Should I contact lawyers before interviews? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I have a few interviews at a Minority Job Fair later this month. I've heard some people say that you should contact alumni at firms for informational interviews before the real one so you can have something to talk about and show interest. The firms I'm interviewing with are not in the city where I am working. Should I still contact them? Should I tell them that I have an interview with their firm. What questions should I ask. Should I just email them or see if I can get them to talk on the phone?

Btw this is for a 2L summer position.

Thanks

[Magic Hat]

Uhh no. That would be creepy and annoying.

If you are interviewing at a firm they are probably busy enough and pissed they have to take time out of their schedule (i.e. Getting lawyer stuff done for global capitalism) to interview. Don't make it worse on them.

[XxSpyKEx]

Uhh no. That would be creepy and annoying.

If you are interviewing at a firm they are probably busy enough and pissed they have to take time out of their schedule (i.e. Getting lawyer stuff done for global capitalism) to interview. Don't make it worse on them.

This is really terrible advice. Contacting alums from your law school can actually be really helpful. You'll be able to learn about the firm before your interview and demonstrate actual interest in the firm, which is something most people won't do (and something that'll give you a significant advantage over people like Magic Hat who won't take the time to do that).

When I've personally reached out to alums for informational interviews, I've found that I've gotten responses much more frequently when I mentioned that I'm interviewing with the firm. Any explanation I could provide for that would be purely speculative.

I'd email them and ask them if they could spare 10-15 minutes to talk to you (over the phone). That's probably your best bet for learning as much as you can from the person about the firm while not taking up a ton of his/her time.

Re: what to ask them- ask them things about the firm that you can't easily learn by visiting their website, Google, or the news. Your goal should be to learn about the firm, so that you can show that you did your homework and explain during the interview why you want to work there and how your knowledge, skills, and abilities will benefit the firm.

Edit: I'm not sure if Magic Hat thought you were going to be reaching out to the people who you will actually be interviewing with (it seems like that--I'm not sure why else it would be creepy to reach out to alums). Obviously, don't contact the actual interviewers unless you know them. Reach out to other alums from your law school who are working at the firm (ideally in the practice area that you want to go into).

[Magic Hat]

I misread the original post due to cracked iPhone screen and general malaise with life. I thought he was saying to contact the actual people who would be interviewing him/her, not alumni.

[yay]

I have a few interviews at a Minority Job Fair later this month. I've heard some people say that you should contact alumni at firms for informational interviews before the real one so you can have something to talk about and show interest. The firms I'm interviewing with are not in the city where I am working. Should I still contact them? Should I tell them that I have an interview with their firm. What questions should I ask. Should I just email them or see if I can get them to talk on the phone?

Btw this is for a 2L summer position.

Thanks

LEVERAGE YOUR ALUMNI. Seriously that's one good thing about going to college is that you can always reach out to them regardless of how old they are. If they don't wanna help you, fine, but their having gone to your school gives you the license to contact them for favor especially in situations like this. DO IT. Just do it tactfully and not overbearingly.

[Magic Hat]

I misread the original post due to cracked iPhone screen and general malaise with life. I thought he was saying to contact the actual people who would be interviewing him/her, not alumni.

by the way - was there an edit to this OP? I re-read it and to be honest it doesn't even seem to be remotely the same question that was originally asked. Granted I may have misread it but I seem to recall the question being very different.

[Anonymous User]

OP here

I didn't change the question.

[Magic Hat]

OP here

I didn't change the question.

Then I am losing my mind. Don't practice law.