Interview tips for judicial externships Forum

[zomginternets]

Any tips on what a judge wants to hear/not hear from someone applying as a judicial extern (both district ct. and COA)? Do you need to ace the interview to get the externship, or do you just need to not mess it up? Also, does the judge care about whether you specifically want to work for them?

[Jordan77]

I did a District Court Externship.

I would say you don't need to "ace" an interview... you are not applying for a law clerk position, but the Judge probably needs to connect with you and think you are eager to learn from the experience. There is no specific guideline to what types of questions you can be asked. For example, my judge asked me who my favorite 18th Century economist was.... it was so random and probably not the norm, but it could happen.

I don't think the judge cares about you wanting to work with them specifically... unless you have a solid reason to state such a thing I wouldn't recommend talking about wanting to work "with that judge." What might be helpful is explaining why you want to extern FOR THAT COURT (e.g., district court). For instance I was very specific in wanting to clerk for the district court because I wanted to see first hand many different aspects of litigation AT THE TRIAL LEVEL.

Also of note... in my interview the head law clerk was also in the room asking questions.

[zomginternets]

Wow, that's a really random question. How did you answer? Also, unless you sincerely have a particular economist min mind (which I'm assuming 99% of people wouldn't), is the goal of such a question to ensure that you don't try to fudge/bluff your way through an issue that you have no knowledge of? i.e. is an answer "I don't know of any off the top of my head, but I could probably make a decision after researching their economic theories" one that they would be happy with getting? I can't imagine it going down well if you spit out any random name that whose theories you are barely acquainted with.

[Yeshia90]

I did a District Court Externship.

I would say you don't need to "ace" an interview... you are not applying for a law clerk position, but the Judge probably needs to connect with you and think you are eager to learn from the experience. There is no specific guideline to what types of questions you can be asked. For example, my judge asked me who my favorite 18th Century economist was.... it was so random and probably not the norm, but it could happen.

I don't think the judge cares about you wanting to work with them specifically... unless you have a solid reason to state such a thing I wouldn't recommend talking about wanting to work "with that judge." What might be helpful is explaining why you want to extern FOR THAT COURT (e.g., district court). For instance I was very specific in wanting to clerk for the district court because I wanted to see first hand many different aspects of litigation AT THE TRIAL LEVEL.

Also of note... in my interview the head law clerk was also in the room asking questions.

The correct answer is Adam Smith, right?

[Unitas]

Wow, that's a really random question. How did you answer? Also, unless you sincerely have a particular economist min mind (which I'm assuming 99% of people wouldn't), is the goal of such a question to ensure that you don't try to fudge/bluff your way through an issue that you have no knowledge of? i.e. is an answer "I don't know of any off the top of my head, but I could probably make a decision after researching their economic theories" one that they would be happy with getting? I can't imagine it going down well if you spit out any random name that whose theories you are barely acquainted with.

The answer is Adam Smith.. The answer will always be Adam Smith. No other economist comes to mind for the 18th century. Any economics major should know at least Smith-it was the rise of free markets and the repudiation of mercantilism. Maybe if someone thought 18th century meant 1800-1900 I could seem them getting in trouble by saying Karl Marx, but besides that this question should've been pretty easy.

[zomginternets]

Wow, that's a really random question. How did you answer? Also, unless you sincerely have a particular economist min mind (which I'm assuming 99% of people wouldn't), is the goal of such a question to ensure that you don't try to fudge/bluff your way through an issue that you have no knowledge of? i.e. is an answer "I don't know of any off the top of my head, but I could probably make a decision after researching their economic theories" one that they would be happy with getting? I can't imagine it going down well if you spit out any random name that whose theories you are barely acquainted with.

The answer is Adam Smith.. The answer will always be Adam Smith. No other economist comes to mind for the 18th century. Any economics major should know at least Smith-it was the rise of free markets and the repudiation of mercantilism. Maybe if someone thought 18th century meant 1800-1900 I could seem them getting in trouble by saying Karl Marx, but besides that this question should've been pretty easy.

The question was "favorite" economist, not most famous economist. Adam Smith is the clearly the most famous, but I also doubt he was the only economist in existence in the 18th century. If I told the judge Adam Smith was my favorite and he told asked me why, I wouldn't have an answer for him (it's been 8 years since I took an economics course), which would clearly indicate that I just blindly blurted out a name without any reason. Giving the "I don't know" answer is at least sincere, and then if he pressed me further, I would say Adam Smith and relate what little I know about him. I think it's way worse to get called out when trying to bluff an answer than to just admit that you don't have an answer but state how you would go about giving an answer.

