Biglaw Exit to Inhouse/Government Interview Question - Why are you leaving? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I have been very lucky (not even being humble here) to have landed a handful of inhouse interviews at various large companies. At each interview, I was asked generally why I was leaving biglaw and why I was applying to the inhouse role at their company.

This question really always tripped me up because I just can't think of a good, insightful answer that isn't a complete lie: I want to leave biglaw because... who wants that life long term? I don't want that life, never wanted to be a partner, and it was nothing more than just a stepping stone to get the maximum pay for a short period of time to have a better exit opportunity. And I am applying to your company because you're hiring and my experiences are loosely relevant. I feel like a high school student applying for a retail position not knowing anything.

Any advice on how to phrase things so that I don't sound like a colossal idiot?

[JudgeNiceGuy]

Think about why you don't want to be a partner--e.g., maybe you think business development sucks. Those reasons will often resonate with the in-house attorneys interviewing you. You could also mention that the their company presents a unique opportunity and focus your answer on the company and position itself.

[Anonymous User]

- You want to work somewhere where your efficiency and any innovation or time/cost-saving approaches would be rewarded rather than looked down upon as bad for business.

[CovidLurker]

Is it really that big of a deal to answer honestly and say "I want a better work-life balance. I'm a very hard worker and always willing to go above and beyond when needed, but I'd rather it not be needed 24/7."

Everyone knows why you're going in-house - does lying/spinning the truth really help? Genuine question as I've never done the in-house interviewing process, but I definitely don't want to work at a company where I have to play pretend when everyone already knows the truth. We do enough of that in biglaw already.

[CanadianWolf]

Is it really that big of a deal to answer honestly and say "I want a better work-life balance. I'm a very hard worker and always willing to go above and beyond when needed, but I'd rather it not be needed 24/7."

Everyone knows why you're going in-house - does lying/spinning the truth really help? Genuine question as I've never done the in-house interviewing process, but I definitely don't want to work at a company where I have to play pretend when everyone already knows the truth. We do enough of that in biglaw already.

[Anonymous User]

The stand answer is some variation of: You prefer to be in-house with one company so you can really know the business, know the people and be part of the team, rather than just be the outside help. As you make those connections internally and know the company better, you’ll be in a position to work with the team and provide better services, and it’s more fulfilling to be part of the company you’re helping. You also want to be part of the more strategic aspects of decisions and provide advice before it reaches the stage where you bring in outside counsel. If the company is in some field that interests you, you can talk about that, too.

[tyrant_flycatcher]

The stand answer is some variation of: You prefer to be in-house with one company so you can really know the business, know the people and be part of the team, rather than just be the outside help. As you make those connections internally and know the company better, you’ll be in a position to work with the team and provide better services, and it’s more fulfilling to be part of the company you’re helping. You also want to be part of the more strategic aspects of decisions and provide advice before it reaches the stage where you bring in outside counsel. If the company is in some field that interests you, you can talk about that, too.

This is on point.

[jotarokujo]

i think all of the above advice holds true for government too

[Anonymous User]

If you’re an ex-banker/ consultant/ engineer going to a related company, tell them you were always intending to come back. I’ve gotten positive feedback on this response and usually it led to a technical discussion which worked in my favor.