How to Conduct Yourself at Law Job Interview It is very easy to "blow" an important interview before it is even started. Too many job candidates are so eager to "get down to business" that they forget an interview is as much a social occasion as a business one: your first task, and perhaps your only task, is to get the interviewer to like you as a person. (299 views)
Questions for Law Firm Positions Are you attending an interview for a position in a law firm? If so your pre-interview preparation must be thorough and you should concentrate on asking the right questions that will help you stand out of crowd of contestants. The right questions are: What is the firm's client base and how (if at all) has it changed over the past ten years? What changes in the client base... (92 views)
Interviewing Questions & Strategies During the course of a legal job interview, you can expect to be asked numerous questions about your background, your experience, and your personal interests, as the interviewer attempts to determine in his own mind whether or not you would be a good "fit" for his organization. Keep in mind that whenever a question is asked, the interviewer really intends to ask another -... (427 views)
Asking the Right Questions in Legal Job Interview The key to saying as little as possible is to keep the interviewer at a legal job interview talking as much as possible, and the key to doing that is to keep asking questions. But not just any questions; to keep the interviewer talking, and genuinely interested in the one-way discussion, your questions must be the "right" ones. (600 views)
Legal Job Interview: How Not to Conduct It You have now passed the preliminary hurdles in interviewing process. You have researched the employer and the interviewer(s), you have a long list of questions which you have carefully memorized, and you have done something (such as answering an advertisement, contacting a headhunter, or signing up in your law school placement office) that has made the employer want to... (24 views)
Negotiating the 'Tangibles'—Legal Job Offers After the legal job interview an offer is made. Once an offer has been made, there will inevitably be some discussion of "tangibles" such as salary, pension and health care benefits, perquisites, and the size and location of your office. Rarely if ever will these items be discussed in detail prior to a job offer being extended (and you should never, ever, ever bring them... (1397 views)
Don’t Sell Yourself: Legal Job Interview You should not at any cost come on too strong during a legal job interview. This point needs to be underscored here, because your demeanor during the interview may be crucial to the outcome. While you should appear genuinely interested in the position and in the interviewer, you must not be too enthusiastic, or too dynamic, or too polished, or too eloquent, or else you... (475 views)
The Key Rule for Success in a Legal Job Interview More than any other rule, there is one rule you must keep foremost in your mind during a legal job interview. It is the key to success; disobeying or flaunting this rule is, in my opinion, the single biggest cause of being "screened out" in a legal job interview. It is a simple rule to remember, and yet is difficult to apply in practice, both because it runs counter to a... (111 views)
Legal Interviews for Career Change First, let's define some key terms. By a "lateral hire", meaning a job change made after one has been practicing law for a while, in which one is looking for a job in a different legal environment - for example, from a large law firm to a smaller law firm, from a law firm in City A to a law firm in City B, or from a law firm to a corporate legal department or government... (686 views)
Legal Job Luncheon Interview: Special Rules At some point in your interviewing career it is inevitable that you will be taken by your prospective employer to a fancy restaurant for lunch, cocktails and/or dinner. The purpose of such an interview is threefold: (1) to give all of the involved parties a treat at the expense of the United States Treasury (and hence indirectly from the United States taxpayer, namely you... (301 views)
Take Care of Looks: Legal Job Interview Before you open your mouth in a legal job interview, the interviewer will have an opportunity (however brief) to see how you look, how you dress, how you walk, and how you carry yourself. Since first impressions are lasting ones, you need to be very concerned about those fleeting first moments when the interviewer is "sizing you up." This is not a "Dress for Success" book... (571 views)
One-site Interview: How to Deal with Non-lawyer Staff While attending the “one-site” interview, read carefully a few words about those associates on the Committee and the non-lawyer staff person who walks you around from interview to interview. It is very tempting in an "one-site" interview to save your best performances for the partners you are meeting, and "relax" a bit more when talking to the associates. I believe... (19 views)
Legal Interviewer – Who is He? What Does He Want? Before you embark on a legal job interview, you must know something about your "adversary" -- the legal interviewer. The word "adversary" is quite deliberately used; the interviewer is not your friend, no matter how warm or enthusiastic he may be during the interview. His role is not to help you find a job, nor is it really to help his employer find the best possible... (67 views)
