SEO Corporate Law Internship

[Anonymous Candidate]

I've interviewed already. Its not bad if you establish a easy going relationship from the onset. You gotta remember that these people are looking for a reason to help you. In my case it was 10 minutes before we got to our first interview question. And thy were all basic. It might have helped that she was beautiful, but it was a very enjoyable experience.

So I've never posted on this before, but I thought I would share my thoughts about my recent experience interviewing with SEO.  First of all, I thought that the interviewer (there was only 1) was extremely unprofessional.  Nice and congenial, yes.  But the entire interview she was checking her blackberry and cell phone every time it blinked.  As someone who flew quite a ways and took time off of school and work to participate in the interview (which is only 30 minutes, by the way), I felt that I deserved her undivided attention.  I felt like the questions asked were very generic, and more behavioral than the kinds of questions that would be useful to really narrow down the candidate field.  And what's more, she spent the first 10 minutes small-talking about stuff that had no bearing on my selection, other than seeing that I could carry a conversation.  Sure it's important to build rapport with your interviewer, but it was excessive given the time constraint.  I realize this is not in itself enough to sway my opinions on the program, but still, it was just disappointing.     

As far as the program itself, I'm not sure it's worth the stress, at least for me.  The fact that they won't even COMMENT on the status of your application until you've sent them proof of where your attending law school is a bit shady.  I thought it had to do with wanting to maintain the prestige of the program (i.e. you'll only get accepted if you go to a T14 school, or whatever), but when I asked the interviewer about it, they said the reason they do it is because they have some people who interview who don't even end up going to law school.  They just want to know you're going SOMEWHERE.  Once you're in, they might use it for placement with firms, but it's not as crucial to your admission into the program in general.  It may just be me, but I am not going to wait 4 months as I get school responses back to "maybe" get an internship offer at the end, and "maybe" with a firm that I'd like to go back to, especially since I have other offers oustanding.  I figure I'll have time in law school to make actual summer associate money (SEO doesn't pay all that much) at a firm I would probably like to go back to full time.  The risk is too great for something that you can do just as well next year.  Sure you might get a head start on networking, but my advice is, if you're not going to work elsewhere, take the summer off and have fun.  It'll be the last time you'll be able to do that for a while...you have the whole rest of your life to be a lawyer.  I'm sure the program is great for all that participate, but the process of getting there is, in my opinion, not worth the rewards.  You can do the same thing next year, and spend time exploring the culture of the firms on your own beforehand instead of getting randomly assigned to one that pays about half if not less of of what you'll be making next summer.

Just my thoughts...don't want to start a riot. : )

Law firm interviews seem to be informal anyway, though.  I'm not too surprised about the small talk or anything else you posted (maybe the Blackberry, but not that surprised).  I guess only you all can decide whether the program is worth your time though.

Titcr.  I had one 20-min interview where the partner spent the entire time asking me about my family and cricket.  I don't think we even spent a minute talking about anything remotely law related.

This is true, I'm aware that many interviews for professional-type jobs can be extremely informal.  However, it has been my experience that those firms PAY for your travel expenses to interview, so it doesn't really matter too much that they spend your interview time talking about the NBA.  But for a program that really makes its applicants beg to be accepted, and then doesn't give the applicants the time of day, it's just a bit disappointing.  Especially when decisions are made so late, and often times when it's then too late to find a decent replacement internship.  I just got the impression that the program was very full of themselves.  Sure they're great firms, but they're internships that you can just as easily get next year (and get paid way more). Again, just my thoughts.

[pikey]

I've interviewed already. Its not bad if you establish a easy going relationship from the onset. You gotta remember that these people are looking for a reason to help you. In my case it was 10 minutes before we got to our first interview question. And thy were all basic. It might have helped that she was beautiful, but it was a very enjoyable experience.

So I've never posted on this before, but I thought I would share my thoughts about my recent experience interviewing with SEO.  First of all, I thought that the interviewer (there was only 1) was extremely unprofessional.  Nice and congenial, yes.  But the entire interview she was checking her blackberry and cell phone every time it blinked.  As someone who flew quite a ways and took time off of school and work to participate in the interview (which is only 30 minutes, by the way), I felt that I deserved her undivided attention.  I felt like the questions asked were very generic, and more behavioral than the kinds of questions that would be useful to really narrow down the candidate field.  And what's more, she spent the first 10 minutes small-talking about stuff that had no bearing on my selection, other than seeing that I could carry a conversation.  Sure it's important to build rapport with your interviewer, but it was excessive given the time constraint.  I realize this is not in itself enough to sway my opinions on the program, but still, it was just disappointing.     

