Career Center: Preparing for On-Campus Interviews -- Know Your Strengths & Limitations

Now that the summer is almost over, the Career Center will be switching gears and posting tips and advice on the most magical time of the year for law students — On-Campus Interviews (OCI). In the next few weeks, law firms will be dropping down the chimneys of law schools across the country, giving summer clerkship offers to good little boys and girls. Obviously, you need the grades and class rank to be initially placed on the “Good List,” but to remain on that list once firms are “checking it twice,” it is important to be prepared when firms are “gonna find out who is naughty or nice.”

Now enough with the Christmas puns and on to the first OCI Tips post, brought to you by Lateral Link’s Frank Kimball, legal recruiter and former Biglaw hiring partner….

How can you market your credentials and distinguish yourself amidst a sea of talented lawyers? Begin by assessing your strengths. The story does not end with grades or membership on a journal or the Law Review. For almost all employers, numbers, grades, journals and the like are only a point of reference. Hiring partners look for something else: young lawyers who can do the job effectively. The following interrelated qualities are as or more important than any of the more traditional indicia of excellence:

1. Assertiveness

While far too much has been written on the subject of assertiveness, there is no question that it is critical to being a successful lawyer. Do not confuse assertiveness with aggressiveness or obnoxiousness. Private and public employers need lawyers who instill confidence in clients and judges, and respect in adversaries. Put yourself in the shoes of the older lawyer with an important client or important case. You want a lawyer who commands the confidence and respect of everyone with whom she deals. All the brainpower, writing ability, and high grades in the world are perfectly irrelevant if the young lawyer cannot deal effectively with the client, lawyer, or judge across the table.

The assertiveness, enthusiasm, and directness which you project are critical to an employer’s evaluation of your potential. This is measured quickly and carefully during the first few minutes of an initial interview. The lawyer who is lively, interested, quick-witted, and confident is leagues ahead of a student with a higher GPA who is withdrawn, ill-at-ease, arrogant, or diffident.

For more tips on maximizing your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses during OCI, click here to read on.

Be sure to check out the Career Center for additional OCI tips as well as insider information found in the law firm profiles. Keep an eye out for updates to the summer associate section of the profiles, as updates will be made in the coming weeks.