You do not need to convince the potential employer about your skills. You only need to convince them about four main things - you are capable of doing the job, your superiors can manage you, you are committed to staying in the firm for the long haul, and you are likable/will fit in. All of your answers to the interview questions and your questions during the interview should reflect these four things.
This article provides you with the types of questions you should avoid asking during your law firm job interview. Some of them might seem completely fine to you but when you look at it from the potential employer's point of view, asking these questions before getting the job tells them there might be a problem with you. It is always better to find answers to these questions without explicitly asking them or postpone asking them until after being hired.
Asking Questions Showing, You Are Not Capable of Doing the Job
Although your resume and experiences tell something about your skills for the job, most interviewers try to find additional details with their interview questions and by closely watching you. This helps them determine whether you can do the exact job they want to hire you. They want to be sure that you will be able to do what they ask you to in the manner they require.
Asking About Working From Home
Many job candidates ask about the possibility of working from home at their first job interview, and that is a big mistake. FaceTime is usually essential in law firms, especially the big ones, where you work in a team of people and often need to attend meetings or discuss assignments. If you ask such a question, the hiring manager will think that you will find every opportunity not to come into the office. If the law firm allows or encourages work from home, they will bring it up independently.
Asking About Working Hours
You should avoid asking about the number of hours associates generally bill in the firm or whether they have to work weekends. Employers want to hire attorneys dedicated to doing everything to finish their tasks and represent their clients. It does not matter if that means working every day on weekends or spending at night for a few months or when you are finalizing an enormous task, like filing a motion. Asking about hours only tells the interviewers that you might not be willing to work as hard as the firm expects you to and opt for another candidate.
Asking Too Eagerly About When You Can Start While You Are Employed
When you are currently employed, avoid asking how quickly the firm will make its hiring decision. It always raises red flags to interviewers. They will start wondering whether you have lost your last job and are trying to quickly find another placement during the period you were given to find another job. If they feel like you are too eager to start because you might have lost your job, they will usually not investigate further but choose someone else instead.
Asking About Wanting To Do Other Types of Work Than the One Interviewed For
When a corporate market is slow, it is common for corporate attorneys to go into litigation, or litigators may want to go into corporate when the litigation market slows down. These attorneys then sometimes ask about the other type of work when they are interviewing for a firm, which is a big mistake in the employer's eyes.
Law firms want to hire experts that are dedicated to their practice area. When interviewing someone for a litigator position, the last thing they want to hear is whether they could also do corporate work. If the firm does not see a 100% commitment from a candidate, it is significantly disadvantaged.
Asking Questions That Indicate Unwillingness To Do Certain Type of Work
When employers hire new attorneys, they expect them to do everything that is needed from them. So, asking whether you will have to do discovery or document review tasks or contract/junior attorneys for this type of work can rub the interviewers the wrong way.
Unfortunately, many attorneys believe that after they have gained some experience, they should not have to do particular "lower-level" work. That is not the right attitude to have. If a task needs to be done for a client, you should be willing to do it. That is what employers expect. If a firm sense that you feel above some types of work based on the questions you ask, the firm will not want to employ you.
Asking Questions That Indicate That You Are Not Sure About Doing Certain Type of Work
Another mistake is asking illegal interview questions that tell the interviewers that you are nervous about doing certain types of work. Those are questions, such as Do I have to argue in court? Or Do I have to talk to clients face-to-face?
Every attorney has some work they are not the best in or are unsure about this. The key is not letting others know about it, especially in a law firm interview. If a firm feels that you are uncertain about doing something, they will find someone who does not have a problem.
Asking Things About the Law Firm That Are Publicly Available
Asking illegal interview questions about the firm where the information is available publicly shows that you have not researched the firm beforehand and are probably not serious enough about the firm. Questions such as their significant clients, transactions, or the size of the team in specific practice areas of the firm are generally available on their website or in an article about them. Therefore, research before going into a legal interview.
Asking About Travel
If you ask about whether you will have to travel or how often that would be, it indicates that you might have a problem with this. However, it is an integral part of the job, so the firm will not hire you if you have a problem.
