Making the most of your interview

In the eighth of their series of “Interview Strategies” articles on law.com, legal search consultants Valerie Fontaine and Roberta Kass offer tips on how to prepare for the “So, do you have any questions for us” portion of the interview.  As the authors note, the answer to that question had better be “Yes,” not only because that’s what your interviewers want to hear, but also because an interview really is as much an opportunity for you to learn about a potential employer as it is a means for the employer to evaluate you as a candidate. (Of course, that’s no news to members of the Gen-Y Slackoisie, for whom “having a job is an entitlement, rather than a privilege.”)

In addition to providing more general advice—don’t ask questions whose answers are readily available on the internet, do ask questions that suggest you’ve done your homework,  don’t bring up money—Fontaine and Kass include a list of 30 sample questions, addressing such things as firm culture (“How would you describe the culture or personality of this firm?”), work assignments (“How are matters staffed? How many attorneys on a case/transaction?”) and business outlook (“Which of the firm’s practice areas are expanding? Contracting? What new practice areas is the firm moving into?”). While obviously not exhaustive, it’s a useful starting point for thinking about what really matters to you in your career and what you hope to achieve by this move.

- posted by vera