There were many complaints about On-Campus Interview (“OCI”) Week.  Those who applied for but received very few, if any, interviews complained that the process is overly selective and discards worthy applicants on the basis of grades alone—a factor which, as law students are surely aware, completely and accurately reflects future performance as an attorney (please note my hint of sarcasm).  Those who received many interviews—usually the top 10% of the class—complained that the process is tedious and forces interviewers to make snap judgments about applicants in just a short twenty-minute interview.  And if the process itself did not have enough problems, the fact that one would have to politely knock on the door at his or her designated interview time—often on the door of a room with see-through glass—did not help to decrease the awkwardness and tension in the building.

Having had many interviews over the course of four days in what highly resembled small prison-cell interview rooms in the basement of the library, I can honestly say that I have some complaints about the process myself.  Interview rooms would get switched at the last minute, and students were notified via e-mail just hours before their scheduled interview times.  Some interviewers were more than twenty minutes behind schedule, which made students late to subsequent interviews.  Furthermore, the interviewers often treated applicants with an assembly line-type attitude, sometimes struggling to even feign interest for individual applicants and making seemingly arbitrary decisions as to who would be contacted for the coveted “call back” interview at the firm itself.

Finally, perhaps my most serious complaint is the fact that Cardozo could not attract many of the top law firms in the country to attend.  Only three of the top ten ranked firms (according to Vault) were in attendance during Early Interview Week, and only six in the top twenty came to Cardozo (although some participated in a résumé collect or are scheduled to interview at Cardozo later in the semester).

While OCI does have some serious drawbacks, however, the process remains a great benefit to Cardozo students.  Anyone who reads The New York Times‘ almost monthly articles on how law students have no chance at getting jobs after law school would be highly surprised at some of the results OCI has produced for Cardozo students.  Many applicants have already gone on call back interviews, and some have even received and accepted offers from firms with summer salaries around $3,077 per week.

The Office of Career Services also deserves some credit for strategically scheduling Cardozo’s Early Interview Week earlier in the season than most other schools.  This decision allows employers to interview at Cardozo but still send as many interviewers as possible to other schools holding their OCI in subsequent weeks.

While the OCI process is far from perfect, Cardozo’s OCI program does provide lucrative opportunities for students that might not be available at other, similarly regarded law schools outside of New York.