Formal Interviews that Count

By Maria Laus, Author - LawCrossing

At one time, a formal interview was a very important part of the admissions process of many law schools. Each applicant would be required to appear in person at the office of a law professor, or perhaps of an alumnus, dressed in his best suit and trembling head to foot. He would be allowed a half hour or so in the office or at a nearby restaurant or club. During that time, he had to convince the interviewer that he would make a good law student and lawyer. The interviewer would then report to the admissions committee. His report would be given great weight.

Law schools rarely do it this way nowadays. When they began to study the admission process, they found that interviewers' reports were very poor predictors of law school success. Although a brief conversation might reveal whether or not the applicant was articulate and intelligent, it was almost impossible for an interviewer to determine whether or not an applicant possessed the necessary talent, drive, and work habits needed for success in law school.

Moreover, formal interviews lend themselves to prejudice and bigotry. They can be used as a tool for keeping the benefits of attending law school in the hands of white European males of the dominant social class. Too often, interviewers were more interested in finding candidates like themselves-candidates who came from the right schools, or who had the right family connections or the right man-ners-than they were in identifying the most talented. One older lawyer told me that his interviewer seemed more concerned with learning whether he could play contract bridge than with uncovering skills or interests that were relevant to legal work. Another recalled that his interview was conducted in a private businessmen's club. The alumni who served as interviewers were in the habit of using a quiet private room. When they had Jewish or African-American candidates to interview, they moved to the bar, the only room in the club in which members were allowed to entertain "guests not themselves eligible for membership." The interviewers often interrupted the candidates to call out greetings and exchange pleasantries with passersby. Apparently, they never had to interview a female applicant; women, even the wives of members, were never allowed in any part of the club.

Finally, as law schools expanded and began to attract applicants nationally, the work involved in scheduling all the interviews became prohibitive. As a result, no law school, to my knowledge, still requires an interview that counts as a routine part of its application procedure. Many law schools explicitly refuse to conduct formal interviews under any circumstances.

You may, however, be asked to undergo an interview if you apply to one of the top law schools. Its purpose will not be to determine whether you have the qualities needed to study law, for your superior numbers will have already identified you as a good prospect. Instead, the interviewer will try to find your particular strengths; he or she will look for whatever is unique in your background or character, so the law school can determine whether you will contribute diversity to the freshman class. A few other law schools have made formal interviews an optional part of their admissions procedures. You can request one if you are marginally competitive for a school that you particularly want to attend. You may also be asked to undergo a formal interview if you are applying for certain financial aid and scholarship programs.

The trick to doing well at a formal interview is to avoid doing badly. It's more important to create a general impression or' competence and agreeableness than it is to hold forth at great length on your qualifications to study law. It's more important to avoid blurting out a single terrible howler than it is to give an unimpeachably correct answer to every question. At all costs, you must avoid insulting, alienating, or offending the interviewer. You want the interviewer to like you. If he or she likes you, minor errors will be overlooked.

Although this seems obvious, I emphasize it because in my recent experience, some students seem to think that the way to do well in an interview is to slouch into the interviewer's office late, sprawl in a chair, put their feet up on the interviewer's desk, light a cigar, and answer all the questions in a manner oscillating between indifference and calculated offensiveness. They have learned this technique from movies aimed at a teenaged audience. But take my word for it: it only works in the movies.

Any interviewer will be put off by an applicant who does not appear to be taking the process seriously. Older people may be more concerned with details of dress and appearance than younger people. Interviewers who are lawyers will be especially concerned with whether or not you possess good manners and are willing to follow the rules and make an effort to get along with others. Good manners and agreeableness are necessary in our legal system, since lawyers must work together as rivals and adversaries without becoming enemies.

Therefore, approach the interview defensively by avoiding the things that give offense. Dress neatly. Be punctual. Sit where you are told. Do not smoke. Avoid gum, candy, or other props unless the interview is conducted over food. (Some older people associate gum with immaturity.) If you are offered coffee, you have the choice of accepting and consuming it gracefully or (preferably) declining without making a fuss. But don't take the opportunity to launch into a diatribe against caffeine, the exploitation of Colombian peasants, or the pollution of the environment by Styrofoam cups. Demonstrate that you've planned ahead for the interview by bringing along copies of whatever documents you've sent to the law school and anything you may want to refer to, perhaps collected neatly in a folder. But if possible, avoid lugging bulky materials into the interview room.

When people who have done a lot of interviewing are asked what makes a favorable impression, they always say that they like applicants to convey an impression of energy and cheerfulness. You should practice an upbeat, positive manner. It's important to maintain eye contact. A firm but not bone-crushing handshake, a pleasant smile, and good posture-especially while sitting-are also frequently mentioned as assets. I quote here from a publication about job interviews circulated by Bradley's placement center:

Applicants who fare best are eager, honest, directed, confident, poised and knowledgeable about the company and the position.

If you substitute "law school" or "scholarship program" for "company," you have advice that you can follow when you practice.

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