Top Law Schools

interview today. i blank out, could hardly answer the question about what my memo was on. was so thirst all i could think about was a huge bottle of water. there is something wrong with me. !!!! Have another one later this week, joy!

Also, if you already asked a couple of questions. And they say ok do you have any more questions? I feel so awkward saying no. Today i said "no i think i got it". what an asshole..

hanging myself bye

lolwut

Interpersonal skills and adequate planning/prep, FTL. Did you ever consider doing a mock interview before the real thing?

OP, you should really consider having a drink before hand. A sip of one at least. It would loosen you up and verbally let you relax some. I'm not saying get wasted, but it can help.

And I'm being completely serious FYI.

Always have questions. Do your research before, and tailor the questions to the firm/company/whatever. You can even tailor the questions to the specific interviewer. Many firms have online bios and you can also look on LinkedIn.

Have a couple prepared answers to those typical interview questions (strengths/weakenesses/why this company/why law/etc). You can have notes and you can take notes.

Prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance.

Good luck on your future interviews!

Always have questions unless you have a pretty informal interview where you're asking questions as you go along. A favorite one of mine is "what kind of work will I start out doing if hired?" Also: "when can I expect to hear back?" Basically, anything that makes you sound excited about the opportunity. Also, research the firm and ask any questions about their practice areas they have listed. If a firm has employment law listed and you're interested in that area of law ask what percentage of their cases involve that practice area.

Lwoods wrote:Always have questions.

TITMFCR

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:

Lwoods wrote:Always have questions.

TITMFCR

yea, but what i asked was if the interview is pretty informal and you are asking questions throughout.. i had already asked a good 3 or 4 questions. at the end he said do you have any other questions. i just felt weird saying no.

Anonymous User wrote:interview today. i blank out, could hardly answer the question about what my memo was on. was so thirst all i could think about was a huge bottle of water. there is something wrong with me. !!!! Have another one later this week, joy!

Also, if you already asked a couple of questions. And they say ok do you have any more questions? I feel so awkward saying no. Today i said "no i think i got it". what an asshole..

hanging myself bye

I feel your pain. I use to suck at interviewing and lost a 2L gig to a girl who had all three of her interviewers laughing while I was waiting to go in.

You have to find someway to relax and become confident. It took me several sub-par interviews.

I'm a legal recruiter--one mistake I see candidates often make is not knowing your resume well enough. Not being ready to talk about yourself is a killer of confidence and creates a lot of anxiety. All I know about you is on that piece of paper, and you can bet that's where I'm going to start. Nothing is more painful for me to ask a candidate about a specific on the resume, and they can only talk about the item in vague terms.

Be prepared to talk a little bit about your background and your educational highlights, just a sentence to two of meaningful information. Be prepared to discuss each position or course, taking away something you learned, something you liked, how you grew from the experience. Those are great places to start. "I work for x firm, and it it was hard, but I liked it," doesn't tell me anything. "Well, I wasn't sure how I was going to like ABC Corporation, but it turns out that I loved it. Specifically, I had a great mentor who helped me with a really hard project where I did x, y ,z..., and we met the deadline with time to spare, and I decided that I really liked the line of work."

Think about your weaknesses, and how you've changed or what you've done to overcome them. Nothing too tragic or terrible (I've actually had candidates tell me, well, I hate doing x, when that's what they applied for!) Have one or two tangibles of projects that you're proud of, or where you accomplished something not expected of you. Genuine enthusiasm for who you are and what you've accomplished really helps. I've interviewed grads from T14 who don't give a good interview even though they have a strong resume because they just don't seem to care.

If you don't have questions, the best way to handle it is by thanking the interviewer, saying for the most part they've covered everything, and that if you think of a question, would it be okay to send an email. In a thank you email, it's a great place to add a question after the interview.

If you truly cannot answer the question, I recommend saying, "That's a great question--I want to do it justice and think on it. Can we come back to that?" Or, if you think you've flubbed, before the interview ends, revisit the topic. "Oh, and you just refreshed my memory regarding x. I did such and such..." That shows me you were paying attention and are still in the game.

Anyway, I hope this helps.