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Good morning, forum. Yesterday I got a phone call to schedule my first SA interview! The firm is Vinson & Elkins, which I'm extremely excited about because V&E is my top choice for post-graduation employment. I tried to run a search in the forum for "interview," but I didn't find any helpful threads. Please post your advice for the interview ITT, or post links that might help me out. Thanks. I just bought a new suit today. I'm so stoked. How should I prepare for the interview? What are your tips?

Don't choke. HTH.

(Seriously, though, good luck!)

If you have not done so, please find your CDO counsel and have one or more mock interviews. Also, ask your friends to interview you several times (as real as possible).

Come up with some short conversations and icebreakers. Outline answers to all the possible questions. Have your friend go over these questions and video you while you're answering. Review the video and correct major errors, content and behavior.

Repeat these until you're sick of interviews.

Word! In Austin? Would be nice to stay after graduation

if you have the time, have your suit tailored. a suit off the rack may fit, but it often looks exactly like it was off the rack. tailoring the suit will help big time.

remember, eye contact while you speak, hands need to controlled (no excessive gestures while talking and no fidgeting). there a ton of interview books out there, free or $. go through a few of them and read the questions that you're most likely to be asked. it has been a huge help for me in the past to have planned responses to questions like, "what is your personality and how do you see it integrating into small team dynamics?" and the ever popular "what is your greatest weakness?"

NatSec wrote:if you have the time, have your suit tailored. a suit off the rack may fit, but it often looks exactly like it was off the rack. tailoring the suit will help big time.

remember, eye contact while you speak, hands need to controlled (no excessive gestures while talking and no fidgeting). there a ton of interview books out there, free or $. go through a few of them and read the questions that you're most likely to be asked. it has been a huge help for me in the past to have planned responses to questions like, "what is your personality and how do you see it integrating into small team dynamics?" and the ever popular "what is your greatest weakness?"

Thanks for the tips. I had the suit tailored. They normally don't do it so fast, but I explained to the guy how I had this interview on short notice, and he put mine at the front of the line.

One thing I've learned through interviewing in undergrad is to always have a long list of potential questions to ask employers. Usually you will only be able to ask 2-3 questions at the end of the interview, but you never know. I typically prepare 7-10 in case (1) the interview allots a large amount of time to questions, (2) some of your original questions were already answered during earlier portion of the interview.

Make sure the questions are not things that can be easily answered by looking on their website. I usually ask a few about specifics of the internship program, some about the employer itself, and then some about the interviewer's personal experiences at the employer.

Good luck!

JazzOne wrote:Thanks for the tips. I had the suit tailored. They normally don't do it so fast, but I explained to the guy how I had this interview on short notice, and he put mine at the front of the line.

Wow, lucky bastard. When I mentioned I needed a suit tailored quick, they said "sure" and then charged me double as an express fee.

vanwinkle wrote:

JazzOne wrote:Thanks for the tips. I had the suit tailored. They normally don't do it so fast, but I explained to the guy how I had this interview on short notice, and he put mine at the front of the line.

Wow, lucky bastard. When I mentioned I needed a suit tailored quick, they said "sure" and then charged me double as an express fee.

I did get lucky with that purchase. At first the salesman was trying to show me $600 suits. Then I explained to him that I was a student, and he started showing me some less expensive suits. I didn't go cheap, but I appreciated the fact that he understood my situation and got the tailoring done so quickly. I noticed on the receipt that he didn't charge me full price for the belt either, and he didnt make a big deal about mentioning that he was giving me a discount.

Congratulations!!

That's awesome that you've got the interview with the firm you want to work for.

The advice so far has been excellent in terms of preparing yourself for the interviewing environment, but I would add one thing: be yourself. Do all the practice and preparation, but be relaxed and open to conversation. Most firms do want to get to know you a little bit, since in the long run, they are looking for complete people to join their firm.

Good luck!

Just relax. My experience is that these interviews are no big deal, so you should just be yourself. Don't be afraid to ask questions....in general, just treat it like a normal job interview--sell yourself, but be genuine. In a lot of ways, these interviews are geared towards answering the simple question of whether they feel like they could stomach having you around the office for 12 hours a day, so treat it like that. They know that you're intellectually up to the work (combination of the fact that the work is not difficult and that you have a high class rank), so the real question is just about personality. Not as much of a problem for you, but also be sure to talk about why you'd like to settle with them long-term.

Also, which V+E office is this?

heyguys wrote:Just relax. My experience is that these interviews are no big deal, so you should just be yourself. Don't be afraid to ask questions....in general, just treat it like a normal job interview--sell yourself, but be genuine. In a lot of ways, these interviews are geared towards answering the simple question of whether they feel like they could stomach having you around the office for 12 hours a day, so treat it like that. They know that you're intellectually up to the work (combination of the fact that the work is not difficult and that you have a high class rank), so the real question is just about personality. Not as much of a problem for you, but also be sure to talk about why you'd like to settle with them long-term.

Also, which V+E office is this?

Thanks for the tips. It's the Houston office. I did a mock interview yesterday, and my career counselor told me some of the same things you just did. The interview is today. I'll update when I have a decision.

Don't be weird, and +1 to the tailored suit. And as hard as it might seem, be yourself, and think about it as "this firm has to convince me to join them." Of course, thats not true, but its a mindset. It will help you sound natural, and not like a kiss-ass, which everybody hates.

how did the interview go?

NatSec wrote:how did the interview go?

The interview went extremely well, but the interviewers were up front about the fact that there are very few jobs for 1Ls. I interviewed the day after with Baker Botts, but I haven't heard back from them. We have a 1L OCI coming up (bidding this week), so hopefully I'll get a few more interviews. I'm taking a big gamble, and I've decided not to apply for any judicial internships. I want to do firm work all summer, and I don't want to commit even half the summer to an unpaid gig. Come on aces!