Interview Season Tip 1: It’s More Important to Hear Than to be Heard

by Susanne Aronowitz 
Associate Dean for Law Career Services

As we approach GGU’s On-Campus Interview season, over the next few weeks we will be sharing a variety of interview tips and resources on the LCS blog to help you ace your next job interview.

Most students will prepare for their upcoming interviews by exhaustively researching their prospective employers and learning as much about their organizations as possible. When combined with a healthy dose of nervous energy, many students feel compelled to show off this new-found knowledge with rehearsed pitches and rambling answers to questions. Please resist this urge! Indeed, as a recent SFGate blog article observed, most job candidates spend more time talking at rather than with their interviewer. As a result, they lose the opportunity to make a meaningful connection that highlights why they are a good fit for the position they are seeking.

If this sounds like you, I encourage you to try a new approach at your next job interview. It may feel counter-intuitive, but consider spending less time talking and more time listening. Your interview should feel more like a conversation than a one-sided deposition. Use your thorough pre-interview preparation to identify connections with your prospective employer; allow your natural curiosity and enthusiasm for the employer to introduce these connections more organically in your conversation.

As the SFGate article advises, pay attention to cues: are you doing most of the talking? Does the interviewer seem distracted? Are you so busy silently rehearsing your answer to the next question that you haven’t heard what the interviewer has said? If so, you are probably talking at (and not with) your interviewer.

Take a few deep breaths, slow down the pace, and focus on listening. By listening to your interviewer better, you will become a more compelling candidate!

GGU Students Step Up & Wow Employers

by Jared Solovay
Director of Employer Relations & Administrative Director of HLP

I recently spoke with a second-year GGU law student working at a government agency this fall. She described how she had to step up and assist a fellow law clerk, a third year from a nationally-known law school who was struggling to draft an argument on personal jurisdiction.

Our 2L was surprised that she was able to take the lead on this important motion, but she shouldn't have been. Time and time again, I hear from employers who rave about the bright and talented Golden Gate students and alumni they encounter. For example, an attorney from a large law firm participating in our fall On-Campus Interviewing program recently described it as her "best experience with law student interviewing," noting that our students' enthusiasm, demeanor and background set them apart from students at other law schools. The fact of the matter is, having worked hard to get where they are today, our students are driven and highly motivated. And thanks to GGU’s longstanding commitment to both an academic and a practical legal education, they are ready to hit the ground running in any work environment.

Unfounded preconceptions can be hard to shake off, but that's even more the case if we adopt them ourselves. Just remember, if you are sitting in an interview or working for an employer, then you're there because you belong there, and you can do as good of a job, if not better, than any of your peers at other law schools.

Employment: Your Feedback Is Important

It's that time of year again. Law Career Services is gearing up for fall on-campus interviewing at GGU Law. We're lining up a great batch of employers this year, but we're always looking for new opportunities for our students. That's where you come in. Have you worked someplace great that you'd like to share with the rest of the GGU community? If so, drop us a line (lawcareer@ggu.edu) so we can reach out to them about participating in this year's Fall Recruitment program.

Also, we strongly encourage students to fill out a Student Employment Evaluation on LCSonline. Evaluations are an invaluable tool for job seekers doing research on possible places of employment.
 

Fall Recruitment is Winding Down:What’s Next?

by Susanne Aronowitz
Associate Dean for Law Career Services

As we approach the end of our on-campus interview season, we wanted to provide some guidance on next steps and how to proceed with your job search after Fall Recruitment.

1. Wrap up loose ends:
• Have you heard back from the “Resume Collect” employers to whom you submitted materials? If not, now is a good time to follow up to check on the status of your applications.
• Have you followed up with the employers with whom you interviewed to thank them for the interview and reiterate your interest in the position?

2. Take stock of your Fall Recruitment experience. Before beginning the next wave of applications, evaluate the effectiveness of your current strategies:
• Are your written materials getting you the interviews you want? If not, meet with an LCS counselor for some feedback.
• Are your interviews going well? Again, meeting with a counselor at LCS may help you identify ways to present yourself more effectively with your next round of interviews.

Moving forward:
Most employers do not hire through organized recruiting programs. Do not be discouraged if Fall Recruitment did not yield a job for you.

Instead, focus on other employers who have yet to hire. Consider small firms, government agencies, public interest organizations, courts and general counsel offices. Many of these offices do not hire more than a semester in advance. Identifying these opportunities may be challenging, since many of these offices do not publish job listings. By working with LCS staff and conducting targeted research, you can learn to identify these opportunities and develop an effective approach.

Remember: Avoid the trap of focusing more on the employers who did not select you for interviews than the ones who did. Not being selected for an interview is not the same thing as being rejected by the employer. There may be many factors at stake that are outside of your control. It is best to concentrate on what you can control, invest in the employers who show interest in you, and always project positive energy. Remember, you only need one job!

Fall Recruitment Application Quick Tips

In reviewing the applications students submitted for our first Fall Recruitment deadline, we noticed a few common blunders. To help you avoid committing these same errors in the materials you submit for the September 4 deadline, we've put together a quick list of application tips:

• Review LCS's resume handout (link) to ensure that your resume conforms to the legal resume format.
  


• When referring to the employer in the body of the cover letter, be sure that you are addressing the correct office/organization (i.e. do not write about wanting to work for the San Francisco Office of the Public Defender in a letter intended for the Contra Costa Office of the Public Defender).
  


• Check to see if your resume spills over onto two pages. A number of resumes were uploaded with only one line on the second page.
  


• When creating an unofficial transcript, include your GPA summaries for every semester and cumulatively.
  


• Double and triple check your use of punctuation and verb conjugations.
  


• When writing about your current position on your resume, use the present tense.
  


• Do not include more materials than requested by the employer (i.e. if the employer only requests a resume and a cover letter, do not also upload an unofficial transcript).
  


• In the salutation, use "Dear Mr./Ms." and then a colon (:), not a comma.
  


• Be consistent with the way you write the name of your former employers, both on the resume and in your cover letter.
  


• Proofread, proofread, proofread. And then have someone else proofread your materials for you.