Callback Advice Forum

[Anonymous User]

At lunch during CB, are hand held foods (wrap/sandwich/etc.) a no go?

[Anonymous User]

Are behavioral interview questions still asked at the CB stage?

[5ky]

Are behavioral interview questions still asked at the CB stage?

I never had any

[Anonymous User]

Are behavioral interview questions still asked at the CB stage?

I never had any

I've only been on two callbacks, and I have been asked two behavioral questions... I wasn't prepared and it went awful. So just know they might be coming.

[monsterman]

What the hell kind of behavioral questions did they ask?

Edit Accidental anon. It's monsterman

[Anonymous User]

What the hell kind of behavioral questions did they ask?

Edit Accidental anon. It's monsterman

1. Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work
2. Tell me about a time you used a creative solution to solve a problem (or something like that, don't really remember anything except sounding stupid for 2 minutes afterwards)

[monsterman]

What the hell kind of behavioral questions did they ask?

Edit Accidental anon. It's monsterman

1. Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work
2. Tell me about a time you used a creative solution to solve a problem (or something like that, don't really remember anything except sounding stupid for 2 minutes afterwards)

Woof. I get it at the screener stage but I really thought callbacks were free of that

[Anonymous User]

At a CB today i had two interviewers ask me behavioral q's (and i wasn't really prepared)
One was tell me about a time you were a leader and a time you worked as a team
the other was tell me about something thats hard for you. i gave a response about something i had improved on but he wanted something that I hadn't improved on. Don't think i answered very well.

[5ky]

Are behavioral interview questions still asked at the CB stage?

I never had any

I've only been on two callbacks, and I have been asked two behavioral questions... I wasn't prepared and it went awful. So just know they might be coming.

i have two callbacks tomorrow (as an interviewer) -- i've never asked behavioral questions before but maybe i'll toss in a few tomorrow, see who is really prepared.

[WestWingWatcher]

Are behavioral interview questions still asked at the CB stage?

I never had any

I've only been on two callbacks, and I have been asked two behavioral questions... I wasn't prepared and it went awful. So just know they might be coming.

i have two callbacks tomorrow (as an interviewer) -- i've never asked behavioral questions before but maybe i'll toss in a few tomorrow, see who is really prepared.

For the love of god no. For the most part, I feel like behavioral questions favor the worst time of people–those who will just lie and make up a story on the spot to make themselves sound good. I am also particularly bad at them because I have the worst memory ever when it comes to day-to-day happenings, and so being forced to recall any sort of meaningful situation from my past is pretty near impossible (as in I know this is my weakness, so I spend a lot of time outside of interview situations trying to think of situations that would work for these questions, and continuously come up short)

[Ken Kesey]

Are behavioral interview questions still asked at the CB stage?

I never had any

I've only been on two callbacks, and I have been asked two behavioral questions... I wasn't prepared and it went awful. So just know they might be coming.

i have two callbacks tomorrow (as an interviewer) -- i've never asked behavioral questions before but maybe i'll toss in a few tomorrow, see who is really prepared.

For the love of god no. For the most part, I feel like behavioral questions favor the worst time of people–those who will just lie and make up a story on the spot to make themselves sound good. I am also particularly bad at them because I have the worst memory ever when it comes to day-to-day happenings, and so being forced to recall any sort of meaningful situation from my past is pretty near impossible (as in I know this is my weakness, so I spend a lot of time outside of interview situations trying to think of situations that would work for these questions, and continuously come up short)

I completely second WestWingWatcher. Behavioral interview questions are so Fortune 500 Corporate drone mentality. (Generally). I think the best way to do it, is to focus the question on the current topic being discussed instead of a non-focused general questions about a time when X happened. I was at a callback on Monday and I think the interviewer did really well to focus behavioral questions on the topic at hand. For example, if you're talking about their summer clerkship, pop a behavioral question specific to that clerkship experience. That way the candidate is already on the mental track of thinking of all things they did during their clerkship. That way the candidate doesn't have to try to scan his/her memorry banks of his/her entire life to come up with something quick enough to not have a long awkward pause.

My 2 cents.

[ManoftheHour]

Tag

[Anonymous User]

I love how after all the work we put into law school it comes down to be able to bullshit your interviewer about that time you overcame a challenge.

I mean, I guess we are lawyers, after all.

[Anonymous User]

Non-NY V-10 associate here. I am just about finished with this year's round of callback interviews, and just a few pointers :

-Social skills mean something. You don't have to be a great conversationalist, which could actually hurt you, but you need to be able to follow the flow of the conversation. A few candidates had obviously rehearsed their selling points and felt like they needed to get them in instead of just engaging in the conversation. They didn't get positive reviews from me, as it is not common for a candidates selling points to match what I am looking for. Also, if you speak so long that the interviewer isn't able to come up with additional questions then you have gone from conversation to lecture. The interview will likely end quickly.

