"Anything else you want to add" question during OCIs

[groovy1363]

Did anyone get the "anything else you wanted to add?" at the end of OCIs question? 

Is that a sign that they didn't get the answers they wanted during the interviews? How did you answer this question? 

[Darth Vader]

21 minutes ago, groovy1363 said:

Did anyone get the "anything else you wanted to add?" at the end of OCIs question? 

Is that a sign that they didn't get the answers they wanted during the interviews? How did you answer this question? 

If I had nothing to add, I said no and thanked them for their time. Sounds like typical law student neuroticism to me. Just be a normal human being. Unless your interview was technical/substantive in nature, then what else do you have to add - that you like to play basketball too? What answers would interviewers expect in interviews where you just talk about yourself?

[Hegdis]

If you can honestly say this is your first choice, say that. 
 

If you can’t - don’t. 

[Twenty]

9 hours ago, Hegdis said:

If you can honestly say this is your first choice, say that. 
 

If you can’t - don’t. 

Indicating first choice during OCIs is way too early. When I went through the formal recruits, first choice language seemed to be reserved for the in-firms stage.  

[Blurg]

As an interviewer, I ask some variation of this question near the end of virtually all of my initial interviews with students. Don’t read into it.  
 

ETA - if you have any questions that haven’t yet been answered, ask them here. I also don’t read into whether someone actually has anything else to say or ask at that point. 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Blurg

[MapleLeafs]

7 hours ago, Twenty said:

Indicating first choice during OCIs is way too early

Is it? What if the Bay St firm you're OCI is with is all you've been dreaming of since you started law school? This is the case for me and I was planning on saying the firm is my first choice during the OCI, but now I'm not so sure. 

[Jaggers]

Why exactly have you been dreaming of one firm since you started law school? What is it that the specific firm you have in mind has that no other firm has? There are a lot of similarities between many of the firms, and you may be better served by deferring your consideration of that until you have more information.

[Pecan Boy]

27 minutes ago, MapleLeafs said:

Is it? What if the Bay St firm you're OCI is with is all you've been dreaming of since you started law school? This is the case for me and I was planning on saying the firm is my first choice during the OCI, but now I'm not so sure. 

If you do this, even if it's subjectively true, it's probably going to come off as disingenuous

[CleanHands]

50 minutes ago, MapleLeafs said:

Is it? What if the Bay St firm you're OCI is with is all you've been dreaming of since you started law school? This is the case for me and I was planning on saying the firm is my first choice during the OCI, but now I'm not so sure. 

I had basically the same question as @Jaggers. This post seems absurd to me. Borderline psychotic actually unless you have some coherent explanation.

If you were gunning for some specific specialized boutique that does a niche area of law you are super keen on that nobody else does, that would at least be comprehensible to me, if unrealistic and a recipe for disappointment. But gunning for a specific Bay St BigLaw firm before law school is ludicrous unless you know people who work there and you want to work with them specifically or something (in which case there would be no reason to be neurotic about the whole "first choice" thing as you'd have better ways to articulate your interest).

Edited September 19, 2021 by CleanHands

[BlockedQuebecois]

Cassels, for its (nearly but not quite) market leading compensation package. Duh. 

[Avatar Aang]

Ah, it's that time of the year again. Always love hearing about the level of ridiculousness going through law student circles nowadays.  

[Jaggers]

6 minutes ago, CleanHands said:

If you were gunning for some specific specialized boutique that does a niche area of law you are super keen on that nobody else does, that would at least be comprehensible to me, if unrealistic and a recipe for disappointment.

 

If that was true, it would be easy for them to answer my question, though I still doubt that there is any single firm that has an absolute lock on any niche area.

[Rashabon]

16 minutes ago, Jaggers said:

If that was true, it would be easy for them to answer my question, though I still doubt that there is any single firm that has an absolute lock on any niche area.

I mean there are some that do, in capital markets or otherwise. Not necessarily an “absolute lock” but if you wanted to do mining work, cannabis work, REIT work, product liability class action defence, whatever, there are some firms that have a lot more exposure than others, while some have virtually none. Almost every other practice area though is hardly super niche.

[123]

1 hour ago, MapleLeafs said:

Is it? What if the Bay St firm you're OCI is with is all you've been dreaming of since you started law school? This is the case for me and I was planning on saying the firm is my first choice during the OCI, but now I'm not so sure. 

25 minutes ago, CleanHands said:

I had basically the same question as @Jaggers. This post seems absurd to me. Borderline psychotic actually unless you have some coherent explanation.

