After the offer

[bellaiz81]

So I got my first offer and I'm ecstatic!  The firm was/is my first choice and i'm 95% sure that I'm going to accept.  I have a few questions.

1) Should I cancel my other callbacks?  I have two more, one of which I was really interested in post-OCI (my 2nd choice).  I feel like I will piss the firms off either way and don't want to have bad blood should I decide to pursue employment in the future with them.  On the other hand, I'd like to give my interviews to others who are more likely to accept.

2) Do firms usually ask for updated transcripts at anytime after making the offer?

3)  How extensively does the firm conduct background/reference checks?

Thanks in advance for any advice. 

[thorc954]

I would keep the callback at the other firm.  You wont piss them off and they may become your first choice after the callback.  It couldn't hurt anyway.  They are expecting to give offers to people that accept offers from others, so you aren't really taking an interview slot from anyone else.

Congrats though, and I dont know the answers to the rest of those.  Kinda curious myself though.

[Felsen]

As thorc854 says, keep your other callbacks, especially with only two others.  Firms expect to only get a fraction of the people they extend offers to.  If nothing else, it gives you a chance to find out a little more about the other firms, and they may impress you enough that you keep them in mind for a lateral move in a few years.

Firms typically ask for an updated transcript after your 2L summer.  They want to make sure you didn't just have a decent 1st year and are goofing off the rest of school, as it shows a potentially poor work ethic.  As such, I don't think they typically care for an updated transcript after this semester's grades.

I expect any and all firms to do reference checks.  At the very least they will call the human resources department to make sure that you aren't adding fictional companies and job titles to your resume.  They will probably ask if there were any disciplinary problems and ask to speak to your manager if they have the time.

I don't expect them to do an extensive check and find out any jobs you left off your resume.  They might do a few quick searches in criminal records, they could do a credit check, they could check if you are skipping out on alimony or child support payments, etc.

[Alamo79]

I expect any and all firms to do reference checks.  At the very least they will call the human resources department to make sure that you aren't adding fictional companies and job titles to your resume.  They will probably ask if there were any disciplinary problems and ask to speak to your manager if they have the time.

Wouldn't you expect this to happen before the offer?

[ANBUDOM]

I expect any and all firms to do reference checks.  At the very least they will call the human resources department to make sure that you aren't adding fictional companies and job titles to your resume.  They will probably ask if there were any disciplinary problems and ask to speak to your manager if they have the time.

Wouldn't you expect this to happen before the offer?

The offer they mail you said that the summer associate position is contingent on a satisfactory background check and whatnot so I guess they do it after they extend the offer. 

Also, if you have A LOT of callbacks scheduled you may want to cancel some but if you only have a few I would consider just going.  Half the callbacks I canceled did NOT go well and the recruiting people were not very happy... i'm sure the ramifications aren't catastrophic or anything but it's probably not a good idea to be burning bridges before you even start working. 

[Felsen]

I expect any and all firms to do reference checks.  At the very least they will call the human resources department to make sure that you aren't adding fictional companies and job titles to your resume.  They will probably ask if there were any disciplinary problems and ask to speak to your manager if they have the time.

Wouldn't you expect this to happen before the offer?

At first glance, yes, I would.  Ideally the employer would call the references before extending the offer.  Realistically, many of these firms are trying to get back with people quickly in order to keep them fully happy.  As a student, I am much more excited about the employer who calls me back within two days to give me a callback, and calls back within 4 days of the callback to extend the offer.  So many places may postpone the background check (even calling former employers) until later.  If they postpone it till after you have accepted, they've also cut down on the costs.

Most people coming out of law school are probably not going to fail the background check.  The ones that fail are the exception and will be handled when the issue arises.  When the employment is at-will, they can fire those exceptions before they even start.