Horrible Interviewing Forum

[Anonymous User]

From the anecdotes you have heard of other students, are these people who interview terribly complete aspies, or people you can talk to casually but just bad at interviewing?

[romothesavior]

From the anecdotes you have heard of other students, are these people who interview terribly complete aspies, or people you can talk to casually but just bad at interviewing?

I think it varies. Sometimes you get your aspies, sometimes you get people who are just obvious dicks (arrogance or no filter or whatever), and sometimes you get people who are genuinely cool, easygoing, and laid back, but they just don't come across well in an interview for whatever reason. Maybe they get stiff during their interview, or they have poor body language or something. Also, being slovenly dressed is also a big dealbreaker for a lot of interviewers.

Why? What is the point of this thread?

[cinephile]

I remember one interview that I blew because I was asked what's my favorite thing about law school and I just sat there searching for some lie to tell and eventually I said, there is literally nothing I enjoy about law school.

So, be prepared for that question. I was asked that just the other day at my 1L summer internship, and I still couldn't think of an answer, so I just started giggling. I don't think that's a good response either.

[JamMasterJ]

From the anecdotes you have heard of other students, are these people who interview terribly complete aspies, or people you can talk to casually but just bad at interviewing?

I think it varies. Sometimes you get your aspies, sometimes you get people who are just obvious dicks (arrogance or no filter or whatever), and sometimes you get people who are genuinely cool, easygoing, and laid back, but they just don't come across well in an interview for whatever reason. Maybe they get stiff during their interview, or they have poor body language or something. Also, being slovenly dressed is also a big dealbreaker for a lot of interviewers.

Why? What is the point of this thread?

I know I'm not supposed to post in this forum yet, but this is generally an issue for me. What do you think are the best ways to get past that? A lot of practice interviews? A couple shots?

[lukertin]

most firm interviews are utterly useless to begin with

[romothesavior]

F7 has got it. Yes, there will be a few questions you'll want "canned answers that don't sound canned" for, but you really should treat it like a normal conversation where you try to just be yourself. Your professional self, but still yourself.

Also, practice interviews, ideally with actual attorneys involved in hiring.

[keg411]

From the anecdotes you have heard of other students, are these people who interview terribly complete aspies, or people you can talk to casually but just bad at interviewing?

I think it varies. Sometimes you get your aspies, sometimes you get people who are just obvious dicks (arrogance or no filter or whatever), and sometimes you get people who are genuinely cool, easygoing, and laid back, but they just don't come across well in an interview for whatever reason. Maybe they get stiff during their interview, or they have poor body language or something. Also, being slovenly dressed is also a big dealbreaker for a lot of interviewers.

Why? What is the point of this thread?

I know I'm not supposed to post in this forum yet, but this is generally an issue for me. What do you think are the best ways to get past that? A lot of practice interviews? A couple shots?

I'm like that. Try to do practice interviews with attorneys that have interviewed before and tell them to be super-blunt. I have a tendency to come across as anxious when I'm nervous, and it showed in my interviews and turned people off. I think hearing your flaws out loud helps a ton because then you know exactly what to work on. I was able to fix it enough to land something and I'm working on it again now that I'm here.

[Anonymous User]

From the anecdotes you have heard of other students, are these people who interview terribly complete aspies, or people you can talk to casually but just bad at interviewing?

I think it varies. Sometimes you get your aspies, sometimes you get people who are just obvious dicks (arrogance or no filter or whatever), and sometimes you get people who are genuinely cool, easygoing, and laid back, but they just don't come across well in an interview for whatever reason. Maybe they get stiff during their interview, or they have poor body language or something. Also, being slovenly dressed is also a big dealbreaker for a lot of interviewers.

Why? What is the point of this thread?

Thanks. I was curious about whether something like this qualifies as below average interviewing, or whether it is just terrible and will kill your shot at a job.

[abc12345675]

How do you "interview horribly?" I don't understand, you're just having a conversation with another human being.

[keg411]

From the anecdotes you have heard of other students, are these people who interview terribly complete aspies, or people you can talk to casually but just bad at interviewing?

I think it varies. Sometimes you get your aspies, sometimes you get people who are just obvious dicks (arrogance or no filter or whatever), and sometimes you get people who are genuinely cool, easygoing, and laid back, but they just don't come across well in an interview for whatever reason. Maybe they get stiff during their interview, or they have poor body language or something. Also, being slovenly dressed is also a big dealbreaker for a lot of interviewers.

Why? What is the point of this thread?

Thanks. I was curious about whether something like this qualifies as below average interviewing, or whether it is just terrible and will kill your shot at a job.

If you have good enough grades to overcome it, it won't totally kill your shot at a job. But if you know you come across as unlikeable, you are better off figuring out WHY you come across as unlikeable and work on fixing it. Not just for OCI, but for life too.

How do you "interview horribly?" I don't understand, you're just having a conversation with another human being.

I thought this too and basically blew off any concerns since I had a job prior to law school and had done interviews before and never had a problem. I was so dead wrong that it wasn't even funny.

[Anonymous User]

How do you "interview horribly?" I don't understand, you're just having a conversation with another human being.

I'm pretty shy and often feel anxious when talking to strangers, so that can translate into awkwardness during interviews. I usually admit to it at the beginning though, and the interviewers have always been extremely kind to me in response. When I've ended up with a job offer, they usually comment about my honesty having been endearing to them and making me a more attractive candidate because of it.

[Renne Walker]

The other day a friend told me about her interview “goof.” An easily anticipated question, why do you want to work in NYC? “. . .the best place ever for Jimmy Choo shoes” (was meant to be funny, apparently not, given the icy stare of the interviewer).

I thought her response was humorous. When humor falls flat it can change the vibe of the entire interview. IMO: How you bounce back from an “opps” can make-or-break the deal.

[timbs4339]

Law firm screening interviews are really more of a "serial killer test" than anything else. People overanalyze them- "did I last 20 minutes? did I ask good questions? what does it mean when the partner gave me his card?"

In reality most of the callbacks will be decided based on grades/resume. If you are someone who really needs interview help then by this point you will know it based on your own social/personal history. Otherwise,

The best advice I can give (after doing about 50 screeners and half a dozen callbacks) is don't try to do too much. It's like speed-dating. You're not going to hit it off with everybody, but you don't want to be the guy who everyone else points to and says- wow, stay away from him. Some law firm partners are extremely introverted and it can be like talking to a brick wall.

If at all possible, think of two or three open-ended questions, something that won't let a particularly introverted or bored interviewer give a one-word answer.