The
other day, I received a telephone call from an alumna who needed to talk about
what she called “some really bad” legal job interviews that she had just gone
through. She was frustrated, angry and
quite indignant at some of the tactics and questions that she had to endure
during recent interviews in a major metropolitan city.
“What
happened?” I had asked. … Here is a
flavor of various employer questions and experiences that she had just undergone:
·
“So, as a
young woman, I was wondering what you thought about getting married and whether you might have any plans in that area?”
(These are all paraphrases but on point);
·
“This is
ONLY your third interview? Well, you
really can’t be all that serious about your job search. …You should have had more
than ten interviews by now.”
·
After an exhausted fifty-five minute interview
of mostly irrelevant (to the job, anyway)
and sophomoric questions by a
younger associate, she was asked the “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would
you be?” question;
·
At one
firm, she was kept waiting for her interview over one hour past the appointed
time with no explanation or apology;
More
examples, but let’s stop here.
So
what should she have done? How should a
law student or young lawyer response? Hang in there with the interviewer? Walk
out of the interview? Write a letter to the managing partner afterwards?
Perhaps all are options, when situations warrant.
The Interview as a “Game Day” Metaphor
When I played
high school basketball, our coach would always warn us before a road game not
to get distracted with crowd noise, taunting, or any other unpleasantries that
might come our way when we took the court. We were to stay focused on executing
the game plan that he had laid out for us. . . “if you lose, I want it to be because you just missed your shots, NOT because you lost your
focus!”
I would pass on similar advice to law students and
young lawyers during the interview process. You need to prepare a “game plan”
for your interview. Do some research and know as much about the firm, agency or
non-profit as humanly possible (not just
the website). Try and identify who your interviewer is (call and ask), and have
good questions ready (never ask anything that can be found on the website or
you have already “fouled-out” of the interview).
Take your game plan in with you for your interview and
do not get distracted or lose your focus if you find yourself confronted by an inexperienced
or rude interviewer. It will take but a few questions to realize if you have
indeed entered into “interview hell.” If you have, do an immediate internal
“gut check” and tell yourself that you are NOT going to let this person
distract you from accomplishing what you set out to do – execute your game plan and give yourself the best possible opportunity
to land this job, or get yourself to the next round of interviews. Be
pleasant, smile when appropriate, stay focused, answer each question and find the
opportunity to turn the interview into a conversation.
Admittedly, this may not be the easiest advice to
follow. This is especially true given the pressures that law students and young
lawyers are experiencing in the current job market. However, you need to find the self-confidence
to engage any type of interviewer. If you anticipate the possibility of the
“interviewer from hell” you will be prepared to execute your game plan no
matter what he/she throws your way. Here are a few tips on how to proceed in
such situations:
·
Don’t get angry or start to lose your
temper. You will lose your ability to remain professional;
·
Deflect the question.
Take control and move the discussion to “safer” territory (i.e. any question that borders on the family/marriage question, can
be handled light heartedly and then moved to an ancillary topic (i.e. a “work/personal life” balance
discussion);
·
Redirect the discussion with a question
of your own asked for clarification. It will give you time to think of where
you want to go with the question (careful here: don’t be snarky yourself!)
·
Regroup and get back to some of the
points that you have prepared to make as if you were an appellate attorney who
has been taken off point by a judge’s question. Get back to topics like your
skill set, your prior experiences, your academic record . . . all the things
that you have prepared to say on your behalf.
Don’t leave the room before you say all the positive things that you had
planned, no matter how far afield the interviewer’s “adventurous” questions may
go;
·
Relax and be yourself – you’ve come this far and
you, no doubt, earned this interview. You may not get the position but never
let anyone – even a prospective employer – intimidate you and/or make you cower
or get defensive.
I will say
again that during the course of a stressful job interview, it may be difficult
to follow this advice and to “perform” well in the light of a barrage of snarky
questions by your interviewer. I still am of the opinion that if you have
prepared properly for your interview, you will have sufficient information and
the wherewithal to get through it as best you can. Even the worst of interviews
are a learning experience and provide you with experience to use in the future,
so all is not lost.
For those rare
interviews that become simply “intolerable” due to comments and questions that
cross the line on a personal level, you may simply excuse yourself and politely
indicate that you are taking yourself out of consideration for the position
with a thoughtful recourse (i.e. a letter
to the firm or agency) considered afterward. I have not encountered such a
situation. However, I am not sufficiently naive to believe that such an
interview would never occur to someone.
Be positive,
and have energy during each of your interviews. May you never run into a “rough
crowd” on the road. But, if you do – be prepared, stay focused and execute the
game plan. Even if you don’t get the job, you are still a winner!
Philip A. Guzman, Esq.
