Career Center: There is Life After the 'No Offer'

It is the end of the summer and it happened: NO OFFER! Looking back at your summer you are completely caught off-guard. You kissed the right butts, you avoided grabbing the wrong butts, you chewed with your mouth closed, you only got blackout drunk twice, and you even managed to turn in a memo or two that even had footnotes. What went wrong?

Once upon a time, you had to make out with a partner’s wife, send a firm-wide racial joke, and charge over $1,000 on the firm’s bar tab to be “no offered” –- and even then, you would at least get a soft offer that you could show off during 3L OCI. In the new economy of today, “no offers” are much more frequent, and are less about the individual, and more about the firms themselves. While the stigma of being “no offered” reflects less on your capabilities as a Biglaw associate, it still stings, and you are still without a job at graduation.

If you are hit by this truck, and want to learn how deal with the disappointment of a “no offer,” follow the advice of Lateral Link’s Frank Kimball, legal recruiter and former Biglaw hiring partner, after the jump….

1. Do not conceal, misstate, or paper over the truth. Lying about receiving an offer will be detected and may lead to suspension from school or inability to be admitted. Concocting a story that you “withdrew” your name from consideration has no credibility. Face the bad news head on. That’s something excellent lawyers must do every day in their practice. Papering over the truth or being obtuse does nothing to advance your career.

2. Do not attempt to re-litigate the issue. The firm’s decision is final. Running around seeking second opinions only makes you look immature and foolish.

3. Try to learn why the decision was made. Most firms will give you a pretty clear explanation of why they made their decision. In a healthy economy where most firms need to expand their ranks quickly, the summer associates fail because of:

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  • Poor work habits;
  • Blowing important assignments for important clients/partners;
  • Attitude and behavioral problems;
  • Apparent lack of commitment to the firm, the city, or the firm’s practice; and/or
  • Inability to respond to constructive criticism.

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For more tips on dealing with disappointment, as well as ways you can recover and redeem yourself from a “no offer” situation, click here. Don’t forget, for additional career insights as well as profiles of individual law firms, check out the Career Center.