Page 50 - FDCC - You're Hired!

You’re Hired! Job Hunting Advice For Law Students and Young Lawyers
◗ Responding to personal questions. Employers can’t ask personal questions about your family. Don’t ask personal questions about theirs.
◗ Trying to get the associate to spill the beans. Some candidates are looking for a candid perspective of the firm. Some are expecting too candid of a perspective. No associate is going to reveal state secrets to you and will be annoyed if you press them on personal issues about the firm. Ask general questions about the firm’s culture and work life balance. Detailed, intricate
questions where you hope an associate will rat out a partner or reveal that
she is unhappy, those questions raise eyebrows and rarely get you the answers you were fishing for.
◗ Acting like the associate is only an associate and his role in the interview doesn’t matter. There have been candidates who have treated interviews by associates as a waste of their time. That candidate will not get hired.
SECTION 09 YOUR INTERVIEW
How to Prepare
There are some steps you can take to prepare for an interview. They include:
◗ Study the firm’s website.
◗ Read everything you can about
the firm online.
◗ Study the firm’s attorney bios.
◗ Memorize the firm’s mission, vision and values. Internalize them.
◗ Have your elevator speech ready for why you want to join the firm, what you bring to the firm, how you can help the firm and why you’re a good fit for the firm.
◗ Run through mock interview questions with a mentor or attorney friend.
◗ Work on your body language – posture, eye contact, standing, sitting, walking. You want exude confidence. You want to own your space.
◗ Have some questions prepared to ask.
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