Avoid this Interviewing Mistake!
The most egregious mistake a prospective associate can make on her interview is to show a lack of curiosity about the firm. Strangely, it's also the most common mistake. "At the end of the interview, I always ask if they have any other questions," says McCormick. "If they say they don't have any questions, I know they're not really interested in making sure they're a good fit for Kirkland. Basically, the name of the institution ends the analysis -- they have no interest in the firm beyond the name, so they can tell their parents and their friends they work at XYZ law firm. And they get this from law schools. Law schools fall into the same trap, so they don't teach curiosity to their graduates. The idea that big firms are fungible is just laughable."
Associates agree. "Be sure to have at least 10 to 15 questions about the firm and about the work they do or about the position for which you are interviewing ready to ask the interviewer. There will always be an opportunity to ask questions and it looks REALLY bad if you don't have any questions prepared," says one associate.
"Don't lose sight of fact that you are interviewing for a job," warns a hiring partner. "Students tend to deify law firms and forget that they're employers. The elephant in the room is the money the law firm is offering to the associate. Firms are particularly sensitive about that money, so they want you to be able to come up with another reason you're interested in the firm. Even just saying that you have talked to one associate at the firm or even that you've studied the firm web site can make a big difference."
Last year, law firm hiring took a nosedive. The number of job offers made to 2Ls who got callback interviews fell from 63 percent in 2000 to 51 percent in 2001, according to NALP, and many experts feared this year's recruiting season would bring another big drop. So far, that doesn't appear to be the case. If you are looking in a weak market, you may have to work even harder to impress your interviewer. One premier law school career counselor has cautioned that finding a corporate law position is significantly harder than finding almost any other kind of position. He counsels students to pick another area if they have any interest in it. If corporate is what they really want, he advises them to read the business sections of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times daily for three months before the interview.
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