Is OCI absolutely necessary?

[Jhuen_the_bird]

Is it absolutely necessary to do the whole eattorney/OCI thing right now to get jobs for the summer?  I feel like it MIGHT be a waste of my time since I don't know what my grades are, but I doubt I'll fall into the top 10/15% ... I only have 1 grade (a B+ in Contracts - above the curve), so yeah.  I'm not interested in working outside of the greater Cincinnati area (where I go to school), and I'm mostly interested in working as a clerk or in a smaller firm ... and I keep hearing at my school how firms/places hire through May (and even later).  If I don't do it this year can I still do it next year?

[1LMan]

Matthies: You have quite an ego there lol.  I don't buy your spiel.  If you didn't want jobs, why did you apply in the first place?  Also, don't sit here and act like BIGLAW was begging you to come work for them as a 1L.  Where do you go to school?  I just don't buy it. 

Most of the big firms I interviewed with only a handful of attorneys from non-top 25 schools and they certainly weren't taking 1L's.

Also, OCI is definitely not the "easiest" path to get a job.  Sure it is if it worked out.  I grabbed a biglaw summer through it, but the reality is that most students DO NOT land jobs through their schools OCI program.  I got to a T25 school and that is still the case.

[thorc954]

doesnt work like that in law firms. I have a great resume, got a screening interview with an attorney through OCI, and it happened to be that my reference was a friend of the attorney that interviewed me.  I had him put a call in and everything.  Regardless, didnt even get a callback.  whatever.

there is no point in not doing oci.

also, why do you interview for jobs that you dont want?  sounds kind of like a bad route to go.  The legal community is tight knit (as you say, not me), yet you let your mentor's pull strings for you and go out of their way when you wont even consider the jobs if you dont want them?  seems kinda like a not so good approach. 

[thorc954]

well, it didnt work, but i got a much more interesting job anyway, lol.  anyway, i hope you get the job you interviewed for