5 Common Mistakes Made by Legal Professionals Prior to Their Job Interview Sure, it’s hard enough for attorneys and law students trying to get through the actual interview without making a mistake but what about before the interview? While big blunders may not take place until you’re sitting in front of an employer, your attitude, along with the preparation that happens in days leading up to the interview can affect the outcome even before... (12 views)
3 Ways Attorneys Can Turn Job Hopping from a Negative to a Positve There are two sides to the job hopping story for attorneys. It’s understandable why an employer might be a little skeptical of candidates who have many jobs in a small time frame — is he unreliable, restless or flaky? (199 views)
Legal Interview Prep: Identifying a Strength vs. a Skill There has been a lot of confusion about how to answer the go-to interview question, “What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?” (46 views)
Listen Up: How to Use Your Ears in a Legal Job Interview Plenty of law students spend their time in the back of a classroom, tuning in and out of hour-long lectures. While this may be good for catching up on sleep, it does nothing to hone your listening skills. In fact, it’s quite the opposite of the kind of listening needed to ace an interview. (28 views)
Thinking of Sending a Thank You Gift to a Law Firm After an Interview? It’s a given that you should always send a heartfelt thank you note after a legal interview, but it’s also possible to express a little too much gratitude. Sending in a flower bouquet after an interview may be a little too extreme…however, sending a thank you note via email with 24 hours after your interview is a must! (332 views)
The 411 on Informational Interviews for Law Students and Attorneys On the surface, an informational interview is exactly what it sounds like: a personal exchange geared toward learning about a specific career, industry, or position. But the beauty of the informational interview is that it goes beyond information gathering, which nowadays can mostly be done online. (58 views)
How to Nail a Legal Interview You've snagged an interview at the most prestigious law firm. Now what? Here, top recruiters, career consultants, and even shrinks offer shrewd tips and subtle tricks for moving from "How do you do?" to "When can you start?" (71 views)
The Perfect Form for Law Students and Attorneys: Your Interview Body Language In all likelihood, a legal recruiter won't browbeat you, torture you, or threaten you with jail time, but that doesn't mean the on-campus interview won't feel a bit like an interrogation. The room is usually cramped and Spartan. Every word echoes, every movement is accentuated. It's enough to make a candidate forget about a job and start thinking about an alibi. (23 views)
The Weakness Question for Law Students and Attorneys During a pre-election interview on CBS News, Katie Couric asked President Barack Obama to name a personal flaw that might hinder his performance as president. His response: “I don’t think there's a flaw that would hinder my ability to function as president. I think that all of us have things we need to improve.” (1116 views)
How Can A Legal Applicant Bomb an Interview In 10 Minutes Ever wonder why you don’t get a call back after what you thought was a “great” interview? (52 views)
How to Conquer Pre-Interview Jitters for Law Students and Attorneys You just picked up your good suit at the cleaner's; it's as wrinkle-free as a Beverly Hills housewife's new face. Your dress shoes are gleaming, you've got them so well shined. Your watchband matches your belt, and your hair is perfectly coiffed. Take a look in the mirror: You're ready for that interview. (29 views)
Finish Strong: End Your Legal Job Interview on the Right Note In high school, my lacrosse coach used to constantly remind us to “finish strong”—whether we were running sprints, completing a 3-mile run, or ending a game. I can still remember her standing on the sidelines, yelling “Finish strong, ladies!” The point she was trying to make, I think, is that when you’re in the home stretch, you shouldn’t wind down—you... (58 views)
The 5 Defining Moments of Every Legal Job Interview In every job interview, there are five “make-it-or-break-it” moments that send the candidate onto the next round of interviews, possibly even a job offer, or to the discard pile. (5 views)
7 Different Ways to Make a Closing Statement in Your Next Law Firm Interview At the end of the legal interview, you have the opportunity to make a closing statement. Those are the last words you will utter before you leave the office, so make them count. Since there is no definitive way to close an interview, below are some options for you to consider. (232 views)
