Blown

Just had my interview with Simpson & Deardorff. I totally blew it.

I went and got my haircut earlier today. I went to this trendy place called Cha-Cha. The girl was good, the haircut was decent, but not really what i envisioned, although ok. I don't know. It's hard to judge the final product when i have no idea what i wanted to begin with.

After the haircut i went home and took a shower. Then i put on my suit and got ready to rock and roll. I looked super-awesome, if i do say so myself. And i remain steadfast in my position that I will never buy a white dress shirt. I'll go down with this ship if i need to, but i am way too fucking cool for a white dress shirt.

I stepped outside my door and saw, to my horror, that it was raining. I had about 40 minutes to get to the interview. Plenty of time, except for the rain. I went back into my apartment and frantically searched for an umbrella i know exists. No umbrella. I put on my down jacket, stuffed my papers in my shirt (the portfolio i normally used seems to have disappeared after spring break, when it was used as the slush fund holder) and ran for it. I made it to the car relatively unscathed. I drove to school amid ridiculous traffic. I parked and started walking (in the rain) towards the law school, with a brief detour at the Peterson building to get my official transcripts. The woman there was nice enough to give me an envelope to put all my documents in so that they would get wetter.

Ran to the school and got to the interview room just as the previous interviewer left. I didn't have time to collect my thoughts, let alone prepare thoughtful, insightful answers. Therefore, i was screwed.

They tell you that the best interviews are the ones that are like conversations at a cocktail party. If my interview had happened at a cocktail party, not only would i not have gotten the interviewer's number, she would have told all her friends about what a boring loser i was.

The interviewer told me about the firm, which sounds very cool. Then she said "So, it looks like you're interested in litigation..." I said something about how i was really excited about litigation because it's very diverse and interesting and not tedious, then i realized that she had just said to me that litigation was cool because it's very diverse and interesting and not tedious. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the interview. Finally, she asked me if i had any other questions. And then i said it, the worst thing you could possibly say in an interview (ok, perhaps not as bad as talking about the time you killed a guy, but still). I said: "No, i think you've already answered them all." Here's a pop-quiz to determine whether you're a law student. If you're saying to yourself "ummm... why is that a bad thing to say?" you are not a law student. On the other hand, if you're saying "Andy, you're a fucking moron! You never say that in an interview, it makes you look disintereseted and indifferent, which is not what you want to project to an employer who has to carefully weigh who to make offers to! You moron!!" then chances are you are a law student. I told this story earlier in the atrium, and i swear the two 3Ls there both said "ouch!" and grimmaced.

So, i blew the interview. No one to blame but myself, i suppose. Thankfully, i have a fallback option, and i'm ok with that. There are also two other firms i'm still waiting to hear back from, one in Madison and one in Chicago. I swear, no matter how much the world doesn't want me to be one, i will be a lawyer.

Tonight, i'm going to make a brief appearance at the Law Revue rehearsal and then go home to clean the place up for poker, which will take place after dinner. I'm excited.