Legal Job: Know the Interviewer A legal job interview’s success depends on preparation and right thinking. After doing your homework on the target company you should know a bit about those who interview you. (9 views)
Legal Job Interview: Homework You Should Do Success in a legal job interview, as in any other professional endeavor, requires preparation and thought. There should be no surprises during the interview itself: you should know what you want, you should anticipate what the lawyer-interviewer wants, you should have ready answers to the standard interview questions, you should have in your mind a list of questions to... (1896 views)
Law Firm Interview Call the First Step If you have been invited to visit a law firm, corporate law department, or governmental agency, you have leaped an important hurdle. The chances of being offered a position have improved dramatically. Consequently, the need to establish the basic ground rules of this advancement in the process becomes even more important. (57 views)
Evaluating and Negotiating Law Job Offers Candidates often are very excited when they finally receive an offer. It feels wonderful to know that you are wanted and that the long and sometimes frustrating job search is coming to a close. In their enthusiasm, many candidates assume that the only options available are to accept or decline the offer on the table. Many shudder at the idea of negotiating for more. (339 views)
How to Sell Yourself at Law Job Interviews The time spent preparing for an interview is time well spent. You are now ready to sell your "product" to a prospective employer. (1103 views)
Opening Lines of a Law Job Interview and Accepting the Offer Adopting your host mentality, approach someone who is standing alone and say: "I don't believe we have met. My name is...’’ (use your 10-15 second introduction). (125 views)
Tips for a Law Job Interview and Thank You Notes When you suspect an interviewer has lured you into a dangerous area, you have several response options: (89 views)
Major Law Job Interviewing Styles Understanding the differences between the four major interviewing styles and preparing a strategy to effectively deal with each of them will also improve your chances for success: (9 views)
Attorney Interviews: Wrapping Things Evaluating your interviews will assist you in making a decision about whether or not to accept a job. It will also help you to recognize ways you can improve future interviews. (2 views)
Attorney Salaries: Getting What You’re Worth Here's the exciting part-negotiating for your salary. This can be one of the most difficult segments of your job search only if you are unprepared. The good news about entry-level paralegal positions is that, at this writing, starting salaries are anywhere from $16,000 to $25,000 per year, depending on type of firm, region of the country, specialty and your work history.... (261 views)
When a Legal Professional is Called for an Interview in another City On many interviewing trips, you exist in a city for three days with no focus but the interviews and not much energy in the evenings. This condition is accentuated if the city holds no acquaintances of yours. Because interviewing and traveling exhaust the hardiest applicants, evenings consist often of dinner and sleep. More difficult to fill are long afternoons without an... (10 views)
The First Impression of a Legal Professional The following topics-attitude, clothing, speech, and the general "initial impression" constitute basic elements of the concept, appearance. (159 views)
Interviewing Styles and Tough Questions An interviewee who is alert enough to ascertain the interviewer's approach to the process can "key" on the interviewer in phrasing answers to questions. Differences in personality account for some differences in interviewing style. Although the following synopsis is an oversimplification, it may be useful to think about interviewers in terms of a number of distinct... (20 views)
How Lawyers Can Cope With Rejection in Interviews You have spent the weeks following your office visit in a state of anxious anticipation. Then, one day the mail brings a law firm envelope. Instead of seeing the words of welcome that you expected, it begins with the conciliatory "We certainly enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with you. Unfortunately..." Suddenly, you are aware that your job search is not over yet. (357 views)
Preparation for an On-Campus Interview with a Law Firm The first step you have to take for attending interviews on campus is to know how to write a cover letter and resume. Research law firms by speaking to practicing attorneys, using resources such as firm literature, and reading up on associate satisfaction. This research will help prepare for your interviews. (107 views)
What to Expect in an In-House Law Firm 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. (1497 views)
Preparing for a Non-Legal Job Interview The research you have completed on the career areas you are interested in, combined with the informational interviews you have conducted with professionals in the field, will enhance your preparation and control in an interview setting. Before you meet with the non-legal employer you should complete the following steps: (283 views)