10 Questions You Should Never Be Asked by Law in an Interview There are numerous state and federal antidiscrimination laws designed to assure that employers hire based upon skill, rather than stereotypes. Therefore, there are some things a legal interviewer isn't allowed to ask. How do you know what's fair game? Here are some questions that should raise red flags. (38 views)
Top 7 Common Behavioral Interview Questions Asked In Legal Interviews More and more, legal employers are asking behavioral questions during interviews to see how candidates would behave when confronted with an issue on the job. Since behavioral interviews are becoming so popular, it’d behoove you to prepare responses for some commonly-asked behavioral interview questions. Here are a few to start off with: (3211 views)
Handling Legal Gotcha Questions Summary: Interview gotcha questions are potential landmines in outing you as a poor candidate. They are also great opportunities for spotlighting you as the best candidate. Anticipating and preparing for these questions will give you an edge in your interview. (4534 views)
Top 25 Table Manner Rules for Attorneys and Law Students during Lunch Interviews Summary: Tackle your next lunch interview as an attorney or law student that will show the interviewer that you not only have all the right qualifications, but table manners as well. (3249 views)
How to Brand Yourself for Your Next Job Search Summary: Branding in the legal profession means, essentially, promotion. (904 views)
Paralegal Job Interview Guide: Paralegal Job Interview Questions and Answers This article goes into detail on the dos and don'ts of paralegal job interviews. By following this guide, you will increase your chances of landing a paralegal job. (2236 views)
How to Excel in Law Firm Interviews Summary: In a recent article, Harrison Barnes, a legal recruiter and founder of BCG Attorney Search and CEO of LawCrossing, explains how to ace your law firm job interview. (321 views)
A Guide for Attorney Salary Negotiation: How to Negotiate Your Salary Like a Pro Summary: When you can answer the following three questions, you are ready to negotiate your salary. (4489 views)
The #1 Characteristic of the Best Legal Interviewers and Attorneys Who Get Clients My early career was in the asphalt business—resurfacing and repairing driveways, parking lots and streets and doing hot-tar related work. I thought the work was a lot of fun. It was not intellectual, the people I was dealing with were straightforward and the work also paid quite well. I loved the work. (377 views)
The In-house Law Interview The in-house interview is the "meat" of the recruiting process. This stage of the recruiting cycle requires a substantial amount of time and energy and is also the most stressful part. The best advice I can give to you at this stage of the game is to plan, prepare, and listen to what your intuition tells you. (35 views)
Interview Theory By definition, the employment interview is a two-way discussion between a job applicant and a prospective employer with the objective of exploring the probable compatibility between the applicant's qualifications and the needs of the employer, for the purpose of making an employment decision. It is the intent of both parties during this discussion to gain as much relevant... (3155 views)
Law Job Interviews for Women and Employment Barriers They Face Job interviews can be unpleasant because, despite the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's guidelines about what employers may ask consistent with anti-discrimination laws, some judges and lawyers continue to ask women questions about their marital status and plans for having children. Remarks such as, "You're so pretty; I don't care about your grades" and requests... (111 views)
Once in the Room With the goal of obtaining further interviews in mind and your charisma in hand, you should be prepared for the actual interview. Begin by being clean and well groomed. If an interviewer sees someone who is badly groomed or too casually or carelessly dressed, he or she assumes that person is not genuinely interested in the interviewer or the firm. It may be a badge of... (5 views)
Things to Avoid while Giving an Interview Below mentioned are some points that should be taken avoided by the applicants giving interview! (35 views)
The Good Lawyer-Interviewer Hones Skills Interviewing skills are part of your everyday life and work as a lawyer. When they talk about a lawyer "counseling" a client, what do they mean? What else if not an "interview", where the lawyer (interviewer) is trying either to persuade the client (candidate) that he should take or refrain from taking certain action because of the legal consequences involved, or to elicit... (51 views)