Do you have any questions for me? Forum

[Anonymous User]

What are some good and genuine questions to ask your interviewer? I know they should be organic and come from the conversation itself, but what are some questions to have in your back pocket?

[kaiser]

What are some good and genuine questions to ask your interviewer? I know they should be organic and come from the conversation itself, but what are some questions to have in your back pocket?

The best "back pocket" questions are ones that don't yield info that could be found on the website (which you never want to ask). For example "what made you choose X firm?" "What do you think most distinguishes your firm from others?" "Can you speak to the culture? How willing are people to offer informal mentorship and guidance?" Or you could ask about the interviewer's practice area and how he/she got into that area. Especially good question if you are considering the same area.

[emciosn]

I had trouble with this too, so I kept a running list on my phone of good questions suggested on TLS and from other sources. One general piece of advice I got, which I think is good, is to avoid quality of life questions, especially at the screener stage. Stuff like hours worked, vacation time, face time etc. I think it makes you look a little weak right off the bat. I think that "describe your typical day" sort of falls in that category too and is generally kind of a crappy question because they almost always answer "Well, no day is really typical..." Anyway, here are some questions that I like:

How would you describe your firm culture? What are you looking for from candidates in terms of fit?

What is your favorite thing about working at Firm X? What is the thing that surprised you most? (Avoid the negative "What is your least favorite...?")

What sort of projects are common for juniors in your practice area? What are some recent projects you have given to juniors?

What factors did you consider when choosing firms and what led you to Firm X? Why did you choose Practice Group X?

Describe the firm's formal/informal training programs--are they effective/valuable in your view?

What qualities make a successful associate?

What are areas you see for firm/practice group business development and growth?


Just a few of the ones that worked for me. All stuff I genuinely wanted to know and I think came across as genuine. Some partners loved the business development/growth question, which would sort of launch its own discussion. It works better if you are targeting a specific practice group of which the partner is a member (so may be better for the callback stage?). You should know enough about industry trends to participate meaningfully in that discussion if you ask the question, though.

[whats an updog]

In addition to the above, which I think are all good questions, one that has been successful so far for me is:

I've heard that it's important to find a mentor as an attorney starting out. Did you find that to be true and how did you go about finding one that was right for you?

I have not found an attorney yet who will disagree and it usually leads to a story about how they got started at the firm, what niche they fell into, and opens up a natural path to more questions. This may be a more casual question though and especially targeted towards associates rather than partners.

[Anonymous User]

say you don't get that question until the last minute or two of your interview time. if you could only ask the interviewer one question, what is one you always think should be asked? or is this just going to depend too much on the progress of your interview thus far?

[RaceJudicata]

Ask questions that lend themselves to a story/long winded explanation, rather than a yes or no, people love to talk about themselves.

[Phil Brooks]

Respectfully, all of the above questions are still generic. Good questions reflect your knowledge of the firm, and the interviewer.

I.e. "Alvin Simon Theodore LLP has a very small office in DC. How does this affect the types of tasks that a Junior Associate will typically do?"

Better questions reflect even more specific knowledge of the firm, and demonstrate your research into the firm.

i.e. "Alvin Simon Theodore LLP has offices all over the world, and I know from my conversations with X current Associate that he frequently works with the Shanghai office on transactional matters. Is this felt in a practice area like yours (i.e. bankruptcy) that is seemingly purely domestic?"

[kaiser]

Ask questions that lend themselves to a story/long winded explanation, rather than a yes or no, people love to talk about themselves.

I once had an interview where the guy only had me ask him questions. I sat down, he looked at me and said "you have a great resume and great credentials, so nothing I really need to ask you about there. What questions do you have for me?" And when his answer would conclude, he would say "what other questions do you have?" I only had about 3 questions in my head for this guy, so I would have liked to have more back pocket Q's since I had to draw it out for 20 min and think on the fly.

[jchiles]

My most successful interviews were ones where, for reasons specific to the attorney or the firm, I had genuine, specific questions, or where I didn't have any questions and just said "actually no, I don't have any questions."

I'm not pretending that's a great strategy but it felt a lot better then when I made up bogus, generic questions.

[Slytherpuff]

Check out the firm website, Vault, Chambers Associate, etc. and consider asking questions about some new changes in the firm, if any. Maybe your target practice group just had an influx of new partners, maybe there's a new firm head - just ask about that conversationally. And beyond that, get your interviewer talking about themselves!

If you only have time for one question, maybe ask about firm culture and fit. Especially if you can ask it in a genuine way that shows that you are a fun, down-to-earth person that the interviewer would like to spend time with inside and outside of the office. Other people might have better insight on the "only time for one question" issue though!

[emciosn]

Respectfully, all of the above questions are still generic. Good questions reflect your knowledge of the firm, and the interviewer.

I.e. "Alvin Simon Theodore LLP has a very small office in DC. How does this affect the types of tasks that a Junior Associate will typically do?"

Better questions reflect even more specific knowledge of the firm, and demonstrate your research into the firm.

i.e. "Alvin Simon Theodore LLP has offices all over the world, and I know from my conversations with X current Associate that he frequently works with the Shanghai office on transactional matters. Is this felt in a practice area like yours (i.e. bankruptcy) that is seemingly purely domestic?"

Generally, I agree that it is important to demonstrate your knowledge of the firm throughout the interview, but make sure it comes up organically. The questions I suggested are all things that I wanted to know about a firm--and that I think most interviewees would want to know about prospective firms. These are sort of unavoidably generic sounding questions. If there are ways to mold questions to sound more firm specific, then by all means do it (the small office line above is a good example). Even something like "I have heard [...] about Firm X. Have you found that to be true?" can be an effective/conversation provoking. Just make sure that it does not come off as contrived and that you are asking questions that you really are interested in the answers to. I think interviewers can tell if your interest is genuine and it is more likely to lead to a substantial conversation.

[Phil Brooks]

Completely agree with emciosn.

[BigZuck]

Completely agree with emciosn.

+1