-Don't do overkill on learning about the firm. It is nice to hear people who know where I went to school and what my practice is, but knowing random facts about other lawyers at the firm makes me wonder if they have too much time on their hands. Try to humbly look like a candidate that we would have to compete for.

-Don't try to be an expert. We expect you to know nothing about firm life or about being an attorney. Making authoritative statements about what a practice is like or trends in the market can be risky, but asking questions and engaging in meaningful conversations about these items is a big plus for me. (Not being in NY I am always concerned about candidates' long term interest in the region and having some understanding about the market is a good way to show it).

-Don't exaggerate your skills/abilities. One guy got dinged because he bragged about his confidence in a language but was grilled by someone who actually spoke it. There is no shame in not being perfect at something (interests often just show a desire to improve), but don't risk not being upfront about your strengths, especially if they could be relevant to your work. I recently recommended someone for an offer whose resume said she spoke basic non-conversational French. We didn't talk about it and I didn't care.

-Finally, be mature. As lawyers we spend a lot of time helping sophisticated clients solve "complex" problems. If you act like a starry-eyed child, or just a spoiled undergrad, we aren't going to have any confidence in putting you in front of a client.

These are just some big issues/pet peeves I notice at the callback stage, since candidates have already proven they meet the minimum requirements of employability for our firm via screeners. Take this with a grain of salt too, as I am just one interviewer at one firm.

[tyrant_flycatcher]

Non-NY V-10 associate here. I am just about finished with this year's round of callback interviews, and just a few pointers :

-Social skills mean something. You don't have to be a great conversationalist, which could actually hurt you

How could that hurt you?

[Anonymous User]

Non-NY V-10 associate here. I am just about finished with this year's round of callback interviews, and just a few pointers :

-Social skills mean something. You don't have to be a great conversationalist, which could actually hurt you

How could that hurt you?

Talking too much, which I know doesn't make one a great conversationalist but can be mistaken as such, and taking over a conversation. I don't usually have a strict agenda for my interviews, but there are a few key resume points I usually want to clarify. If we engage in a pleasant 30 minute conversation but don't hit on those points I may lose a basis of comparison.

Contrary to popular belief, there is more to a callback interview than just chewing the fat (at least for me). Anecdotally, I had one interview where the candidate took over and led a really good discussion about a lot of topics. He seemed like the kind of person I could be friends with. Unfortunately our office has a limited number of spots, so not being able to clarify a few resume points with him was harmful to his candidacy.

I know every interviewer is different, and some do just want to chat, but you should be completely sure of that before taking over.

[Anonymous User]

Anon Interviewer: What are your thoughts on thank you's? I know this one has been debated back and forth. Thoughts?

[Anonymous User]

Non-NY V-10 associate here. I am just about finished with this year's round of callback interviews, and just a few pointers:

-Social skills mean something. You don't have to be a great conversationalist, which could actually hurt you, but you need to be able to follow the flow of the conversation. A few candidates had obviously rehearsed their selling points and felt like they needed to get them in instead of just engaging in the conversation. They didn't get positive reviews from me, as it is not common for a candidates selling points to match what I am looking for. Also, if you speak so long that the interviewer isn't able to come up with additional questions then you have gone from conversation to lecture. The interview will likely end quickly.

Anon, have you ever dinged someone based on their lack of "engaging the interviewer"? If so, could you add more color as to what that phrase means from your perspective?

Thank you.

[Anonymous User]

Non-NY V-10 associate here. I am just about finished with this year's round of callback interviews, and just a few pointers:

-Social skills mean something. You don't have to be a great conversationalist, which could actually hurt you, but you need to be able to follow the flow of the conversation. A few candidates had obviously rehearsed their selling points and felt like they needed to get them in instead of just engaging in the conversation. They didn't get positive reviews from me, as it is not common for a candidates selling points to match what I am looking for. Also, if you speak so long that the interviewer isn't able to come up with additional questions then you have gone from conversation to lecture. The interview will likely end quickly.

Anon, have you ever dinged someone based on their lack of "engaging the interviewer"? If so, could you add more color as to what that phrase means from your perspective?

Thank you.

First of all, I don't ding anyone. I write my evaluation/recommendation and someone else makes the decision, likely more persuaded by partner evaluations than mine if there is a big conflict.

