In-House Interview Advice? Forum

[Raima]

I have an interview coming up with in-house counsel. I don't know how in-house interviewing works, but believe this is just the equivalent of a law firm screener, and assume that there will be a second interview at some point if this one goes well. Is this assumption correct?

Also, does anyone have experience with interviewing for an in-house position, and any advice to go along with it? Similar to a law firm interview, or different sorts of questions? Will they ask, why in-house? (I am trying to think of a good, strong answer for this question, and would also appreciate any leads in the right direction!)

Thank you in advance!

[piccolittle]

I have an interview coming up with in-house counsel. I don't know how in-house interviewing works, but believe this is just the equivalent of a law firm screener, and assume that there will be a second interview at some point if this one goes well. Is this assumption correct?

Also, does anyone have experience with interviewing for an in-house position, and any advice to go along with it? Similar to a law firm interview, or different sorts of questions? Will they ask, why in-house? (I am trying to think of a good, strong answer for this question, and would also appreciate any leads in the right direction!)

Thank you in advance!

Have you interviewed for any other job before? It's like that. Do make sure you have a narrative for why you want to do in-house work at this point (is it for a semester internship?). But generally it should be "get to know you" kind of questions. There may or may not be another round of interviews.

[Bronte]

The main difference is that you're interviewing to work at a company that has a unique identity rather than a law firm that represents a diversity of clients. The question is not going to be "why in-house?" The question is going to be "why Hewlett-Packard?" or "why General Motors?"

[Anonymous User]

I summered in the legal department of a large corporation. The interview was more intense than any of my law firm interviews. It was a behavioral interview, as the screener let me know beforehand, so I studied up on those types of questions and thought of answers. The focus of the interview was much more on personality/fit than whether I knew much about the company's products. I would recommend gathering as much intel as you can on the company's interviewing style. glassdoor.com posts some of this info under "interviews."

[rylo31]

I summered in the legal department of a large corporation. The interview was more intense than any of my law firm interviews. It was a behavioral interview, as the screener let me know beforehand, so I studied up on those types of questions and thought of answers. The focus of the interview was much more on personality/fit than whether I knew much about the company's products. I would recommend gathering as much intel as you can on the company's interviewing style. glassdoor.com posts some of this info under "interviews."

This is true. Expect questions like "tell me a time when X happened, and how you handled it," or "what is your biggest success/failure?" Knowledge of the company is important, but many corporations have a canned list of behavioral questions that interviewers must ask.

[Raima]

Thanks all! Situational/behavioral questions are the best - I used to ask the same stupid kinds in interviews as part of my pre-law-school job.

For those with experience in house, how did you like it? Would you go back to an in-house job if given the opportunity?

[Anonymous User]

Working in house was a lot of fun, but I ultimately turned down my permanent offer because my spouse hated the midwestern company HQ city. In my short time working in house (6 weeks due to summer split), I got to travel to watch a deposition, worked on lots of advertising issues, researched issues for class action defense, and worked on some deals. It was a fast-paced environment, with an emphasis on good judgment and quick thinking rather than meticulous research/writing skills. I definitely recommend the experience.

[Anonymous User]

Working in house was a lot of fun, but I ultimately turned down my permanent offer because my spouse hated the midwestern company HQ city. In my short time working in house (6 weeks due to summer split), I got to travel to watch a deposition, worked on lots of advertising issues, researched issues for class action defense, and worked on some deals. It was a fast-paced environment, with an emphasis on good judgment and quick thinking rather than meticulous research/writing skills. I definitely recommend the experience.

Please PM me ASAP! I am interested in knowing which company this was, how you got the job, and how you landed a permanent offer. Thanks!

[Raima]

Thanks for the advice, all. Just wanted to return the favor and provide my experience:

Interviewed. It was very casual and somewhat conversational. No behavioral questions. I think they trusted my resume and my transcript, and really only wanted to see my personality (just like a firm interview). This was wholly unexpected, because company interviews I had been through prior to law school were more about the actual answer, than about solely the personality itself.

I tried to re-adjust to being more laid-back rather than buttoned-up, because I saw that the company style was laid-back once I got there. I absolutely loved the place. It was warm and friendly, and a real contrast to firm atmosphere. But this actually made me more nervous, because I liked it so much, and I ramble when I'm nervous, and I may have rambled on an overly-casual way, rather than gave the answers that I had spent days preparing. Yikes. We'll see, but not feeling too good about this one, lol.

I wish I had tried to get more insider information on the company itself. I probably would have learned ahead of time that it's a jeans-and-t-shirt type of headquarters; that their opinion is that if you made it through law school this far with a decent GPA and journal and all that jazz, they trust your work ethic enough to not pester you with odd behavioral questions or personal attacks on your resume lines; and that they want friendly, earnest employees, even in their legal department.

That is all. Thanks again everyone!

[Anonymous User]

I would really interested in finding out how you got this interview and how you knew where to look.

[Lasers]

are you guys talking about 1L summer, 2L summer, work during the semester, or post-graduate/full-time in-house work?