by: Luthien Niland (JD 12)
The last few months have been tough: waiting for bar results, sending out dozens of applications – often without even a confirmation that my application had been received – I’m sure many of you know the drill. During all of that though, I kept in touch with people who might know about job openings, met with my career counselor at LCS to perfect my application materials, and eventually landed an interview at a firm that epitomized the type of environmental law work that inspired me to go to law school. I’ve never thought of myself as particularly good at interviews, but this time I felt confident, largely on account of the following practices which I now share with you:
1. Use Google. Before the interview, I researched the employer by scouring its website, LinkedIn, and of course, looking it up on Google. This particular firm had been in front of the U.S. Supreme Court the day before my interview. When I brought this up, not only were they impressed that I knew about the case, but also that I could answer a tricky question regarding some case details. The depth of my research showed that I was invested in the interview and the position.
2. Know the gaps in your resume. Just as important as explaining chronological gaps in your resume, make sure you can explain the ideological gaps. If you interned for the opposition to your employers, be able to credibly explain why it makes sense for them to hire you. For these very passionate advocates, it was key that I could connect all of my past internships to my commitment to their cause in some way, even just as a valuable learning experience.
3. Ask questions that make them want to sell you on the job. Having just graduated from law school you have skills that you can offer employers; you can position your questions to remind the employer how valuable you truly are. I asked questions that made it sound like I had a slew of other offers, for example: what benefits do you offer? What kind of support do you provide for new attorneys? What type of review process can I expect? Suddenly I felt like the one they had to convince to work there which gave me more confidence for the rest of the interview.
4. Commit. I always thought the interview question “where do you see yourself in 5 years? Or in 10 years?” was a waste of time for both the interviewer and myself. However, hiring a new employee is a considerable task and one that most employers like to avoid. Therefore, have an answer prepared that shows you are committed to this organization, for example “I will be a lead attorney handling environmental law cases, such as . . . .” A well-prepared answer shows that you want to invest yourself in the company or firm.
The best interviews come with the same advice as oral arguments – make it a conversation! But it doesn’t always work that way, so you just have to prepare as much as you can. Besides having a solid answer for why you want to work for the organization (the question that will start 98% of all interviews), hopefully these tips will also help to dodge some potential curveballs.
As always, LCS is here to help you. Feel free to contact Jan at jnussbaum@ggu.edu.