As far as the program itself, I'm not sure it's worth the stress, at least for me.  The fact that they won't even COMMENT on the status of your application until you've sent them proof of where your attending law school is a bit shady.  I thought it had to do with wanting to maintain the prestige of the program (i.e. you'll only get accepted if you go to a T14 school, or whatever), but when I asked the interviewer about it, they said the reason they do it is because they have some people who interview who don't even end up going to law school.  They just want to know you're going SOMEWHERE.  Once you're in, they might use it for placement with firms, but it's not as crucial to your admission into the program in general.  It may just be me, but I am not going to wait 4 months as I get school responses back to "maybe" get an internship offer at the end, and "maybe" with a firm that I'd like to go back to, especially since I have other offers oustanding.  I figure I'll have time in law school to make actual summer associate money (SEO doesn't pay all that much) at a firm I would probably like to go back to full time.  The risk is too great for something that you can do just as well next year.  Sure you might get a head start on networking, but my advice is, if you're not going to work elsewhere, take the summer off and have fun.  It'll be the last time you'll be able to do that for a while...you have the whole rest of your life to be a lawyer.  I'm sure the program is great for all that participate, but the process of getting there is, in my opinion, not worth the rewards.  You can do the same thing next year, and spend time exploring the culture of the firms on your own beforehand instead of getting randomly assigned to one that pays about half if not less of of what you'll be making next summer.

Just my thoughts...don't want to start a riot. : )

Law firm interviews seem to be informal anyway, though.  I'm not too surprised about the small talk or anything else you posted (maybe the Blackberry, but not that surprised).  I guess only you all can decide whether the program is worth your time though.

Titcr.  I had one 20-min interview where the partner spent the entire time asking me about my family and cricket.  I don't think we even spent a minute talking about anything remotely law related.

This is true, I'm aware that many interviews for professional-type jobs can be extremely informal.  However, it has been my experience that those firms PAY for your travel expenses to interview, so it doesn't really matter too much that they spend your interview time talking about the NBA.  But for a program that really makes its applicants beg to be accepted, and then doesn't give the applicants the time of day, it's just a bit disappointing.  Especially when decisions are made so late, and often times when it's then too late to find a decent replacement internship.  I just got the impression that the program was very full of themselves.  Sure they're great firms, but they're internships that you can just as easily get next year (and get paid way more). Again, just my thoughts.

1. Not necessarily.  I paid to travel to the interview I mentioned above.  Not all firms  pay for 1Ls to interview.

2. it's not a job that you can easily get next year.  It's obviously not impossible to get a 1L firm job, but it can be very difficult.  And the market will definitely be tighter next year if we're heading into a recession.

3. Don't think that a firm isn't evaluating you because they aren't discussing your impressive credentials.  They can get all that from the resume.  Often they're more interested in seeing if you're a likable person who can carry a decent conversation on something other than law.  They're interested in hiring people, not statistics.

4. The cellphone/blackberry thing might have also been intentional.  Some people practice stress interviews, where they'll do/say things that seem outside the norm to judge how you'd react in a tense/weird situation.  If you're action was anything like the reaction you showed here, you probably didn't pass. 

[joebuddencirca03]

Re: Blackberry

As was mentioned in the post above, SEO does stress interviews.

[UNAS]

I've interviewed already. Its not bad if you establish a easy going relationship from the onset. You gotta remember that these people are looking for a reason to help you. In my case it was 10 minutes before we got to our first interview question. And thy were all basic. It might have helped that she was beautiful, but it was a very enjoyable experience.

So I've never posted on this before, but I thought I would share my thoughts about my recent experience interviewing with SEO.  First of all, I thought that the interviewer (there was only 1) was extremely unprofessional.  Nice and congenial, yes.  But the entire interview she was checking her blackberry and cell phone every time it blinked.  As someone who flew quite a ways and took time off of school and work to participate in the interview (which is only 30 minutes, by the way), I felt that I deserved her undivided attention.  I felt like the questions asked were very generic, and more behavioral than the kinds of questions that would be useful to really narrow down the candidate field.  And what's more, she spent the first 10 minutes small-talking about stuff that had no bearing on my selection, other than seeing that I could carry a conversation.  Sure it's important to build rapport with your interviewer, but it was excessive given the time constraint.  I realize this is not in itself enough to sway my opinions on the program, but still, it was just disappointing.     

