What It Really Means to be Preparedfor a Job Interview

by Susanne Aronowitz

Interview season is well underway, and we’ve already received valuable feedback from employers. The employers’ message hasn’t changed: students need to do a better job of utilizing the interview to communicate their enthusiasm for the organization they are meeting. Too often, students make (wrong) assumptions about the employer that betray the students’ lack of preparation or insufficient understanding about the nature of the employer’s work.

How, you may be wondering, can you use those precious 25 minutes to show your interest in the employer in a meaningful way? Isn’t it more important to highlight your skills?

The answer is, you need to do both, and most employers make it easy. They will often kick off the interview with a simple request: “Tell us why you are interested in working for us.” Most students confess to me that they terrified by this question. For the well-prepared student, however, this question is the biggest gift you can receive on an interview (short of a job offer), because it allows you to articulate your excitement in the employer in a specific and meaningful way.

The trick to answering this question effectively is to know your audience. What do they do? Who are their clients? Where does the firm place its resources? The more you understand about the employer, the more strategic you can be about sharing anecdotes and highlighting the appropriate background on your resume.

For example, if you know that a firm handles management-side employment law issues, don’t talk about your interest in representing workers. If 95% of the attorneys at the office handle civil litigation, don’t press your interest in the esoteric area of law handled by one partner. If the organization has over 200 attorneys, don’t confess your disdain for hierarchy and structure.

Similarly, the interview is not the time to gather general information about an organization’s priorities and structure. A successful student will have discovered this information in advance, and will have prepared some answers (and questions) to make sure it is obvious to the employer that he or she is ready to join their team.

For more guidance on preparing for your interviews, join us for our Interview Prep Program on Thursday, September 4 from noon to 1 pm and 5:15 to 6:15 pm. We also recommend that you review our Interview handout on LCSonline, as well as our collection of articles regarding the job interview process in the LCS resource library.