5 Tips for Asking Questions in a Law Firm Interview
"What questions can I answer for you about the position or the firm?
It's often the last thing you hear from your interviewer in a law firm interview. It can be at the end of the interview. Or it could be halfway through. Or, occasionally, it can be the first thing an interviewer asks. When legal interviewers do this, what are they looking for? What is the right strategy for this? Here are 5 important tips to consider when asking questions in a conversation legal interview:
The interviewer is not trying to trick you here; they genuinely want to answer questions that you might have for them. This sounds basic, but it's something interviewees can forget. Because a typical law firm interview is a conversation between two lawyers, there can be the feeling that every question in an interview is some kind of "analytical reasoning test." This is not the point of the Q&A period in an interview. Remember, they were in the same position as you at some point. They may have wished they asked more questions when they interviewed with the firm themself.
Ask questions that naturally came out of the conversation that you just had. The best type of question for an interviewer is one that comes naturally from the conversation that you just had. Did your interviewer ask you lots of questions about a particular case or deal? Or maybe they were primarily focused on the reasons you want to make a lateral move? By sticking to themes that the interviewer has covered, you do a few things that make for a very successful interview. You show that you have been engaged and enjoyed the conversation. You help address any concerns or issues they may have highlighted. And, most importantly, you are making the interview easy. Just like a natural conversation.
Ask a question that will lead to good follow-up questions. If you don't have questions that naturally flow from your conversation so far, make sure that you ask questions that could lead to good follow-up questions from you. Questions like "Can you tell me about a project you are currently working on?" or "Can you tell me about a typical case/deal where you would want the associate in this position to be involved?" A pointed (but open-ended) question about work makes it easy for the interviewer to visualize you as their future colleague.
Do not read from a list of questions. If you prepared a list of questions to ask your interviewer ahead of time, do not pull this out and read from it. This will have the effect of stifling your conversation. It also signals to the interviewer that you may not have been fully engaged in your conversation thus far.
Ask questions about the firm that you think the interviewer will be able to answer. This may seem straightforward, but it's something interviewees forget about in the law firm setting. On their career websites, law firms advertise a lot of different benefits and amenities for attorneys. However, it is unlikely that every attorney knows anything and everything about what their own firm has to offer. So for example, unless a connection is clear in their online bio, don't be surprised if an attorney (even a partner) is not able to tell you about how their mentoring program is structured or the range of offerings for CLE programs. At the end of the day, every attorney can definitely answer questions about one common thing: their work. (see #3, above).