November 09, 2004
There's Always One
And I thought we already had one this year.
I previously blogged about adventures in interviewing -- you remember, the woman who showed up for her job interview with our law firm wearing an ill-fitting, out of season suit, a negligee, no pantyhose and shoes that didn't match her atrocious outfit? Well, it gets better.
We told the fashion-challenged woman thanks, but no thanks. However, we did interview several candidates we really liked. We typically have two interviewers conduct interviews of candidates from different schools, and then they rank the students they liked most and those students are invited back for a meet-and-greet cocktail party. That gives them a chance to meet several lawyers and gives us a chance to see how they do in social situations. From there, we select which candidates will receive offers for summer clerkships.
We did this. It all seemed to be going well (it always does). Early in the day of the interviewing I did this fall, I interviewed an appropriately dressed woman who really seemed to have her act together. She had an interesting background, was articulate and seemed interested in the firm (did I mention she was appropriately dressed?) We invited her back to the cocktail party and she did well there, too.
We sent her a letter and extended her an offer for a clerkship for next summer. In the letter, we asked that she respond by October 15. On October 15, she called and asked for some extra time to think about it, and asked if she could let us know by October 18. We said that was no problem -- we know we're not the only game in town, and good students often have several offers.
October 18 came and went and we haven't heard from her since. Naturally, we called her. Her phone had been disconnected. We e-mailed her at the e-mail address listed on her resume. Our e-mails went unreturned. We called the law school where she is a student. They assured us that no, she had not been hit by a bus, but they couldn't say more than that. Ultimately, we sent her a letter rescinding our offer and have moved on to more, um, responsive pastures.
It really slays me when there are so many great law students out there who would love the opportunity to work for our firm and we end up pursuing the yo-yo who is incapable of telling us she isn't interested.
Posted by Kitty at November 9, 2004 09:40 PM
bravenet.com