Asking About Performance Reviews
Legal interview questions about how performance reviews are done or how often you can expect them are indications to the potential employer that you are concerned about the reviews. They might think that you have had negative reviews in the past, and that is why you are concerned, which automatically disqualifies you.
Asking About Something That Has Already Been Said in the Job Interview
It is appropriate to ask if the interviewer can repeat something or ask about something mentioned before as if it had never been saying back. It only tells them that you are not paying attention and do not take the interview (or the firm) seriously.
Asking About References
Asking whether the interviewer wants to see your references is never a good idea. It is the employer's responsibility to ask about concerns according to their hiring process. It only raises questions about why you feel the need to bring attention to it.
Asking About Whether There Will Be Someone To Help You With Things You Do Not Know
Asking whether someone can edit your documents for you only shows that you cannot do this yourself and that there are weaknesses to your work. It would be best if you never drew attention to something like this.
Asking About Work That Does Not Bring Money to the Firm
It would help if you never asked about doing pro bono work or whether the firm could pay for your education during an interview. It tells them that you are interested in doing other work than billing hours for the firm, which means you do not want to bring in as much money as possible.
Asking Questions Showing You Cannot or Do Not Want To Be Managed
Every employer wants to hire employees who will follow their directions, respect the hierarchy in the firm, and not pose problems. It is vital for the smooth functioning of any firm and any team of people, so interviewers are looking for any clue that might reveal otherwise.
Asking Questions Showing You Think the Work is Beneath You
It is just not a good look asking how soon can you get more responsibility and get ahead. In large law firms, you need patience and willingness to do any work.
Asking About Having Supporting Employees
When you ask whether you will have a secretary or other supporting staff, employers can hear that you expect to manage people, not be overlooked. That can steer the employer away from hiring you.
Asking About Negative Things You Have Heard/Read About the Firm
It would be best to never ask about a negative review of the firm you have read online or about attorneys recently leaving the firm that you have heard from a colleague. Focusing on the negative tells the employers that you might be hard to manage and easily influenced by other opinions.
Asking About Accommodations for Special Needs (Related to Health, Religion, etc.)
You asked the employer whether you could leave earlier because of a religious holiday or whether you could have a zero-floor office because of health issues. Firms are obligated to accommodate for special or spiritual needs of their employees. However, that is something you can deal with once you have the offer. Bringing it up during a job interview will only tell them that you might be challenging to manage and alienate before you even get into the firm.
Asking About Your Office
Asking if you will have your own office or where it will be might not seem like an issue (and maybe it is not for you), but some people are very particular about their offices and create problems around not getting what they want. If you ask about this during your interview, the employer might think that you belong to this type of attorney and will not want to hire someone who will bring additional problems.
Asking About the Management of the Firm
Unless you are interviewing for a management position, you should never ask about the management or higher decision-making in the firm during your interview. You are probably years from having any say in the firm's command, so why ask about it.
Asking About Personal Information About the Interviewer/Employer
It would be best if you never asked questions about things, such as the marital status of the interviewer, how many children they have, what hobbies they have, etc. Those are off-limits.
Asking About Parking
Are questions about where you can park as an associate the ones you should be asking in your law firm interview?
Asking About Benefits
You should not be asking about health insurance, 401(k), or any other benefits during your interview. That is something to find out once you get an offer and know what the job entails.
Asking About Being in Contact With Clients and Going on Pitches
Contact with clients is a big issue for many attorneys, and many leave their firms if they do not get enough opportunities in this aspect. But questions about when you will be able to go on pitches or how much individual contact with clients you will have should be left after you have been hired.
Asking About the Stability of the Firm
It would be best if you did not draw attention to recent layoffs of the firm or ask about the current stability. Law firms highly depend on the state of the practice area and economy and go through better and worse periods. Asking about the current equilibrium will only tell the employer that you will leave at the first instance of problems.
Asking About the Quality of the Supporting Personnel
Law firms generally do not like it when you ask about the quality of the support staff or whether they are happy. Many law firms are just not equipped to have the top quality of support staff, and if you ask about it, they will think it will cause problems.
