\par OCI Interview Strategies And Next Steps \par

So you bid for OCI employers last week; now what? Today we’re going to go over what happens next, and some strategies you should consider as we move forward toward interviews next week. \par \par Wednesday, you’ll have the ability to go in and see who selected you for an interview, as well as select your interview times. If you have multiple interviews on the same day, consider giving yourself a break between interviews. Back-to-back interviews may help you knock them all out in one block of time, but they may force you to: a) cut off the first to get to the second, b) be late to the second and c) not give you any time to mentally transition from one employer to the next. The CDO monitors back-to-back interviews and will do our best to make sure you get from one to the next on time, but just keep in mind the risk.\par \par Once you know who you’re interviewing with, it’s time to go deeper with your employer research. Geography, firm size and practice area may have been enough to help you bid, but it’s nowhere near what you need to impress an employer in an interview. You’re going to want to go through the employer’s website page by page; get a feel for what they value/promote/emphasize. Google the employer and see what comes up, then go deeper using the “news” function and the date function, to see if they’ve made news in the past year. Often their own website will have a press/news page where they link to articles like this. You should be trying to accomplish two goals with this research: 1) learn more about the employer for your own benefit, and 2) be able to discuss what you’ve learned in the interview, and in particular with the questions you ask the interviewers. Keep in mind you’re not trying to impress the employer with your investigative skill here, rather be able to demonstrate genuine interest in the employer and carry on an intelligent conversation about what they do.\par \par At some point (depends on if/when the employer gets us the information) you will know the names of the interviewers. Research them as well. See what the focus of their practice is, where they went to law school, what pro bono work they do and anything else they’re involved in. You’re looking for a way to connect, something you have in common, and/or topics for you to ask about in the interview.\par \par If you haven’t already, consider doing a mock interview with me. Ask around and I think you’ll find those who have done so were pleased with the results. One piece of advice I always give in those sessions is to think about and develop your story, and be able to tell it in one to two minutes. Inevitably, you’re going to get an open-ended question such as “tell me about yourself.” You need to have that scripted, rehearsed and ready to adapt to however the question is asked. \par \par Once the interview is over, you need to send some form of thank you. A safe bet is to immediately send a short thank you email the same day as the interview. We’ve heard of some law firms whose interviewers are relaying back their choices to the home office that same day, so whatever help a thank you note is to getting you through to the next round must be sent quickly. It’s a good idea to send hand-written thank you notes as well, especially to senior partners who may prefer that type of communication rather than email. Use your best judgment with each employer and interviewer.\par \par Lastly, you’re hopefully going to be in a position to either accept or decline call-back interview requests. There will be a wide variety of response times from employers with their call-back offers/decisions. Some will be in touch during OCI week (typically large firms or those with recruiters); others may not reach out for weeks or months. You are of course required to let us know as you hear from employers making call-back offers, so we can keep the Symplicity homepage updated for all to see.\par \par Regarding accepting/declining call-back offers, remember that while you’re obligated to interview on-campus with any employer you bid with who selected you, that’s not the case with call-backs. A good rule of thumb is, if you’re sure you aren’t interested after the OCI interview, go ahead and decline. Otherwise, you should go on the call-back.\par \par When you respond to a callback invitation, whether accepting or declining, it’s appropriate to use the communication method the employer used for the invitation. Most employers will call you, to which you should respond with a phone call as well. Often students will ask if they can simply email the employer to decline, when the employer called them with the offer; our answer is no. Remember you’re building your professional reputation with each interaction with employers you have. The employer may be disappointed you declined their offer, and that’s fine. But what you don’t want is for them to feel you were unprofessional, disrespectful or even cowardly, in declining by email rather than by phone.\par \par As always we are here to help, so please let any of us know if you have questions or as situations arise you’re not sure how to handle. Also remember to refer to the NALP guidelines for processes and protections put in place for both you and the employers. We look forward to seeing all of you next week!\par \par Connect with Daniel at Daniel_Hare@Baylor.edu and/or @BaylorLawDaniel on Twitter.\par \par ]]>\par