Callback Question Forum

[Cunning Lynguist]

So I have a callback on monday for my top choice, I looked around the boards and couldnt find a "faq/common asked questions" type thread. Does anyone have any advice/tips on what to expect, how to approach this etc.
I have read two law interview books: Nail your law job interview, and The legal job interview

[chipmunk]

Of the callbacks I've had, here are the most common substantive questions interviewers have asked:

(1) Why do you think you did so well your first year of law school? (Or what advice would you give to first year law students -- this one came up the most).
(2) So, how did you get to [Law School Name]?
(3) Why should we hire you, what do you want us to know about you, or some variation thereof. (This is a hard one).
(4) Something about my summer job (what did you learn from Judge X, what was most interesting about it, etc.)
(5) Something from the personal section of my resume (so how did you get into [strange activity]?)
(6) What do you want to know about the firm? (OK. I lied. THIS is the most common question.)

Pretty standard, I'd say.

A few curveballs were:

(1) What would your classmates say about you?
(2) Tell me about a difficult time in your life and how you delt with it.
(3) If you had to bring a dish to a party, what would you bring?

I have a few stories about myself and my summer job that can be tied to multiple questions from the first section. I treat many interviews like conversations and will turn the question back onto the interviewer. (Ex - Q: What brought you to [Law School]? A: Well [story about how I wanted to go to school in a warm collegial environment where everyone also works hard, and how much I like it there which is why I'm looking for a firm with similar values. What brought you to [Law Firm]?)

I'd be interested to hear others' experiences. HTH.

EDIT: "What practice areas are you interested in?" is a common question too. It helps to be able to tie your answer to your summer job and your reason for wanting to join the firm, even if you're not sure about practice areas. I was sure to know whether the law firm hired into practice groups when I went into the interview. Those firms might put more weight on your answer to this question.

[spanktheduck]

You want them to like you and you want to show them that you have done research on the firm. Make sure that in your answers/questions you work in something that shows you have done the research on them. This is especially true for questions. Have a lot of questions. Either have enough to ask every interviewer a different one or make them personal (IE: what is the most interesting thing you have done here) so you can ask it of multiple people. You can't ask substantive questions about the firm more than once (IE: how is work assigned).

I had one guy ask me what kind of pie was my favorite. I said apple. He said that was a bad answer.

Be prepared to answer why you want to work in the area. Especially if it is a secondary market.

[NewHere]

(7) Why did you decide to go to law school?
(8) Do you know yet what kind of law you want to practice, and why? (No shame in saying you don't know yet. Just be careful your answer isn't a department the firm doesn't have!)
(9) Why do you want to work for us?
(10) What do you think the important skills are that a lawyer should have? (And why? And do you have them?)
(11) "Do we all look the same yet? How will you decide between different firms?"
(12) (If you're on a journal) What are you writing your note about?