Interviews

Inside Straight: Thinking About Interviews

By

People have occasionally asked me for advice about interview techniques.

My suggestion has always been short and pointed: “Say something smart. Say something funny. Ask a good question. And get the heck out of there.”

What about on the other side of the table? I really don’t trust interviews. I don’t believe that it’s possible to tell during a half hour or an hour whether someone is truly competent or a great bluffer. I never thought I learned much from forcing people to talk about their résumés. So when I was interviewing candidates for jobs at a big law firm, I’d try to identify something that the applicant claimed to know — a practice area, a procedural issue, a case the person had defended — and engage the person on that subject. I figured that I was thus showing interest in something about the applicant while giving myself a chance to assess whether the applicant was sentient.

But now I work at a place that sells human resources consulting as part of its business. That requires folks to think a little harder about interviewing techniques. After all, if you’re offering professional advice about conducting interviews, you ought to interview your own job applicants effectively. I’ve recently been educated on this subject and, as a dutiful blogger, I’ll share with you what I’ve learned. What is behavioral interviewing, and why is it better than traditional interview techniques?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Inside Straight: Thinking About Interviews”

21 Comments

Moonlighting: The Shortest Interview Process Ever (SIPE)

By

A lot of people ask me how I ended up in this in-house gig. Oh fine, nobody has asked, but darnit, I’m gonna tell you anyway. And I’ll even include a couple of tips that I think helped me. I’ll assume you’re already familiar with a lot of basic interview tips, such as doing your research, preparing a great résumé, and not picking your nose in front of the receptionist, so I’ll avoid mentioning those.

I like to call the interview process I had for my current job the Shortest Interview Process Ever (SIPE, for short). If you’ve worked at a company before, you’ve probably noticed that companies absolutely love, love, love acronyms and use them all the time. Just FYI, your ability to learn acronym-speak is directly proportional to your success as an in-house lawyer, so feel free to start making up your own and using them on your BFFs!

At one point, after a few years in Biglaw, I called a recruiter I had used before and asked if there were any jobs out there. The recruiter was not happy to hear from me. But this was reasonable because, a few years earlier, he had helped to get me a job offer — that I didn’t take. At that time, I had four job offers (obviously, this wasn’t during the economic hellhole that we’re in right now) and decided to go with one other than his. So understandably, he wasn’t a happy camper to hear from me this time around….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Moonlighting: The Shortest Interview Process Ever (SIPE)”

22 Comments

An Inside Look at Sullivan & Cromwell’s Recruiting Process

By

Be careful about what you say in the airport, or on a crowded train, or on the subway. Above the Law’s spies are everywhere.

And be careful about what you place in the trash. Law firms have paper shredders for a reason; use them. Consider this your practice pointer for the day.

Earlier this month, an ATL reader sent us a collection of documents relating to Sullivan & Cromwell’s on-campus interviewing program at the University of Michigan Law School. For the record, our tipster didn’t have to go dumpster diving for this find. The documents were contained in a black binder that was conveniently placed on top of an outdoor recycling bin, where it caught our reader’s eye. (As we all know from California v. Greenwood, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy in stuff you leave in the trash.)

So, what was in these documents? The contents will be of interest to partners and associates at other firms, as well as law students going through the OCI process right now….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “An Inside Look at Sullivan & Cromwell’s Recruiting Process”

89 Comments

Students Making Fun of Biglaw Interviewer Overheard By MOST OF THE AIRPORT

By

Every couple of years, people need to be reminded not to have private conversations in public spaces. Who could forget Acela Bob, the Pillsbury partner who talked about firing people on a crowded train?

University of Virginia law students, that’s who. Yes, we have another installment of: when popping your collar goes real wrong. On the way back to Charlottesville from New York City, a group of UVA Law students were waiting for their flight out of LaGuardia. They started talking about how their callback interviews went. They started talking loudly.

