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Career Services Handbook Interviewing for a Legal Position Contrary to many students' fears, interviewing is not an innate talent. While some people are more comfortable with it than others, interviewing is a learned skill that will improve with practice. The Interview, In General Generally, every interview has a greeting, discussion, and closing. While the discussion is the most substantive (and thus critical) part, don't discount the importance of the other two aspects. Frequently, the greeting will establish a rapport that sets the tone for the entire interview. Use a firm handshake, make good eye contact, and be pleasant and positive (smile!) in this small talk phase. During the closing, try to wrap up in an upbeat fashion and re-emphasize your interest in the organization. Feel free to ask when you will hear from the organization and other questions pertinent to the status of your application. End the interview with a thank-you and handshake, remaining positive until the end! And remember to continue eye contact throughout the entire interview. During the discussion phase of the interview, you and the employer will exchange information in an effort to determine whether there is a good fit. Keep in mind that the employer is likely also a bit nervous; employers want to find the right person and the time they spend in an interview is generally only long enough to venture an educated guess as to whether that person is right for the job. You are both learning about the other in this process. Your ultimate goal is to convince the employer that your qualities and skills match the values and needs of the organization. Preparation and presentation are the keys to realizing that goal. Preparation It is critical to bring to an interview as much knowledge as possible about the employer and interviewer(s). Employers consistently rank lack of knowledge of the organization as a primary reason for not extending an offer. In short, you must start the interviewing process well before the actual interview. When you are in the interview, make sure to get across to the interviewer that you took time to learn more about the employer than what is in its promotional materials. Employers want to know that you were attracted to them for specific reasons, rather than simply because they were interviewing at Seton Hall, are located in a particular city, or have a position open. The "Factors to Consider" list in the Appendix will help you think about the kind of information you should be seeking about particular employers. The best way to find out about a position and employer is through the Internet. Many law firms have their own websites, even the Attorney General's Office. Martindale-Hubbell is also helpful. In addition, the Harvard Public Interest Job Search Guide and the Pro Bono Students America database offer comprehensive listings of internships with public interest and government organizations. Finally, students often are the best sources of information on prospective employers. Most students are willing to be contacted about their experiences. Take advantage of the opportunity. Talking with other students will often give you a better sense of what it is like to work for a particular employer than any written material. Practice makes perfect. As it is with many activities, practicing is the best way to improve your interviewing skills. It will also help you learn how to react to different interviewing styles. Just like interviewees, some interviewers tend to talk too little or too much. You will need to adjust your strategy and style depending upon the cues you pick up from the interviewer. Practice is especially important for those who find interviewing particularly difficult for some reason. If you are naturally quiet or talkative, have a very soft or loud voice, or have any other tendency that might make you overly nervous in an interview, practice is crucial. Get a friend or OCS counselor to work with you specifically on your problem areas. OCS offers all students the opportunity throughout the year to experience a mock interview. Participating in a mock interview will boost your self-confidence and ease your nerves. In addition, meet with an OCS counselor after you've done a few interviews to go over how they went and how to improve your performance in the future. Presentation At the most basic level, interviews are where employers learn more about your skills and experience than is evident from your resume. More importantly, however, interviews are where employers get to know you, often the critical factor in hiring decisions. How you present yourself, therefore, is often the key to whether you will get an offer. Develop a strategy. The underlying question in every interviewer's mind is "Why should our organization hire this person?" Before the interview, you should develop a strategy for how to answer that question, even though it is rarely explicitly asked. What you emphasize will need to be fine-tuned depending on the employer and position. Remember, you must convince the employer that you are the right person for this position and this organization. To help you develop a strategy, consider what the employer is looking for in a law clerk, intern, or new employee. What type of substantive legal knowledge is required? Is the organization seeking particular skills (e.g. foreign language or computer)? Is the position litigation or policy-oriented and how does your experience correlate? Do you have non-legal experience that would be valuable? Have you worked in a similar organization before? In addition, think of questions that you would like to be asked, i.e. questions that will allow you to give the interviewer information about your strong points. Then think of how to adapt your answers to other questions the interviewer(s) may ask instead. Be positive and confident. In the interview, you must present yourself in a positive, confident, and engaged manner. Make good eye contact and play an active role in the conversation. Ask relevant questions and listen attentively. Don't be overly self-deprecating; this may display a lack of self-confidence, which can be tantamount to a rejection. Avoid appearing defensive, negative, or angry. To help, anticipate difficult questions (e.g., why is your GPA not on your resume?) and practice answering them as confidently as possible. Often, employers are more interested in how you respond to such questions than they are in the responses themselves. And remember to never badmouth a former employer; nothing good has ever come of that. Your best strategy for your presentation is to answer the interviewer's questions concisely and directly. A rule of thumb some use is "equality;" by the end of the interview, both parties should have had equal speaking time. Another rule of thumb is the two-minute rule; keep your responses to two minutes. Leave out all the gory details and give the interviewer the basics. In the movie "Shipping News," Kevin Spacey's career as a journalist gets off to a slow start because of his verbose and lackluster descriptions. His colleague helps him improve when he takes him on a walk and asks him to explain or describe the things they see. Kevin Spacey offers lengthy explanations taking too long to get to the point. The fellow journalist tells him to learn to think in headlines, both when titling a piece and when describing it. This strategy fits hand in hand with being a good interviewee. General descriptions convey more information and keep the other person's attention in the long run. So when answering interview questions always keep in mind your need to create a headline or newspaper piece as opposed to a novel. Make sure that you always put a positive spin on your answers. The best example to this is the age-old question "what is your greatest flaw." The answer to this can have a positive spin. For instance, if you are hardheaded and stubborn, say you are tenacious and never give up until something is finished. If you are impatient, say you are and that you work hard to finish things as soon as possible. There is a positive side to every negative trait; the trick is to find it. Finally, don't rush. It is perfectly appropriate to take a moment to think about a question before answering. Students occasionally will interview with an individual who is rude or asks illegal questions. The key point to remember is to try to maintain your composure during the interview. You can decide later if you want to withdraw from consideration. Always inform an OCS advisor if you feel that an interviewer has asked you inappropriate questions or made discriminatory remarks. Interview Protocols...
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