How Will You Interview? Part II

Hopefully, you paid attention to Part I on interviewing tips.  If not, it would be a good idea to scroll back and take a look.  I covered many of the basics in my last blog, but there is still a lot of practical stuff to consider.

For instance…

Talk slowly and speak up.  If you are lucky enough to get to the top of the food chain in your interviews, you will be talking to people who may have lost part of their hearing at their advanced stages in life.  If the interviewee thinks that he or she will have to constantly be asking you to speak up or slow down if you become an associate, your chances of ever becoming an associate will diminish.  Like all things in a law firm, time is money.  It takes time to ask to have things repeated and time to listen to it repeated again and again.

This is especially important for you young women who specialize in rapid fire speech.  What works at the bar with your girlfriends does not work for the 70-year-old partner.  Trust me on this and slow down.

Always dress appropriately for an interview with a law employer.  The standard advice applies—-no cleavage and no exposed midriffs or thighs.  Style your hair in a tidy manner that does not scream “disco”, and avoid too much perfume.  A case of nerves can cause your heart to beat faster, your blood to flow more rapidly, and all of that rapid action tends to cause the scent of perfume to be enhanced.  So, a little dab will do you!  (There is a story in my book about that, and you may find it amusing.)  Since you may acquire a natural blush from all of this rapid heart activity as well, easy on the commercial blush!

And, last but not least, BE ON TIME.  A little early is OK, but not too much.  Staff people get really annoyed when you arrive too early and they have to babysit you, and staff people have more power than you think.  One roll of the eyes as the secretary announces your arrival to the interviewing lawyer, and you could be doomed from that moment forward.

Now for the teaser.  I told you that I would share a personal interview HORROR STORY.  Well, here it is.

When I was a third-year student at Georgetown Law, I got an interview with a very prestigious Washington, DC firm.   I prepped for the interview as much as I could.  Again, it was pre-Internet, so it was not as easy in those days.  The bound versions of Martindale & Hubbell in the law school library were sometimes all we had.

On the day of the interview, I dressed appropriately.  In fact, I thought I looked pretty spinster-like, but that was better than the alternative.  I arrived a little bit early, and was soon ushered into—yes, you guessed it— the guy who was one step removed from the mail room.  This associate was scrutinizing my resume and looking very serious.  After a little small talk, he disclosed that he, also, had attended and graduated from Georgetown Law.  He asked me a variety of questions about the school, perhaps in an effort to make me feel comfortable—although that was not clear—and then he asked me about my favorite professor.  I talked about professors Wendy Williams and Jeffrey Bauman, who both are still at the law school today, and then the associate asked me about my least favorite professor.  Note to self—-DO NOT GO THERE!  It is really dangerous territory.  However, I did not have the benefit of advice like this, and I shared the name of my least favorite professor with the associate.   Fortunately, I had the sense not to share that that professor had given me my worst grade in law school and it was a wonder that, with that blow to my GPA, I ever got the interview with this prestigious law firm at all.

The associate’s response devastated me when he said, “Well, did you know that Professor X’s wife is a partner here?”  Ugh….no!  How could that have happened?  What are the chances?  I did my homework, including reviewing all the members of the firm for name recognition.  However, even in 1978, many female lawyers did not use their married names in practice.  GOTCHA!  Needless to say, my interview days at that firm were over.

SO, do as I say and not as I did.  Prepare yourself in every way, and you will learn a lot, perfect your interview skills and maybe snag the Big One.

All of this advice is as applicable to interviewing for government jobs and for judicial clerkships as it is to interviewing in the private sector.  The common themes are preparation, common sense and respect.

Good luck, and I hope this helps to take some of the scary out of the interviewing process.  One thing is for sure, I will be cheering for you!

This entry was posted in Career Counselors. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *