Law Firm Interview Guide By Current Associates Forum

[LawFirmInterviews]

Hi all, I'm a V15 associate in NY, and a friend and I (we are litigation and corporate respectively) are writing a guide to help folks navigate the job search process. Our guide distills in detail the exact steps of the job hunting process, from bidding to mass mailing, from the screener to the second look. We want to use our experiences to supply a road map for interviewing efficiently, effectively, and successfully.

Check our our website, which has a bunch of articles on all these things, at http://www.lawfirminterviews.com. If you like what you see, feel free to PM or e-mail us to ask questions, and we're happy to help guide you this OCI season.

Thanks! And good luck!

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Our Site: http://www.lawfirminterviews.com
Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.lawfirminterviews.com/faq
The 2015 law firm interview Bible: http://www.lawfirminterviews.com/law-fi ... view-bible

[Johann]

just box up itbdvorms thread and youd have it comprehensively covered

[LadyProspero]

just box up itbdvorms thread and youd have it comprehensively covered

I've looked around for this thread and can't find it. Would you mind linking it if it isn't too much trouble? Thanks!

[Johann]

just box up itbdvorms thread and youd have it comprehensively covered

I've looked around for this thread and can't find it. Would you mind linking it if it isn't too much trouble? Thanks!

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... m#p8749450

[LawFirmInterviews]

just box up itbdvorms thread and youd have it comprehensively covered

I've looked around for this thread and can't find it. Would you mind linking it if it isn't too much trouble? Thanks!

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... m#p8749450

haha yeah, good stuff in there. However, we have a more clear mission and more condensed, accessible how-to guide. The website delivers a roadmap and extensive strategy on how to get the job, with as little subjectivity as possible, and as much packed-in information and tips as we can squeeze in. We waste no breath on characterizing and speculating, and the guide itself is jam packed with exact how to's: from bidding to the second look, in step by step, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 style.

Of course, we're happy to answer your questions and give hands on advice directly, we take calls from our customers, provide direct advice to their specific issues, and do as much as we can to guide our customers. Feel free to PM us and we'll be happy to take your calls and speak directly.

Good luck!

[timmyd]

Is there info in the "bible" about screening interviews for post clerkship positions?

[LawFirmInterviews]

Is there info in the "bible" about screening interviews for post clerkship positions?

Unfortunately not, but I've interviewed a whole slew of post-clerkship candidates, and have found that there is no difference between candidates in school or post-clerkship in the interview process, except that the post-clerkship candidate (depending on the clerkship) got through the cutoff level at HR better. The guide has a lot of info on how to interview in any circumstance.

Happy to chat with you privately, feel free check out what's on the website first and reach out to us with any of your questions directly.

[LawFirmInterviews]

There's a thread on TLS in the Employment Forum on what types of questions to ask during the interview. There's some good stuff in the thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=252011

Here's our take on this topic: How to Ask the Right Questions During law firm interviews http://www.lawfirminterviews.com/articl ... during-law

The law firm interview Bible has a complete set of sample questions to ask. They're designed such that you can ask them in every interview (as opposed to having to memorize different questions for different firms/interviewers). Also, the questions are open-ended enough to allow you and the interviewer to fill up an entire interview if need be (i.e. you get one of those interviewers who sits down and says, your resume looks great, what are your questions for me?).

[El Pollito]

wow the first article i saw is really poorly written

and isn't this spam since you want people to pay for it?

[ManoftheHour]

Didn't buy the product yet but OP is chill.

[LawFirmInterviews]

Didn't buy the product yet but OP is chill.

Thank you!

wow the first article i saw is really poorly written

and isn't this spam since you want people to pay for it?

Which one? Happy to take feedback. This is the right forum for our posts -- we are posting free advice and links to free articles.

Keep the questions coming!

[LawFirmInterviews]

For those of you starting OCI, take a look at this article, should be useful in getting in the door with the right mindset.
http://www.lawfirminterviews.com/articl ... interviews

[ManoftheHour]

I have 24 screeners split between 2 back to back days. Should I prepare a cheat sheet to use before each firm interview or is that too much work for too little gain? I was thinking just on information on what each firm socialized in and what practice areas.

What should I actually be doing to prepare?

[LawFirmInterviews]

Hey,

Thanks for your question.

You have the right idea. With such a tightly packed schedule, you should have a small cheat sheet that contains a few quick facts about the firm and the interviewer. The idea is to be able to glance at it for a few minutes or so before you head into the interview so you know: 1) which firm/office you're interviewing with (trust me, this will get confusing with an average of 12 interviews a day) 2) the firm's practice areas (so you don't tell a lit boutique you want to do transactional work) and 3) anything notable about the interviewer (e.g. that you both went to the same law school or undergrad).

In terms of preparing for OCI, with OCI around the corner, I'd say it's a mix of 1) hustling for more interviews and 2) practicing for interviews.

1) 24 screeners is pretty good, especially if they are pre-select. Doesn't hurt to get more though (we've seen plenty of people with 20+ screeners strike out at T14/T6 schools). It's worth it to go all out on this front: mass mail, cash in on your networking contacts, hit up hospitality suites and open sign-ups during OCI, knock on doors during OCI early in the morning/during lunch breaks for firms that you bid on but didn't get an interview with.

2) Practice answering the most commonly asked questions and asking questions to the point where you are doing everything naturally and smoothly. What you say shouldn't be memorized word for word, which is too robotic, but should be well-rehearsed. You can practice on your own, but the best form of practice is mock interviews. Do more mock interviews than you think you need. I did 2 and thought I was good to go, then I did 5 more practice interviews, and still wasn't "perfect" for the first real interview (it took a couple more real interviews to get to that point).

Since you have so many interviews packed in just two days, it's even more important to practice sufficiently before day 1 of OCI.

One last note: staying in the right mental state is going to be critical when you have so many interviews per day. Sometimes, you will have an interview that just goes horribly (for whatever reason). Anticipate that this is a possibility ahead of time and mentally prepare for it -- let it roll off your back and not affect any of your subsequent interviews. Also, 12 interviews a day is exhausting for you and for the interviewer (who has to do more), so you should do your best to begin each interview with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

Good luck! Feel free to ask any other questions, like specifics on how to do any of the steps we described above.

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Our Site: http://www.lawfirminterviews.com
Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.lawfirminterviews.com/faq
The 2015 law firm interview Bible: http://www.lawfirminterviews.com/law-fi ... view-bible

[LawFirmInterviews]

Hi all, OCI season is in full swing, and callbacks have begun at many places, at my law firm here in NY, we're welcoming 30 callback candidates per day for the next several weeks. To match the tenor of the season, we've written an article on callbacks to give you guys an idea of what the thought process is like from the inside of the firm. As always, feel free to ask questions right here, and we'll respond as fast as we can.

http://www.lawfirminterviews.com/articl ... llbacks-h4