Questions to Ask Interviewer Forum

[d373]

"So, anything I can tell you about the firm?"

I find this to be the most awkward part of the interview. You know its coming but suddenly every option seems problematic. Anything you actually want to know (hours, bonuses, problematic personalities), you probably should wait to ask until you have an offer. And you don't want to ask anything the internet could have told you (which is often a lot) because then it looks like you didn't do your homework. But anything safe and general sounds generic.

This along with "why us?" (can't say the truth: because you have jobs and I need one) Is my least favorite part of the interview.

So what do you ask that steers the conversation in a good direction and avoid the pitfalls of this part of the interview (especially god forbid if it happens 5 minutes in)?

[Anonymous User]

You don't have to literally ask about the firm basics, you can just ask, "I noticed you worked on XYZ..." and deflect and ask questions about the interviewer's own work. You can also just ask about any upcoming matters/projects that you could potentially be working on during the summer based on where any of their matters are in their life cycle.

[ilovesf]

Favorite kind of pizza

[HarrisonBarnes]

You generally want to show the firm that you are interested in them and the work. You absolutely need to ask questions during interviews--the more questions you ask the better off you will be. Questions show interest and eagerness--law firms want to hire the people that are most interested in them and the job. Asking questions will help you set yourself apart and show that you are interested in the position.

[BaiAilian2013]

When I ask if the interviewee has any questions, it's because I'm out of material. So I like when they ask about my practice area so we can run out the clock chatting about that. It's a decent gauge of their pleasant chat capabilities too.

[kyle1978]

I prefer an interviewee to ask me about what led me to the Agency/Firm, what I find most/least interesting about the job, or about the location

[Anonymous User]

One question that almost every single interviewer stopped and said “that’s a good question” was I’d ask about some of the specific projects they had summers working on the previous summer. I’d generally say “I’ve done some research about your summer program and know how it works generally, but I was interested in knowing more about some of the projects you had summers working on last year.”

If it’s a younger associate you can ask them about their experience so far, their experience as a summer at the firm (or ask if they even summered there), and what the biggest transition has been so far.

For partners or senior associates you can ask about how they picked or ended up in their practice group, what drew them to the particular firm, etc.