Assume that the more likely process for selection of candidates for interview is on the basis of your written C.V. and plan accordingly. If you are called for interview there are a number of points to bear in mind. These include the following:
(a) Check your C.V. What did you say and try to identify what it was about it that might have attracted you to the firm. Brush up on those points or at least go well prepared to respond to further questioning. So, if you said in your C.V. or covering letter that you were very keen to work with a firm that specialized in civil litigation, make sure that you know how to develop that claim in the interview.
(b) Check out the profile of the firm. You might have been really lucky and been offered an interview with a firm that you did not expect to hear from. If so you may not have checked them out thoroughly when you wrote to them. If you are now offered an interview, be sure to do a comprehensive investigation of their background. Check the number of partners, their specialisms, their profile in the law reports or professional journals, the way that they advertise in the professional journals, who you might know that works there, and who can assist you from your networks at university and beyond about the firm.
(c) If the letter or phone call which invites you for interview is not very revealing you might follow it up. You could phone the firm and ask how long the interview is expected to last and what form it might take. Interviews vary. Some organizations including firms in private practice adopt the traditional interview panel approach. This usually means an interview by several persons in a rather formal office setting asking questions. Some employers prefer a dual approach, whereby they use the traditional interview but couple this with an informal meeting with a different, or the same, interview panel. The informal part might take place before or after the formal part. It might involve a buffet lunch, a dinner or a reception type meeting where you mingle with the interview personnel and others such as existing trainees. The purpose of the dual approach is usually to assess you and in particular your social skills, in a less exacting and nerve-wracking setting. If you find that you are to face the dual approach you need to prepare for it. Think through what kind of person the firm is wishing to attract. They do want some-body who is outgoing, who is able to make conversation with strangers, who is, or at least appears to be, relatively at ease in strange settings and who can seem intelligent and intelligible even under pressure. If you are compelled to eat whether in a buffet, wine reception or dinner with the interviewing personnel then try to relax. Students have over the years recounted stories of trying to eat Spaghetti Bolognese or a meal with chopsticks in full view of the interviewing panel. Hard though it may be, you need to try to relax in that setting and feel absolutely no compulsion about demanding a spoon in the case of the spaghetti or cutlery in place of the chopsticks. That demonstrates assertiveness and a refusal to be humiliated, which is much better than having food splattered down your clothes. Even better, why not insist that you are vegan and can only eat cold salad food with a G.M. free salad dressing. That will either impress your potential employers enormously or put them off you completely. Either way you will have made a unique and indelible impression upon them. At the end of the day, you have to weigh up whether you would want to work for a firm that has placed you in such a potentially embarrassing situation.
(d) Given that the normative interview is probably the one that takes place in an office and lasts between 20-40 minutes, how should you prepare for this? Within that period you might be asked to give a presentation. If so, you will normally be given advance notice of this. Quite a few employers who ask for a presentation do so at the second interview stage. Not every employer operates a process of second interview, but for those who do it is a useful way of giving them, and you, an opportunity of improving upon first impressions. You might be allocated a topic for the presentation or you may be invited to select one. Either way, think carefully about what it is you are going to present on. Pick a subject that is familiar to you, that you are comfort-able with and that you will be able to defend if challenged. To give an example, local authorities often invite potential trainees back for a second interview and ask them to present on a particular problem relevant to public sector work. If you find yourself in that position, then you need to research the problem thoroughly and prepare the appropriate presentation. To give yourself the best possible chance of feeling comfortable with the presentation, ensuring that you can deliver it within the time, perhaps you could ask one of your referees or others in your network to watch you give a mock presentation and give you feedback.
(e) When you arrive for the actual interview, you will likely have to wait for a short period before being invited into the room where the interview takes place. Try very hard to relax during this period. Take deep breaths, ground yourself and send yourself strong messages of confidence. Having got this far you have done very well. You now need to perform at the next stage to be offered the job. Bear in mind, though, that failing to be offered a job is not necessarily a reflection on your abilities or talents. Very often an employer is looking for a very specific type of employee. If you do not fit the bill that may be a compliment. It may be that the firm only wishes to recruit those whose personalities seem malleable and capable of being shaped into a particular corporate image. It may be that you are too independent and assertive to fit that image. That may well be a good thing in the long run. Do not be too despondent or disappointed if you are not offered the job. Go forward into any interview being confident in your own self and follow the advice we are given early on in my career of "being true to yourself.
(f) When you are invited into the interview room, take a deep breath, stand up straight and walk into the room as if it is your room. Decide in advance how you will respond to those in the room. You may not be sure how many there will be but go in trying to take the initiative. In other words say "good morning" or "good afternoon", and be very prepared to shake hands if offered. If there are a large number of interviewers, they will sometimes not offer hands to shake, so take your cue from them. You ought to be offered a seat. Or it may be obvious where you are supposed to sit, if there is one chair facing the rest of the panel. Do not be put off if they seem distant or very formal. Ideally, interviewers should make eye contact, perhaps smile or make you feel welcome in some other way. However, some people are extremely bad at interviewing. They do not demonstrate the type of social skills that they wish to see in you. If that is the case then at least do your best by demonstrating your personality, regardless of their deficiencies.
(g) The type of person who interviews you will vary. Some may have been on interviewing courses. They may also be well-drilled in the policy of their employer, i.e. one that is equal opportunities or one that seeks to employ only a particular kind of person. It is often very hard to tell how well an interview has gone. Sometimes you feel it has gone very well because there was much humor and easy interaction but then you are not offered the job. Sometimes you feel the interview was very uncomfortable and disjointed and then you are offered the job. All of that confirms the dysfunctional nature of human interaction and behavior. Do not be put off by that-put it down to experience.
See the following articles for more information:
- 21 Major Interview Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
- The Best Way to Prepare for a Job Search and Interviews
- How to Talk About Other Interviews in Your Interviews
- How to Answer the Tell Me About Yourself Interview Question
- How to Answer the Do You Have Any Questions for Me Interview Question
