Introduction to Employer Interactions
’Tis the season of firm dinners and employer interactions. Kirkland & Ellis wants to put $50,000 in your recruiting season stocking, but you have to sign away your 1L and 2L summer by blood oath.
We at the Law Weekly, as the foremost experts in law firm recruiting (those charlatans at Office of Private Practice have nothing on us), are here to give you all the expert tips and tricks on employer interactions.
This is a non-exhaustive list of tips and tricks that earned us an offer at your dream firm, so read carefully and prepare accordingly.
An easy ice-breaker for any employer interaction is asking the attorney who they voted for in the previous presidential election. Some of your peers will ask unimaginative questions like, “what is the most interesting case or deal you have worked on?”, or “what is your favorite part about working for Sullivan & Cromwell?”. But no attorney will forget the law student who asked whether they voted for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Unforgettable is the goal, so ask away.
Often, employer interactions transpire while dining at a restaurant or Law School-hosted event, so elevate your dining etiquette. We at the Law Weekly recommend eating pasta with your hands and pizza with a fork and knife. Pasta with hands symbolizes that you are ready to grab firm employment by the reins, and eating pizza with a fork and knife epitomizes elegance and erudition.[1] This unconventional form of dining may puzzle your classmates and may even evoke a visible repulsion, however, the firm attorneys will respect your unique deportment.
Before any recruiting interaction, ask what impression you want your appearance and attire to make with an employer. As big law firms are notoriously liberal and laid back, we encourage men to wear sandals and board shorts, and women to wear crop tops. The old adage is of course: “you’re showing skin, the summer associate class you’re in.” Moreover, it is a new day in big law and tattoos are not only welcome but encouraged. So before the Mix & Mingle, visit any Charlottesville tattoo parlor for a recruiting season tattoo. If there’s one firm that you’re gunning for, tattoo the firm name and their Vault ranking on your neck to express interest.
You’re deep into an employer interaction, but have run out of creative questions for an attorney. A classic fall-back question is “how many family gatherings have you missed this year?”. This is a valuable question for both you and the attorney. It signals to the attorney that you’re willing to sacrifice everything for the firm, and their answer will indicate to you whether this attorney was a gunner in law school.
Lastly, treat employer interactions like fall rush. And fall rush is dirty rush at UVA Law. So drink copious amounts of alcohol when offered. You want to join the coolest firm on campus, and the coolest firms only accept summer associates who drink like fish. Hence, the Office of Private Practice saying, the firms love Wahoos. If alcohol is offered, some of your classmates may politely decline, but that reveals a critical character flaw to firms. Instead, a night of heavy consumption will bond you and an attorney for life. At the end of the day, the attorneys are seeking to find prospective associates who they can imagine drinking with (or is it working with?).
As previously stated, this list is non-exhaustive, but these tips and tricks should get you to at least November.
A final parting note by the Law Weekly Office of Big Law Recruiting: Don’t stress! You will all find your dream job at a firm where you belong.
Author: Octavius Patrick Parker (OPP), Law Weekly Office of Big Law Recruiting
[1] Some call this the Bill De Blasio method. See https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/nyregion/de-blasio-skewered-for-eating-pizza-with-utensils.html?eafs_enabled=false. But beware, effects may vary depending on the firm market.