That said, I have given bad evaluations to people who failed to engage me. One recent example was someone who had clearly spent a lot of time thinking about what he thought were his strong selling points. He twisted every question I asked into a chance to go through his agenda, which included his "incredible" business development skills and other strengths. He certainly made his point, but he got a recommendation for no offer. You could point to a number of issues with his approach, but most would have been resolved if he just focused on the conversation instead of his agenda. The interviewer's agenda is the only one that matters.

I know students read these things and think it sounds like it lacks substance. Frankly, anybody who gets to the callback stage has the intellectual ability to do the work, but I'm at the point in my career when (i) I know what type of people I like to work with and (ii) incoming associates will very likely be on my deals. I've recommended offers to people with a wide variety of personalities, but they generally tended to be people who took a middle of the road approach to interviewing. I could easily see myself working with them, regardless of whether their personality or world views meshed with mine, because they adapted well to my interview style.

Again, this is just one person's approach to interviews, but I think my advice is safe. I am fully aware that people's hard earned futures are in my hands when going through the process, so I try to give nervous students the benefit of the doubt, but when you only have a limited number of spots to offer you become very picky about who you take.

[Anonymous User]

First of all, I don't ding anyone. I write my evaluation/recommendation and someone else makes the decision, likely more persuaded by partner evaluations than mine if there is a big conflict.

That said, I have given bad evaluations to people who failed to engage me. One recent example was someone who had clearly spent a lot of time thinking about what he thought were his strong selling points. He twisted every question I asked into a chance to go through his agenda, which included his "incredible" business development skills and other strengths. He certainly made his point, but he got a recommendation for no offer. You could point to a number of issues with his approach, but most would have been resolved if he just focused on the conversation instead of his agenda. The interviewer's agenda is the only one that matters.

I know students read these things and think it sounds like it lacks substance. Frankly, anybody who gets to the callback stage has the intellectual ability to do the work, but I'm at the point in my career when (i) I know what type of people I like to work with and (ii) incoming associates will very likely be on my deals. I've recommended offers to people with a wide variety of personalities, but they generally tended to be people who took a middle of the road approach to interviewing. I could easily see myself working with them, regardless of whether their personality or world views meshed with mine, because they adapted well to my interview style.

Again, this is just one person's approach to interviews, but I think my advice is safe. I am fully aware that people's hard earned futures are in my hands when going through the process, so I try to give nervous students the benefit of the doubt, but when you only have a limited number of spots to offer you become very picky about who you take.

Thank you. This was helpful.

[Anonymous User]

For the Interviewing anon: How much knowledge of the firm and practices and desired practice group do you want to see in an interviewee?

[Anonymous User]

So, this may sound overly paranoid and neurotic: I scheduled a callback with a firm. A friend of mine scheduled one with the same firm, but scheduled it a few days after I scheduled mine. Nevertheless, he managed to get an earlier date than me. Now, I assume that's because maybe he just caught them during a better opening. I'm worried now that maybe I'm a lesser priority for the firm than some others perhaps. Is this just being neurotic or do firms do this?

[wwwcol]

So, this may sound overly paranoid and neurotic: I scheduled a callback with a firm. A friend of mine scheduled one with the same firm, but scheduled it a few days after I scheduled mine. Nevertheless, he managed to get an earlier date than me. Now, I assume that's because maybe he just caught them during a better opening. I'm worried now that maybe I'm a lesser priority for the firm than some others perhaps. Is this just being neurotic or do firms do this?

Stop being neurotic

And even if you were a lesser priority, how would that knowledge change your behavior? Just go in and crush your CB and you'll be good

[Anonymous User]

For the Interviewing anon: How much knowledge of the firm and practices and desired practice group do you want to see in an interviewee?

Interviewing anon here: On this point I'm somewhat indifferent. I really don't expect anyone to know much about actual practice, and I'm pretty fair on this point. I often ask what area a candidate is interested in (again, it's a 50 person office so I need to know if they're going to find what they're looking for here) but I don't take any points off if they can't give a good answer for why. If they can give a general, even non-practice related reason, of why they want to do something I am happy with that. It's much better to do that than to fake it and be wrong.

As to firm knowledge, I would expect a candidate to know where I went to school, what my practice group is, and to have read our recruiting materials. You should be able to give a basic "why firm x" pitch at any moment without any trouble. I don't think it is helpful to have a Google alert set up to catch all the latest firm news. I'm proud of work done by my colleagues in other offices that make the news, but their work is not a good talking point with me. I just don't know any of the details to make it worth discussing.

[Anonymous User]

Thought my CB went very well. Was 48 hours ago. Haven't received an offer yet but I know of someone who interviewed at the same time who did. Am I out of the running?