[Unitas]

Wow, that's a really random question. How did you answer? Also, unless you sincerely have a particular economist min mind (which I'm assuming 99% of people wouldn't), is the goal of such a question to ensure that you don't try to fudge/bluff your way through an issue that you have no knowledge of? i.e. is an answer "I don't know of any off the top of my head, but I could probably make a decision after researching their economic theories" one that they would be happy with getting? I can't imagine it going down well if you spit out any random name that whose theories you are barely acquainted with.

The answer is Adam Smith.. The answer will always be Adam Smith. No other economist comes to mind for the 18th century. Any economics major should know at least Smith-it was the rise of free markets and the repudiation of mercantilism. Maybe if someone thought 18th century meant 1800-1900 I could seem them getting in trouble by saying Karl Marx, but besides that this question should've been pretty easy.

The question was "favorite" economist, not most famous economist. Adam Smith is the clearly the most famous, but I also doubt he was the only economist in existence in the 18th century. If I told the judge Adam Smith was my favorite and he told asked me why, I wouldn't have an answer for him (it's been 8 years since I took an economics course), which would clearly indicate that I just blindly blurted out a name without any reason. Giving the "I don't know" answer is at least sincere, and then if he pressed me further, I would say Adam Smith and relate what little I know about him. I think it's way worse to get called out when trying to bluff an answer than to just admit that you don't have an answer but state how you would go about giving an answer.

Adam Smith is the father of modern economics. Not just the most famous, but the most well regarded and almost all of our current economic theories are premised on his works. You can't go wrong talking about the invisible hand of the market. And I assume that the person asked that was an econ undergrad.

BTW, if you only know of one and that one doesn't displease you, then that one is your favorite by default.

[zomginternets]

Wow, that's a really random question. How did you answer? Also, unless you sincerely have a particular economist min mind (which I'm assuming 99% of people wouldn't), is the goal of such a question to ensure that you don't try to fudge/bluff your way through an issue that you have no knowledge of? i.e. is an answer "I don't know of any off the top of my head, but I could probably make a decision after researching their economic theories" one that they would be happy with getting? I can't imagine it going down well if you spit out any random name that whose theories you are barely acquainted with.

The answer is Adam Smith.. The answer will always be Adam Smith. No other economist comes to mind for the 18th century. Any economics major should know at least Smith-it was the rise of free markets and the repudiation of mercantilism. Maybe if someone thought 18th century meant 1800-1900 I could seem them getting in trouble by saying Karl Marx, but besides that this question should've been pretty easy.

The question was "favorite" economist, not most famous economist. Adam Smith is the clearly the most famous, but I also doubt he was the only economist in existence in the 18th century. If I told the judge Adam Smith was my favorite and he told asked me why, I wouldn't have an answer for him (it's been 8 years since I took an economics course), which would clearly indicate that I just blindly blurted out a name without any reason. Giving the "I don't know" answer is at least sincere, and then if he pressed me further, I would say Adam Smith and relate what little I know about him. I think it's way worse to get called out when trying to bluff an answer than to just admit that you don't have an answer but state how you would go about giving an answer.

Adam Smith is the father of modern economics. Not just the most famous, but the most well regarded and almost all of our current economic theories are premised on his works. You can't go wrong talking about the invisible hand of the market. And I assume that the person asked that was an econ undergrad.

BTW, if you only know of one and that one doesn't displease you, then that one is your favorite by default.

Well, technically, even if he does displease you, he's still your favorite by default

[Unitas]

The answer is Adam Smith.. The answer will always be Adam Smith. No other economist comes to mind for the 18th century. Any economics major should know at least Smith-it was the rise of free markets and the repudiation of mercantilism. Maybe if someone thought 18th century meant 1800-1900 I could seem them getting in trouble by saying Karl Marx, but besides that this question should've been pretty easy.

The question was "favorite" economist, not most famous economist. Adam Smith is the clearly the most famous, but I also doubt he was the only economist in existence in the 18th century. If I told the judge Adam Smith was my favorite and he told asked me why, I wouldn't have an answer for him (it's been 8 years since I took an economics course), which would clearly indicate that I just blindly blurted out a name without any reason. Giving the "I don't know" answer is at least sincere, and then if he pressed me further, I would say Adam Smith and relate what little I know about him. I think it's way worse to get called out when trying to bluff an answer than to just admit that you don't have an answer but state how you would go about giving an answer.

Adam Smith is the father of modern economics. Not just the most famous, but the most well regarded and almost all of our current economic theories are premised on his works. You can't go wrong talking about the invisible hand of the market. And I assume that the person asked that was an econ undergrad.

BTW, if you only know of one and that one doesn't displease you, then that one is your favorite by default.

Well, technically, even if he does displease you, he's still your favorite by default

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