As far as the program itself, I'm not sure it's worth the stress, at least for me.  The fact that they won't even COMMENT on the status of your application until you've sent them proof of where your attending law school is a bit shady.  I thought it had to do with wanting to maintain the prestige of the program (i.e. you'll only get accepted if you go to a T14 school, or whatever), but when I asked the interviewer about it, they said the reason they do it is because they have some people who interview who don't even end up going to law school.  They just want to know you're going SOMEWHERE.  Once you're in, they might use it for placement with firms, but it's not as crucial to your admission into the program in general.  It may just be me, but I am not going to wait 4 months as I get school responses back to "maybe" get an internship offer at the end, and "maybe" with a firm that I'd like to go back to, especially since I have other offers oustanding.  I figure I'll have time in law school to make actual summer associate money (SEO doesn't pay all that much) at a firm I would probably like to go back to full time.  The risk is too great for something that you can do just as well next year.  Sure you might get a head start on networking, but my advice is, if you're not going to work elsewhere, take the summer off and have fun.  It'll be the last time you'll be able to do that for a while...you have the whole rest of your life to be a lawyer.  I'm sure the program is great for all that participate, but the process of getting there is, in my opinion, not worth the rewards.  You can do the same thing next year, and spend time exploring the culture of the firms on your own beforehand instead of getting randomly assigned to one that pays about half if not less of of what you'll be making next summer.

Just my thoughts...don't want to start a riot. : )

Law firm interviews seem to be informal anyway, though.  I'm not too surprised about the small talk or anything else you posted (maybe the Blackberry, but not that surprised).  I guess only you all can decide whether the program is worth your time though.

Titcr.  I had one 20-min interview where the partner spent the entire time asking me about my family and cricket.  I don't think we even spent a minute talking about anything remotely law related.

This is true, I'm aware that many interviews for professional-type jobs can be extremely informal.  However, it has been my experience that those firms PAY for your travel expenses to interview, so it doesn't really matter too much that they spend your interview time talking about the NBA.  But for a program that really makes its applicants beg to be accepted, and then doesn't give the applicants the time of day, it's just a bit disappointing.  Especially when decisions are made so late, and often times when it's then too late to find a decent replacement internship.  I just got the impression that the program was very full of themselves.  Sure they're great firms, but they're internships that you can just as easily get next year (and get paid way more). Again, just my thoughts.

1. Not necessarily.  I paid to travel to the interview I mentioned above.  Not all firms  pay for 1Ls to interview.

2. it's not a job that you can easily get next year.  It's obviously not impossible to get a 1L firm job, but it can be very difficult.  And the market will definitely be tighter next year if we're heading into a recession.

3. Don't think that a firm isn't evaluating you because they aren't discussing your impressive credentials.  They can get all that from the resume.  Often they're more interested in seeing if you're a likable person who can carry a decent conversation on something other than law.  They're interested in hiring people, not statistics.

4. The cellphone/blackberry thing might have also been intentional.  Some people practice stress interviews, where they'll do/say things that seem outside the norm to judge how you'd react in a tense/weird situation.  If you're action was anything like the reaction you showed here, you probably didn't pass. 

I concur with everything above. As the elderstatesmen here (at least in terms of professional experience) I would advise against blowing off an offer to intern at a vault firm under any circumstances. For starters, screw your summer. When you intern that will probably give you some much needed insight into not only that particular firm, but the practice of law in general. Secondly, it will help put into perspective your work load when you start your 1L year. I hate to talk at out of my ass, but I find nontraditional students often agree that law school by and large is easier than working 9 to 12 hours everyday at a regular job. Thirdly, you would have an enormous advantage over your competition. Fourthly, where do people get notion you can't work and relax simultaneously? Again, not to sound harsh, but the idea of taking a summer off when you have been blessed with such an opportunity continues to baffle me. Barring family issues or health, there is no reason to do otherwise unless you want to work in public interest.

[bsbktbpa]

does anybody know of any other options for soon-to-be 1Ls the summer before school starts? most firms dont want to hire someone who is for sure not going to be coming back to work FT because internships are part of their recruiting efforts. i thought my only option besides this SEO internship was a parttime job....

[20+ Andrew Hill Albums]

This seems very much geared toward college seniors and recent grads. Are people who have been out of school for a while at a disadvantage here?

[meesawoosa]

SEO specifically states that the program is geared for college seniors/recent grads who are heading to law school the next fall.

This seems very much geared toward college seniors and recent grads. Are people who have been out of school for a while at a disadvantage here?

[20+ Andrew Hill Albums]

By "geared toward", do they mean non-trad law school applicants need not apply?  Do they have a rule of some sort... like American Idol?

SEO specifically states that the program is geared for college seniors/recent grads who are heading to law school the next fall.

This seems very much geared toward college seniors and recent grads. Are people who have been out of school for a while at a disadvantage here?

[alexb240]

I just got back home from my DC interview. I thought it went well, but it was a little intense. I plan on posting more thoughts later, but I'm pretty fried at the moment. If anyone has any specific questions, shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to try and answer them.

[greenplaid]

I just got back home from my DC interview. I thought it went well, but it was a little intense. I plan on posting more thoughts later, but I'm pretty fried at the moment. If anyone has any specific questions, shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to try and answer them.

Congrats on your cycle. Hats off on Full Darrow!