Tuesday, November 20, 2007

How Bad Is It...

...when you interview with a firm and receive a rejection letter three business days later? Actually, that isn't so uncommon, especially at firms with quick turnaround times.

How about this...how bad is it when you know that same firm was still interviewing people at the time you received the rejection letter? Not only that, this is the one private firm in which you were genuinely interested through two cycles of OCI and dozens of mail merged resume/cover letter combos. It's essentially like they said "we so desperately do not want to work with you that we're willing to take the chance that the ten remaining candidates we haven't met yet are just as terrible as you."

I'll analogize it to dating, which is the only convincing analogy I've heard for the job search process. It's a lot like meeting a beautiful girl at a bar (I'm a guy here, not going to use the gender-neutral terminology), getting her phone number , and going on a date with her. You hit it off, have everything in common (including some rather unusual interests and qualities), and you end the night by taking her to your place to engage in some extracurricular activities. When you get to the door, she suddenly kicks you in the shin, throws a left hook into your ribs, knees you in the face, and runs away down the street. Two weeks later, you see her out at the bar with a short, fat guy who works as a janitor at the local Denny's.

It just can't be easy, can it?

5 comments:

Silly Little Law Student said...

That is the best job search analogy I've heard in a really long time.

Anonymous said...

If your future job is anything like mine, the recruiting process will seem like a night at Chuck E Cheese in comparison to the real day-to-day functions...

Butterflyfish said...

Babe, I had one that arrived in less than 48 hours.

That's right, they mailed the rejection while I was still in the building. Interviewing.

Doc In the Kitchen said...

guy fawkes, i empathize with your plight in the interview process. Having applied to 27 schools, and being rejected by over 20. I remind you that you only end up working in one place. So, keep chin up and good luck.

I also would like to point out 2 inherant flaws in your analogy. First of all, if these interviews are anything like how I imagine them to be, there is no way in hell that she is coming back to YOUR place. If you're lucky, she'll take you back to her dumpy ass apartment and have you clean the dishes and vaccuum the place, since you apparently have not jumped through enough hoops already. Secondly, there's no way that she would ever run down the street my friend. This situation, has and always will end up with YOU taking the oh-so-enviable walk of shame back to your place where you cry yourself to sleep in the fetal position. Good luck!

nicolle said...

oh man. OCI. the first firm i ever interviewed with during 1L OCI told me that i'd hear back in a week and a half--it was a st. louis firm, and st. louis turnaround times are slow.

i got that letter back in 4 days. they really hated me, apparently. :)

the dating analogy is so apt, especially about OCI. OCI is worse than dating--it's speed dating, one-sided marriage-minded speed dating. you spend twenty minutes at a time with all these different firms, at which point each firm gets to decide if they want to have an long-term relationship with you.

good luck with the rest of the interviewing process!