Thorny Interview Question Forum

[Matthies]

Okay, so now that we're all in agreement that OP has nothing to worry about and probably just wanted to brag about that 4.0, can we make something constructive happen here? What are some interview questions that actually are potential pitfalls?

Tell me about yourself.

I'm 5'8, short black hair, hazel eyes, athletic build. I like hanging out with friends and I love playing sports. And I'm just looking for a woman I can have fun with but can also that will let me dress up in her cloaths and get serious with me when the mood is right.

fixt

[Matthies]

Sadly i didnt get to quite rajesh88's little bit about interviewing with TI and how hard that was and how smart he is.. oh well..

THIS is a thorny question in the legal industry?

It'll be kinda arrogant if I inform you that the TI question wasn't really "hard" for any self-respecting electrical engineer

i'd like to meet one of those, but I try to aviod going into a 40 yo strager's mother's basement.

[yinz]

Okay, so now that we're all in agreement that OP has nothing to worry about and probably just wanted to brag about that 4.0, can we make something constructive happen here? What are some interview questions that actually are potential pitfalls?

Tell me about yourself.

I'm 5'8, short black hair,hazel eyes,athleticbuild. I like hanging out with friendsand I love playing sports. And I'm just looking for a woman I can have fun with but can also that will let me dress up in her cloaths and get serious with me when the mood is right.

fixt

fixtmoar.

[Patriot1208]

Tell me about yourself.

I'm 5'8, short black hair,hazel eyes,athleticbuild. I like hanging out with friendsand I love playing sports. And I'm just looking for a woman I can have fun with but can also that will let me dress up in her cloaths and get serious with me when the mood is right.

fixt

fixtmoar.

Wait, I have short black hazel eyes?

[ChewbaccaDefense]

A partner, after seeing that I had a 4.0 for the first semester, asked if I had to work hard for my grades. I answered honestly saying that I believe that I work very hard because law school is the most important thing in my life right now and I would rather overprepare for an exam and do well rather than underprepare and leave the exam feeling that I could have done better had I taken more time to prepare.

I'm wondering if by saying that I work very hard comes across as showing that I need to compensate for a lack of intelligence by working super hard and thus placing somewhat of a ceiling on the amount of production I could offer the firm or if it shows that I have the drive to excel in the law firm environment.

On the converse, would by saying that I don't work hard for my grades show untapped potential that would be desireable to the firm or come across as someone who is naturally lazy and unable to adapt to the work-a-holic lifestyle of BigLaw?

Your answer is fine and I'd find it hard to believe the interview would turn on it. However, you missed an opportunity. I would have responded along the lines of "I certainly wouldn't say my first semester was easy, but I think working smart, not hard is what produces the best results. In particular, doing x, y, and z."

[Matthies]

Some of my best work is really going unappreciated in this thread.

[Posner]

It seems like a lot of posters are missing the purpose of the interviewer's question.

The partner asked it to see if you were a pretentious jerk who was full of himself. No one gets a 4.0 without working hard for it. If you answered in any other way, it would have been a personality ding. That's it.

[Renzo]

You definitely need to make sure you craft a good answer on this one. You need to find a way to explain that 4.0 to interviewers, or it will be unemployment for you!

I'm an OL and this is one of my biggest concerns going into law school.

I'm actually going to shoot for a 3.8 or 3.9 so I can say, "Well I worked really hard, but I feel like I have some upward potential. I left a few issues hanging on the one exam and it hurt me."

I think i good response to 4.0 question is Well i worked pretty hard for that 4.0, as you know i got a high ranked school, so our cruve is pretty burtal, 3.99 out of a 4.0, so bovisoluy I'm just better at the law than most of my classmates to look at the interviewer like he's a dunce and say, "of course not. I cheated."

[berkcol]

nobody's going to ask you this question

[Hey-O]

legal interviews are personality tests, all lawyers have really obnoxious personalities, they're not trying to figure out anything about your competence - like they do in engineering interviews, they're trying to figure out if they can stand being around you during firm outings. They'll figure out if you're a good enough lawyer by using economic proxies like your grades, where you went to school, etc. etc, and during your summer associate stint.

See, the interviewing challenge isn't to rise above and beyond - just try to curb your inner jerk for 15 minutes during the screening interview, and 3 hours for the callback. You're competing with a bunch of low-life personalities (other law students), the task ISN'T THAT HARD. Take an acting class.

I'm a 0L but I think this is true. I'm kind of excited about law school hiring, because in the real world my personality is not that awesome. But people in LS are dicks (at least many, many, many on this forum) and so my mediocre personality is now an asset. Better mediocre than annoying.

[Lawrence]

nobody's going to ask you this question

It seems like everyone asks this question in one form or another. I was in the top 5% after my first semester, and every interview I had started with something along the lines of "Wow...you did really well...so how did you do it?"

[berkcol]

don't work for dumbasses who ask you how to do well in law school, they're probably trying to figure out what they did wrong anyway

[dresden doll]

I think i good response to 4.0 question is Well i worked pretty hard for that 4.0, as you know i got a high ranked school, so our cruve is pretty burtal, 3.99 out of a 4.0, so bovisoluy I'm just better at the law than most of my classmates to look at the interviewer like he's a dunce and say, "of course not. I cheated."

This is the credited response. We can now end the discussion.