Post-OCIP Bliss

8.57 am

It's officially over. The two weeks of mind-numbing interviews, of sitting by the phone waiting for the firm to call (although I still haven't heard from 14 of the 25 firms I interviewed with), the 6 am alarm clock and the 2 am bedtime. And since I have gone through OCIP and survived, more or less, I provide a few words of wisdom for those contemplating going through the process in the spring or next fall.

1) Do the initial research, especially if there's a particular area of law you're interested in. The search by category field on b-line is helpful, but only to a point. Then, once you've found a firm practices in that area, check out the practice area by office location part of the website. Often, a firm that specializes in a smaller field, like international law or clean tech, will only do it in one or two offices.

2) Do more research before the interview. Find out something about your interviewers from the firm's website. Then talk to fellow Boalties who worked there last summer. If you go into the interview knowing something different and unique about the firm, it will demonstrate that you're genuinely interested, and not just applying because of the fear factor.

3) Remember to keep turning the interview questions around. If you're asked about your experience working with X, when you really want to be doing Y, explain how X led you to/will help you achieve Y. I had some great interviews where the interviewer and I talked about some of the really interesting parts of my resume - but it didn't have anything to do with the areas of law the firm practiced, and I didn't get callbacks.

Most importantly, relax and try to have a good time. You only have twenty minutes to make an impression, but that's plenty of time to connect with someone and convince them you're a good fit for the firm.