Photo: Pe3k/Shutterstock.com
A Reddit thread blew up yesterday with current and former law school students recounting their worst on-campus law firm interview experiences, many of which were borderline cringeworthy.
On Thursday morning, third-year law student u/TheOwnerOfBlackacre asked fellow Redditors for the worst things that have happened to them during an interview with a law firm. The Law School Subreddit thread quickly ballooned from there.
"During my last OCI, my [interviewer] berated me because I stated that I strive to be a meticulous person. Yet, the fact that I put periods at the end of my bulleted statements under my job experience showed otherwise," u/TheOwnerofBlackacre wrote, kicking off the conversation and encouraging others to avoid making the same punctuation mistakes. "Yet, the fact that I put periods at the end of my bulleted statements under my job experience showed otherwise. The scolding was the interviewer's second and last question. The interviewer's explanation went on for about 20 minutes (no exaggeration). Finally, the interviewer dismissed me with, 'at least you were consistent with your error.'"
Reddit useru/keenan123 responded: "All of these are insane, but what self respecting lawyer thinks (especially so strongly as to berate an interviewee) that a bullet list precludes periods? If it's in sentence form, each bullet gets a period…"
The thread ultimately garnered nearly 130 comments recounting tales of late, no-show or sleeping interviewers, as well as interviewees mispronouncing firm names or arriving completely drenched after getting caught in a storm.
Others seemed to think a little more about their life choices.
"Asked why I didn't have any 'hobbies' on my resume. Kinda stumbled and offered one of my hobbies: 'golf.' Interviewer: 'ah, I hate golf.' Very awkward from there," u/LSATunratedfatsarebad wrote.
One interviewer dug into u/restrictedreading's past to ask why, as a sophomore, he got a D in his differential equations class during undergrad.
"For context, I got an undergrad and graduate degree in engineering, conducted and published research, and worked for a few years before law school. So, sophomore year was a solid 10 years ago, yet with all the other experience that was the first question she wanted to ask. Needless to say I did not end up working there and took a position in another state that I ended up loving," he said.
Things got worse when other users shared stories about receiving unsolicited advice to "smile more," learning about a firm's near nonexistent family leave policies, and having to pause the middle of a remote interview to accept a food delivery.
Some comments, however, were not funny at all.
Redditor u/Stanislav1 shared that his fiancé was waiting in the lobby for an interview when she rushed to assist a woman who injured herself in the midst of a seizure.
"My fiancé interviewed shaking and covered in blood on her white blouse because [the firm] refused to reschedule," he posted.
Allison Dunn
Allison Dunn is a reporter on ALM's Rapid Response desk based in Ohio, covering impactful litigation filings and rulings, emerging legal trends, controversies in the industry, and everything in between. Contact her at [email protected]. On Twitter: @AllisonDWrites.