If you were gunning for some specific specialized boutique that does a niche area of law you are super keen on that nobody else does, that would at least be comprehensible to me, if unrealistic and a recipe for disappointment. But gunning for a specific Bay St BigLaw firm before law school is ludicrous unless you know people who work there and you want to work with them specifically or something (in which case there would be no reason to be neurotic about the whole "first choice" thing as you'd have better ways to articulate your interest).

As a fellow leafs fan, I think this criticism is unfair -- all we have are borderline psychotic, unrealistic dreams, which are a recipe for disappointment. 

GLG!

[MapleLeafs]

I think I'm going to follow @Jaggers advice and defer saying the firm is my first choice until in firms, should I get that far. As for the practice area, I should have been more careful with my wording; it's not a full service Bay St firm, but comparable "Bay St" boutique that typically hires medalists and clerks. 

 

[Twenty]

28 minutes ago, MapleLeafs said:

I think I'm going to follow @Jaggers advice and defer saying the firm is my first choice until in firms, should I get that far. As for the practice area, I should have been more careful with my wording; it's not a full service Bay St firm, but comparable "Bay St" boutique that typically hires medalists and clerks. 

 

Tell us you're interviewing with Lenczner Slaght without telling us you're interviewing with Lenczner Slaght.

Joking aside, no matter what firm it is, deferring first choice until in-firms is the correct move.  

Edited September 19, 2021 by Twenty

[BlockedQuebecois]

4 minutes ago, Twenty said:

Tell us you're interviewing with Lenczner Slaght without telling us you're interviewing with Lenczner Slaght.

Palaire Roland. Lenczner has way too many scrubs* to be a firm that “typically hires” clerks and medallists. 

 

 

*“Scrubs” is defined as people who did not medal or clerk. 

[QMT20]

17 minutes ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

Palaire Roland. Lenczner has way too many scrubs* to be a firm that “typically hires” clerks and medallists. 

 

 

*“Scrubs” is defined as people who did not medal or clerk. 

I know several people working at Paliare Roland that were only dean's listers/9x course prize winners. 

[Jaggers]

I would worry about becoming a medalist or clerk before telling them they are your first choice during OCIs. 

But there are a bunch of firms that hire a lot of medalists and clerks. Some are boutiques and some are not. If you strike out in OCIs, but go on to medal and clerk, you can work at plenty of them.

[Jaggers]

1 hour ago, Rashabon said:

I mean there are some that do, in capital markets or otherwise. Not necessarily an “absolute lock” but if you wanted to do mining work, cannabis work, REIT work, product liability class action defence, whatever, there are some firms that have a lot more exposure than others, while some have virtually none. Almost every other practice area though is hardly super niche.

It's possible that as a first year student, you have your interests refined that deeply. But even if you do, even in areas like that there is not going to be one firm that will give you a vastly different experience as a student and associate than at least one or two others. But if your interests are that niche, it definitely behooves you to do the research to find the group of firms that do the stuff you're interested in, and the ones that don't do any of it. Thinking there is only one suggests to me you need to do more research.

[Rashabon]

28 minutes ago, Jaggers said:

It's possible that as a first year student, you have your interests refined that deeply. But even if you do, even in areas like that there is not going to be one firm that will give you a vastly different experience as a student and associate than at least one or two others. But if your interests are that niche, it definitely behooves you to do the research to find the group of firms that do the stuff you're interested in, and the ones that don't do any of it. Thinking there is only one suggests to me you need to do more research.

Agreed. Unless you have a very weird desire to work for a particular client, there isn’t a single firm that would be the exclusive practitioner in a given area.

[Possum]

On 9/19/2021 at 3:28 PM, Rashabon said:

I mean there are some that do, in capital markets or otherwise. Not necessarily an “absolute lock” but if you wanted to do mining work, cannabis work, REIT work, product liability class action defence, whatever, there are some firms that have a lot more exposure than others, while some have virtually none. Almost every other practice area though is hardly super niche.

Hey @Rashabon tell me what you know about cannabis work?  Who are the top players to look out for?
In fact, I realise I've hijacked an unrelated post.  I'll start a new one.

Edited March 5, 2022 by Possum

[Cool_name]

On 9/19/2021 at 2:23 PM, Jaggers said:

Why exactly have you been dreaming of one firm since you started law school? What is it that the specific firm you have in mind has that no other firm has? There are a lot of similarities between many of the firms, and you may be better served by deferring your consideration of that until you have more information.

Because the one firm has the snazziest website.