And others were listening….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Students Making Fun of Biglaw Interviewer Overheard By MOST OF THE AIRPORT”

271 Comments

Inside Straight: Interviewing To Retain Outside Counsel

By

Your company was just named in a new complaint, and there’s no obvious choice of counsel to defend you. What do you do?

You ask around internally to see whether any of our lawyers has worked with good counsel in the jurisdiction. Perhaps you ask a trusted outside lawyer or two for recommendations. You narrow the choices down to two or three candidates, and you decide to interview the top three firms.

This brings us to the subject of this post: What do you ask at the interviews?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Inside Straight: Interviewing To Retain Outside Counsel”

19 Comments

Clerkship Application Season: Open Thread

By

Today is Friday, September 9, 2011. Do you know why today is special? Here’s the answer:

Yes, that’s right — we’re smack dab in the middle of the clerkship application season. Today was the first date and time (10 a.m. Eastern) when judges could contact applicants to schedule interviews, pursuant to the official law clerk hiring plan.

Let’s talk more about the process — and hear from those of you who are going through it….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Clerkship Application Season: Open Thread”

67 Comments

Future Lawyer of the Day: Law Student Rescues Orphaned Baby

By

Here at Above the Law, we frequently publish stories about law students who have been accused of doing pretty bad things. Take, for example, the law students and recent law school graduates who have graced our pages in the past few months:

  • Tammy Hsu (authored an arrogant blog and insulted her classmates)
  • Stephen McDaniel (accused of murder and child pornography possession)
  • Ilan Grapel (accused of being a spy by Egyptian authorities)
  • Reema Bajaj (accused of prostitution)
  • Johnathan Perkins (admitted to fabricating a tale of racial harassment by the police)

Enough with the law students gone bad. Today, we thought we’d change it up a little bit and bring you a story about a law student who did something good. Actually, this particular law student did something great.

On August 31, a law student rescued an orphaned baby. Who is this remarkable heroine and where does she go to school?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Future Lawyer of the Day: Law Student Rescues Orphaned Baby”

66 Comments

Career Center: Assessing the OCI Interview Process

By

With OCI coming to an end at most law schools, now is the time to sit back and assess the interview process. While you may be tempted to tune out until you receive an offer (or rejection), don’t.

In addition to reviewing your performance in the interview, you should critique the performance of the law firm.

Furthermore, be sure to consider the following tips from Lateral Link’s Frank Kimball before you accept an offer….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Career Center: Assessing the OCI Interview Process”

Career Center: To Be, or Not To Be (An Associate) – Interview Questions You Should Ask

By

There are no magic questions to take through the interview process. There are only areas to be examined. Life is one long extemporaneous speech. It is not canned dialogue. The student who prepares and understands the areas that are significant to her decision will know where to focus her questions.

Some questions should be directed at associates, while others should be directed to partners. Students sometimes forget that they can actually learn something more about the firm by asking questions. Yes, the questions you ask will be assessed by the interviewer; but please don’t ask certain questions for the sake of asking questions.

This helpful information is provided by Lateral Link’s Frank Kimball. What follows is an outline of areas you may want to consider, but remember who your audience is….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Career Center: To Be, or Not To Be (An Associate) – Interview Questions You Should Ask”

Career Center: Questions You May Be Asked In Your Interview

By

As part of your interview preparation, you should familiarize yourself with the kinds of questions you may be asked and prepare responses to those questions. Nothing turns off an interviewer more than “ummms” and “uhhhs.” You don’t have to memorize your responses verbatim (and you shouldn’t), but being prepared will help you avoid any Miss Teen South Carolina answers to any interviewer questions.

While it is impossible to cover every single question an interviewer may ask, Lateral Link’s Frank Kimball, legal recruiter and former hiring partner, provides his recommended responses to commonly asked questions, adds comments explaining the purpose of the question, and points out any “traps” the interviewer may be setting by asking you the question.

Below are some of the most common questions asked during on-campus interviews….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Career Center: Questions You May Be Asked In Your Interview”

Page 4 of 512345