POTENTIAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT BE ASKED AT A LAW FIRM

POTENTIAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT BE ASKED AT A LAW FIRM

This is exciting! You got the interview at this law firm you’ve been waiting on. You can’t wait to go in and impress them. You are certain you will get the job, in spite of all the other applicants.

Let’s just stop and take a breather for a second.

Have you gone over every possible thing that might be asked in the interview? Lots of applicants say they have, but then they get hard-balled by something they didn’t expect.

In order to avoid this issue, I have presented a small list of questions that might get asked during the interview.

Tell me about yourself?

This is the question that throws everyone. This is not a hard question to answer, though many treat it as such. Think about who you are and translate it to the interviewer. Avoid fluff answers though. It’s best to get to the core of who you are, personally and professionally.

It’s best to rehearse this question. It might not get asked, but go in expecting it.

Why did you study law?

This is also a non-complicated question. Law students go to law school for different reasons. What is yours? It’s best to think about this one for a while. Interviewers do not want to hear a simple answer. They also don’t want to hear a long-winded reply either.

These people want to hear something in between.

What about your GPA? Your boss is going to want to know if this is a genuine representation of you. Let me explain.

Some candidates have a very big GPA. These are the people whose GPA is between 4.0-5.0. These are the people who are book smart. This is okay, to a certain degree. Your boss is also going to want someone with strong instincts. Someone who has good street smarts.

There are law students who have one of these or both. Which one are you? A good lawyer will have more than just the book smarts. A high IQ is not the be-all and end-all in this world, though some choose to believe this.

If you don’t have a lot of street smarts, you need to convey this. If you only have a little bit, you need to convey this too. Convey how much street smarts you have and the abilities that come with it. Based on what you tell the interviewer, he or she can make the appropriate choice.

Their choice might not match yours, but they need to do what is best for them and their firm. This is why it’s important you are honest about your true abilities and talents.

What sort of goals do you have?

This is equally as important. It’s not good to just say you want a job. Your goals have to be translatable to what the firm’s goals are. A potential boss is going to be interested in your dreams. If you haven’t thought about it much, you might want to start.

This is just a sample of some of the questions you can expect. It’s time to think long and hard about what you want in life. You also need to think about whether or not the firm can provide it for you.

If you goals do not line up with what a firm represents, it might not be a good fit for you after all.

HOW YOUR FAILURE CAN HELP DEFINE YOUR LAW CAREER

Everyone in life deals with failures. It’s what we do with those failures that defines who we are. We can either slink away and let it destroy us. We can rise above and face our next challenge, knowing that each time will make us stronger.

Think about a time when you had a failure. How did you deal with it? Use this as a platform for your future. This advice is exactly what lawyers want to hear. Firms want to hear that you didn’t let something get you down. They want to know that a case did not break you. Bosses at law firms want to know that you will embrace the failure, using it to tackle your next case.

This is exactly what I wish to accomplish today. If any of these words made an impact on you, show me. Show me that you are tough enough to not let the world or your failures get you down. Show me that you have it in your to be the best lawyer for your firm.

This my friends is some of the best legal advice I can instill in you. Now that I showed you the way, what are you going to do about it?