Tips for interview at small patent boutique? Forum

[Anonymous User]

The patent firm (8 attys, 2 patent agents) invited me for a quick visit to its office for a panel interview. I already did a phone interview with 2 partners and 2 associates. And then I submitted a mock assignment. So I'm guessing I met their technical standards despite my "nontraditional" undergrad background (i.e., not EE/CS/physics), though they still want to discuss the assignment in person.

So what are the guidelines for small patent firm interviews (or in general)? I started a list here to see if anyone has comments or anything to add.

- Stay professional. Attire and attitude should be conservative. Smile and laugh depending on the situation? I tend to get suckered into their pace and loosen up too much.
- Bring copies of everything. I asked the assistant how many people I'll be interviewing with. When he responds I'll know how many to bring (n + 1)
- Thinking of buying a briefcase to carry all my papers and effects during the trip and appear professional. I'm going all out! Which one do you recommend out of these?
http://www.amazon.com/Kenneth-Cole-Reac ... 000WXMTV8/
http://www.amazon.com/Kenneth-Cole-Reac ... 004M1803W/
http://www.amazon.com/eBags-Laptop-Coll ... 004C11WVO/
http://www.amazon.com/eBags-Laptop-Coll ... 004C0XAYM/ (leaning toward this one based on functionality, weight, price)
- I can prepare for basic questions, but the phone interview barely touched on anything I prepared. I feel like I should just know myself and be confident rather than memorize scripts. Maybe.
- I don't know what to do with people who don't say anything at an interview with more than one person at a time. I try to bring them into the conversation, but I don't know if that's my place to do so.
- It's at 2 PM. Would it be too gimmicky to try to do something about afternoon fatigue? (invite them for coffee for example...but they probably have coffee in their office)

Anything else? I've been quite excited for this interview and the firm ever since I heard about the opening.

[MrProhibition]

The patent firm (8 attys, 2 patent agents) invited me for a quick visit to its office for a panel interview. I already did a phone interview with 2 partners and 2 associates. And then I submitted a mock assignment. So I'm guessing I met their technical standards despite my "nontraditional" undergrad background (i.e., not EE/CS/physics), though they still want to discuss the assignment in person.

So what are the guidelines for small patent firm interviews (or in general)? I started a list here to see if anyone has comments or anything to add.

- Stay professional. Attire and attitude should be conservative. Smile and laugh depending on the situation? I tend to get suckered into their pace and loosen up too much.
- Bring copies of everything. I asked the assistant how many people I'll be interviewing with. When he responds I'll know how many to bring (n + 1)
- Thinking of buying a briefcase to carry all my papers and effects during the trip and appear professional. I'm going all out! Which one do you recommend out of these?
http://www.amazon.com/Kenneth-Cole-Reac ... 000WXMTV8/
http://www.amazon.com/Kenneth-Cole-Reac ... 004M1803W/
http://www.amazon.com/eBags-Laptop-Coll ... 004C11WVO/
http://www.amazon.com/eBags-Laptop-Coll ... 004C0XAYM/ (leaning toward this one based on functionality, weight, price)
- I can prepare for basic questions, but the phone interview barely touched on anything I prepared. I feel like I should just know myself and be confident rather than memorize scripts. Maybe.
- I don't know what to do with people who don't say anything at an interview with more than one person at a time. I try to bring them into the conversation, but I don't know if that's my place to do so.
- It's at 2 PM. Would it be too gimmicky to try to do something about afternoon fatigue? (invite them for coffee for example...but they probably have coffee in their office)

Anything else? I've been quite excited for this interview and the firm ever since I heard about the opening.

I'd say you just need to relax... Canned answers and worrying about if they have coffee in their office is not something you should even care about. Sounds like they want to make sure you can talk through an assignment intelligently. You just need to make sure you know the assignment well and have a few points you can talk to each attorney about. I.E. "so I saw you went to ___, does that mean you are a ____ fan?" They also want to make sure they can stand talking to you on a more personal level.... And don't invite them for coffee. You can get coffee with them once you get the job