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This article is from the King Hall Law School FAQ, by David F. Prenatt, Jr. NetEsq@dcn.davis.ca.us with numerous contributions by others.

4.2.1.2) Should I participate in OCI? (King Hall Law School)

It depends upon what kind of job you want. OCI takes up a lot of time
and energy, and you may end up getting a high-paying/dead-end job with
a glass ceiling. About seven years after law school, many lawyers who
go to work for large firms find themselves out of a job and without
enough practical legal experience to open their own law firm. In
other words, be careful what you wish for, it may come true.
At the same time, many legal employers use OCI by default. So if
you opt out of OCI entirely, you may miss out on many of the job
opportunities that might really interest you. And a baffling fact of
life is that many legal employers will not offer you a position until
you prove that you are appealing to other law firms. And when you
receive an actual job offer, you can contact a potential employer who
has been sitting on your resume and use the job offer you have as a
bargaining chip for a job offer that you want (tactfully, of course).
So applying for jobs that you don't want can help you get jobs that
you do want.

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• next: 4.2.1.3) What alternatives are there to OCI? [Rev] (King Hall Law School)