Top 10 Successful Interviewing Techniques

Editor's Note: Ms. JD's annual conference, Avenues to Advancement, was held November 20-21 in Chicago. These are notes from the "Successful Interviewing Techniques" panel. 

At Ms. JD’s recent Avenues to Advancement Conference, held at Northwestern Law School, one of the panels, entitled ‘Successful Interviewing Techniques,’ brought together five people experienced in the world of interviews to dispense their advice on how to interview well: William Chamberlain, Assistant Dean, Northwestern Law School, and Moderator of the panel; Julie Bailey, Recruiting Manager, Latham & Watkins; Kristina Gajewicz, North American Recruiting Director, Baker & McKenzie; Elizabeth Jolliffe, Career Management and Business Development Coach, Your Benchmark Coach; Rachel Skaistis, Partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore.  The following list summarizes the top 10 successful interviewing techniques provided by the panelists:

1. Practice interviewing beforehand.  Think about what you can do for the employer.  Record yourself in a simulated interview and review it.
2. Engage in self-assessment.  Identify your relevant values and attributes.  Determine what is important to you.  Delineate a few ‘selling points’ for yourself.  Have a few ‘trigger stories’ on hand.
3. Investigate an employer.  Think about why your skills and talents will be a good fit for a particular employer.  Go online (NALP, Vault, individual firm websites)!  Discover who has worked for a particular employer and set up an informational interview with them.  Find out what the firm is known for.  Reach out to past summer associates.
4. Know proper interview etiquette.  Carry yourself well – know that you are being observed the entire time.  Never underestimate the importance of a handshake and body language.  Keep note-taking to a minimum.  Be careful about your breath!
   

Interviews: Do men and women have different experiences?

Some people think that women and men are treated differently during interviews. In an attempt to discover these differences, I asked one married man and one married woman to describe their 2L summer interview experiences. As a small sampling, their responses are not meant to draw any widespread conclusions, but merely serve as a starting place to reflect.

[More after the jump]

What the experts say about interview etiquette

2Ls are in the final stages of callback interviews, 1Ls are getting ready to contact law firms for summer jobs, and a second wave of job interviews are underway for recent grads who now have a bar admission under their belts. Ms.

Re-Interviewing for Legal Jobs as a 3L

Big Brother v. Due Diligence

This is nothing new, but there have been several stories out there about the real life consequences of law students’ online life. There is one in the New York Lawyer, the WSJ Law Blog, and Jill Filipovic has discussed the AutoAdmit scandal

To ring or not to ring?

I know that my school's career services office has its own line on this question (do what you feel comfortable with), but the ring dilemma seems to come up every interview season. The WSJ blog The Juggle has posted on this here, and it seems there are many opinions out there. Basically, there is no real bright line rule, which indicates the question will linger on. (I also recommend checking out the post's comments, which include many from lawyers and former lawyers.)

Has anyone here had negative (or positive) ring experiences in interviews? Or does it really not matter (as I think many career offices say)?

The Work-Life Balance Sales Pitch

Wallflower is a 3L at NYU School of Law

It's hard to imagine any law student making it out of law school without being bombarded with talk about the extended hours attorneys work and the difficulty many have in maintaining both a happy home life and a successful career. Long hours, stressful working conditions, and having little time for social lives are challenges most attorneys face. In my experience, however, the work-life balance issue is most often discussed as a problem that primarily affects women or parents, and in my opinion, this does a disservice to all attorneys.

During my 2L interview process, seven of the eight firms with which I had callback interviews emphasized how woman-friendly the firm was. At these seven firms, I had face time with female partners; at one of them, two of the three partner interviews and all of the associate interviews were with women. Also at these seven firms, I heard about policies regarding flex-time and part-time opportunities (brought up without prompting from me), pro bono programs, and mentoring programs for female attorneys.

Lone Skirt in a Sea of Pants

By a Second-Year Law Student

Interview season can be a tough time for 1-Ls. They have white resumes and short transcripts, and they feed on the crumbs left by their 2-L peers. Landing a firm job is a challenge for any 1-L, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other classification.

AmLaw thinks practice area matters a lot (more) for female lawyers. Discuss.

Following up on "Obstacle Course" in the American Lawyer (which the WSJ’s Law Blog has linked and commented on the article in their post Women Litigators Battle Adversity and Stereotypes):