Biglaw, Interview Stories, Summer Associates

7 Epic Examples Of On-Campus-Interviewing Fails

These stories are funny, but they're also educational.

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“I ain’t passed the bar, but I know a little bit.” — Jay-Z

Over the last several years, Above the Law has compiled its favorite on-campus interviewing stories submitted by current law students and law firm interrogators. We would love to hear from y’all again this year. In the meantime, here are several of ATL’s favorite OCI tales from years past (aka a list of what not to do).

1. Knock-Knock

A 2L knocks on the door of an interview room when it’s his turn. Instead of waiting, he walks right in. The interviewer and the student being interviewed both look up, shocked. The student says to them, “MY turn,” and just stands there. The interviewer, after getting past the initial shock, asks to have a couple of minutes to finish up the first interview. The student looks at his watch, pauses, and says, “Well… I suppose….”

2. $160K buys a lot of Rogaine

Back in 2003 at one of my last OCI interviews of the fall, I was asked a terrible generic questions by the attorney interviewing me that law students often get: “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” As I was tired of answering questions like this during OCI interviews, I decided humor was the best answer: “I see myself as slightly balder and about 10 lbs. heavier.” That answer did not go over well. No callback.

3. The Lunchtime Lush

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Student goes out to callback lunch with partners and associates. Waiter comes to the table and approaches the student first.
Waiter: “Can I get you something to drink?”
Student: “Yea, I guess . . . I’ll have . . . a . . . vodka redbull.”
-Rest of table looks at him in shock.-
He, again, says, “I’m just kidding!! . . . I’ll just have a long island.”
-awkward laughter at table-
No offer.

4. The People Person

Interviewer asks inevitable, everyone-is-prepared-for-it question: What do your consider your weaknesses to be?
Candidate (stratospheric GPA to offer and little else): Well, I don’t really like other people very much.
Job not offered.

5. “Forget it, Jake, it’s Koreatown.”

I was conducting a callback lunch interview in Los Angeles when the interviewee starts talking about how he can’t stand living in Koreatown because Koreans were so rude and also bad drivers. I said, “Dude, my last name is Kim. You know I’m Korean, right? After an uncomfortable ending to the lunch I called HR and told them if they gave this kid an offer I was quitting. Needless to say, no offer for this guy.

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6. Veggie Girl

To an applicant with no special interests or activities listed on her resume: “So what do you do with your free time outside of school? Do you have any hobbies?”
Applicant: “Vegetarianism.”

7. Internationally Confused

I was set on working abroad, so I made sure during OCI that I had interviews set up for every firm that indicated it had a foreign office. London, Paris, Hong Kong. One firm had listed Vienna as one of its offices, but I was so thick that I didn’t realize that it was Vienna, VA (I’m from the west coast – who ever heard of Vienna, VA?) Of course, my answer to the question “Why are you interested in our firm?” referenced my belief that I could end up working in Austria. That was sure embarrassing.

Thousands of you are approaching OCI. It is better to be prepared than embarrassed. Hopefully, your interviews go swimmingly. But, if for some reason they don’t, ATL is here for you to share your experiences. Good luck!

Earlier: OCI Is Around The Corner; How Can Law Students Ace The 20-Minute Interview?
11 Tips For The Biglaw Interview Day

Renwei Chung is the Diversity Columnist at Above the Law. You can contact Renwei by email at [email protected], follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn. 

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