lawyer, tell me, "You know, I'm thinking about law school. I don't know what else I want to do, so I might as well try it." And although I smiled politely and gave him some sage advice (study hard for the LSAT, retake it at least once if you don't hit at least a 161 on your first try, and check out TLS), inside I was thinking, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
Going to law school because you can't figure out what else to do means that you're going to have an EVEN harder time with 1L, because your heart won't be in it. When other people are bogged down but enjoying the analytical reading, you will slowly be losing your mind trying to determine what sort of message Satan whispered in your ear to make you decide to subject yourself to this. And you, in all likelihood, will be so unhappy you'll consider leaving, but you'll already be so far in debt that it won't be worth it and you'll find yourself stuck in a career you're not sure you even want.
Now, I know this might seem like strange advice coming from me. You all know I'm not really a pessimist by nature. But I have seen too many of my friends and classmates come to this realization to NOT say something.
Please, if you are just stuck in your job/career/field and you don't know what to do and think law school *might* not be that bad of an idea, make sure it's something you'll actually enjoy. It's not like Law & Order, or Suits, or Franklin & Bash. You're not going to be making $160k as soon as you graduate. It's harder work than most fields, and the rewards can be intermittent.
What I did, and what I thank God every day for, was take a year to work in a law firm, and make sure that the practice of law was something I could see myself working in for the foreseeable future. If you're considering leaving your job to go to law school, leave your job for a job in a firm or within a legal department at a company or something. You'll get to see the practice first hand, and make sure it's something you can stomach doing every day for the rest of your life. Not everyone can. And if you're one of those people who thought it was going to be a lot more glamorous than it actually is and decide you hate it, well then at least you're not out a year of your like and $50k.
Please, for your sake, make sure you're not just doing it because you feel like you're in a rut. If you are in a rut, there are way more easy and pleasant rut-breakers than law school.
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