5 Law Firm Interviews That Went Horribly Wrong
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One redditor who was nervous about impending interviews reached out for OCI horror stories to help "ease the tension." Here are the five of the best responses.
1.) From gillesthegreat:
Not my story but from someone I know.
He was interviewing with Dewey & Leboeuf and politely asked "how is the firm's name actually pronounced?" A legitimate question. The answer came back, slowly articulated and dripping with condescension ... "Jones Day." The guy had gotten his interview schedule confused.
2) From Achlies:
My legal name is not what I call myself and thus not something I ever put on my résumé. However, my transcripts and my résumé, with different names, obviously made the interviewer curious.
He simply asked, "Why do you go by [nickname]" in a very polite, honestly-just-curious way.
I was such an uncomfortable bundle of nerves, I said, "because it's pretty" as though it hasn't been my nickname all my life and tied deeply to my heritage. Like I had just named a pet and a friendly neighbor asked me why I chose that name.
We shook hands as the interview ended and I had to sneeze but — nerves killing me — instead of being a normal person and letting go before sneezing, I sneezed on our clasped hands.
Still got the job.
3) From jbiresq:
This was at a callback last year but a partner, who was really well known in his practice area, asked me to talk about a legal issue. I could have talked about 50 things I knew. Instead I decided to talk about the Paramount antitrust case and how it hurt the release of "Magic Mike." And I described "Magic Mike" to him. That was pretty stupid in hindsight.
4) From invaderpixel:
I had a contact act up right before one interview, even though I took the thing out before it started, I cried a continuous stream of tears out of one eye throughout the interview as I awkwardly explained and they offered me tissues. On the plus side, they were super nice. Didn't get a job/call back, but looking back I don't think I was going to get any jobs/callbacks anyways.
5) From etcerica:
I got an interview with a large-ish regional firm only because of a family connection. (Not a thing I am ever happy to take advantage of, I like to earn things on my own.) They threw me in the schedule at the last minute and I was the only 2L being interviewed, so I went in already embarrassed about the circumstances. Then in the middle of it I projectile spat all over the conference table in the middle of a sentence. Three interviewers. Sorry, family connection...
Got your own law firm interview horror story? Let us know in the comments.
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