Interview Tips

Here are some interview tips for law students attempting to get a biglaw job in this economy.

Relax re grades and law review. If you don't have amazing grades and you didn't make law review, then there's really nothing you can do about it. Would it have helped to have good grades and law review on your resume? Yes! Will it preclude you from getting a job to have neither on your records? No, of course not.

If you have mediocre grades and nothing to set you apart from the crowd, then you need to really make the most of the 20-30 minutes interview slot during On-Campus Interview. How do you shine? Here are some tips:

• Smile. None of that fake stuff; only the real deal. People know when you're faking your smile.
• Do your research and find out not only about the firm (this is easy), but also about the attorney (or recruiter) sent to interview you. How do you do this research? If you have the name of your interviewer in advance, then just go to the the firm's website and search for the person - read up on them and take note of their interests. For example, if you find out that your interviewer is an IP lawyer with a computer science background from UC Berkeley, but now works in NY, then take note of this and prepare to use it as a discussion point. During the interview ask him some questions based on that information (i.e., Why'd you move to NY after studying in CA?). If you don't know who your inteviewer will be, NO PROBLEM! Just do your research during the interview, spend 5-10 minutes of your interview time taking a genuine interest in the person interviewing you.
• Think: this isn't about me, it's about the person sitting in front of me. These on-campus interviews are NOT about you. Thinking that the interview is an opportunity for you to show off and sell yourself is the biggest misconception EVER. The interview is SO MUCH more about engaging the interviewer. Instead of focusing on selling yourself, focus on "entertaining" your interviewer. See what about your resume interests them and talk about that, BUT ask many more questions to figure out why they are so intrigued by that particular point. This requires you to be a good reader of body gestures and facial expressions. If you can't grasp their attention, then you've lost the game.

But all of the above is sort of a moot point if you have good grades, law review, and a decent personality - you'll get a job somewhere, somehow, no matter what.