Interview Prep Tips: Put Your Best Foot Forward (Literally!)

Representatives from Perkins Coie, the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, and the United States Department of Justice were recently on campus to share interview preparation tips with all of you. If you missed this program, come in to LCS to check out the DVD titled Interview Skills Workshop, Fall 2009.

Some noteworthy tips from the Interview Skills Workshop:

• Be polished -- your shoes, that is. Some interviewers pay close attention to clean, polished footwear on men, and clean, polished, closed-toe footwear on women.


• Be prompt with thank you notes. Two of the three panelists strongly favor that you send short email thank you notes immediately following the interview.


• Be motivated. For instance, if interviewing for an intellectual property position, know why you want to do that type of work.

Be prepared to answer all types of interview questions (e.g. behavioral questions, hypothetical questions, questions about your writing sample).

The takeaway from the interview prep program is that each employer is different. Some employers will comb through your writing sample, while other employers may not have time to read writing samples. Your job is to be prepared to be interviewed by both types of employers. Prepared students interview better, and are, therefore, better positioned to secure the position.

Law Career Services has assembled a comprehensive handout on interviewing, available on LCSonline. LCS also has several books and articles to help you prepare for legal interviews. One of our new resources is reviewed below.

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Nail Your Law Job Interview: The Essential Guide to Firm, Clerkship, Government, In-House, and Lateral Interviews
by Natalie Prescott & Oleg Cross

Review by Laura Koch
LCS Graduate Fellow

When it comes landing the legal job you dream of, whether it is an internship, clerkship, or permanent position, it is never too early to begin preparing to be a great interviewee. If you have been offered an interview, it indicates that your resume and cover letter have convinced the employer that your credentials satisfy the requirements for the job. Now you have the opportunity to convince the employer that you are the best person for the position. Unfortunately, many law job applicants arrive for interviews unprepared or misinformed about the expectations interviewers hold.

Nail Your Law Job Interview is a new book intended for interviewees with any amount of legal experience, but it will be most beneficial to law students and new attorneys. The authors seek to impress upon law job applicants the crucial importance of the interview, while simultaneously demystifying it.

This book offers general advice that is applicable to almost any law job interview, presented in a straightforward, readable style. It also addresses particular scenarios, such as callbacks and lunch interviews. The sections concerning challenging situations are especially helpful. In order to respond adaptively, it is important to consider in advance of your interview how you would handle awkward silences, inappropriate questions, or rudeness, and this book provides specific, sound advice. One shortcoming is the section on interviewing in a bad economy, which has little to offer new attorneys. Nevertheless, Nail Your Law Job Interview succeeds in providing a wealth of information about making the right impression, which is essential for landing a position in the current market.

Topics include:

• What research to do before for the interview, and how to use the information you discover


• What to wear and what to bring to the interview


• Body language and etiquette


• Answers to avoid


• Dealing with inappropriate questions and arrogant interviewers


• Gap-fillers for awkward silences


• Effective questions to ask the interviewer

Interviewing can be the most difficult part of the job search, but as the authors of Nail Your Law Job Interview point out, it is a skill that can be learned.