Asking About Controversial Political and Diversity Issues
You should not bring up political, social, religious, and other controversial topics at all. Most law firms welcome the shift for better treatment of women, various minorities, religious groups, and those with a different sexual orientation. However, most prominent law firms have also been sued because of these issues, so they get scared when someone brings this up.
If this is an essential subject for the firm and is trying to work on it, they will find themselves.
Asking About Special Perks Provided by the Firm
If you ask about special perks, such as care services, assistants to run errands, cleaners, etc., it shows your potential employer that you are focusing on the wrong things. It is always better to avoid these questions during interviews.
Asking Questions That Reveal That You do not Want To Do the Job Long-Term
Recruiting and onboarding new employees is a long and expensive process that no firm wants to experience too often. Attorneys responsible for recruitment would much rather spend their time billing hours to clients. So if a firm thinks that you will not stay with them long-term, they will probably not hire you.
Asking About Raises, Bonuses, and Other Financial Compensation
As a young attorney, you should not ask how bonuses are calculated or when you will get your next raise. Those are the times to get as much experience and meet as many people as possible. If the law firm thinks you are too concerned about money, they may not select you as they believe you will leave the firm when you get a better offer.
Asking Questions, You Want Immediate Responsibility
When you ask how soon you can get this or this responsibility, it only shows that you are unwilling to wait and will leave if you do not get commitments soon.
Asking About Possible Partnership Advancement
This includes questions like when will you be evaluated for a partner, how fast anyone in the firm has ever received an offer for partnership, how many associates make partners on average, etc. If you ask about this during the interview, the firm will think you will leave without making partners fast.
Asking About Time-Off (Parental Leave, Vacation)
Information about how long a person gets when they have a child or how many vacation days they get is usually found out through the work contract once you get hired, so it is pointless to bring it up in the interview. It can also be viewed because you should be interested in doing the work and not avoiding it.
Asking About People Who Do Not Work in the Firm Anymore
It would be best if you were not asking where people from the firm go next. It is just not a good look.
Asking Questions Showing That You Are not Enthusiastic About Working
Any questions that are not directly connected to the firm, the interviewer, or the work show that you might not be that happy about working in the firm and will disqualify you.
Asking Questions Showing You May Not Be Likable for Attorneys in the Firm
It is always better if you have good relationships with your peers and superiors in your law firm. Therefore, the hiring managers try to figure out whether the people in the firm will find you likable, and if you ask questions that suggest otherwise, it will disqualify you.
Asking About (Former) Employees Who May Not Be Liked
It would be best if you were very careful about the people you bring up during an interview. If you ask about someone who is not liked in the office or who left on bad terms, it may paint you in a negative light.
Asking About Whose Client Someone Is
It is common to talk with partners about current clients and cases during an interview. However, it would help if you did not ask whether the client is your talking partner. They may belong to someone else, and bringing attention to it might make them feel bad.
Asking About Attorneys in the Office Who You Find Weird/Funny
If you think someone you met during the recruiting process in the firm seems off, do not bring it up in the following interview. The interviewers may believe that if you make fun of someone else in the office, you will eventually do the same, affecting their hiring decisions.
Asking Questions Showing You Have Privileged Background
It would be best if you did not ask whether attorneys in the office play golf, squash, ride horses, go on vacations to incredible places, etc. The law industry is a middle-class profession for the most part, so bringing attention to your privileged background might rub the interviewer the wrong way.
Asking About Going Out After Work
Although asking about where people from work go after work together might seem like an innocent question, you never know whether the particular attorney interviewing you is or is not included in after-work activities. Asking the attorney who does not fit in well might make them feel wrong about you.
Asking About Interviewer's Personal Information
You should avoid asking very personal questions about the interviewer's life. These include their family status, racial or religious background, sexual orientation, how many children they have, where they live, questions about their law school, who knew or when graduated, why they left their previous law firm, etc. Those are all very personal, and the interviewer might not want to talk about them or bring up some negative memories. It is always better to avoid these types of questions.
See also:
- Top 23 Law Firm Interview Tips for Attorneys and Law Students: How to Excel in Law Firm Interviews
- What Does It Mean If I Haven't Heard From a Law Firm after an Application/Interview?
- How to Talk about Other Interviews in Your Interviews
