How to Prepare for a Law Firm Interview...

[Erin]

Hi everyone, how is your week going for far? 😊

Who here can relate to this situation?:

"Your phone goes off. You know that sound - it’s an email notification. You open your inbox, and there it is. The email you’ve been waiting for for weeks. You tentatively hover over it. Ok, breathe, click… YES! The firm has invited you to an interview! After calling your friends and family, it starts to become very real. The interview is in two weeks, there’s so much to do, where do you start?"

Sound familiar? I wanted to jump into the forum today to share with you some advice to help you prepare for your interviews, whether it be for a training contract or vacation scheme.

Here are 5 things you can do to prepare:

1. Research the firm’s practice areas: This is a key way of showing the interviewer that you are invested in joining the firm because of the work that they do, not just to gain a training contract. You don’t need to memorise every department, focus on the practice areas that the firm specialises in, and familiarise yourself with those. Say the firm has a large Tech department, and you are interested in working in this area - focus on this!
2. Choose a commercial awareness news story: Trying to learn every detail about every commercial news story in the space of two weeks isn’t realistic. Pick one that interests you, and learn it inside out. Read every update, make notes of key details, and discuss it with someone else aloud if you can.
3. Research the firm’s current deals: You will most likely be asked a question in your interview surrounding the firm’s recent deals. You can’t be expected to know every deal that the firm is working on, but it’s important to have basic knowledge of the most relevant ones at the time of your interview. Find out what deals the firm is currently working on, note down key details, which departments are involved, and start to think about how the deal will impact the firm as a business.
4. Read over your application: When writing applications to a host of different firms, it can be difficult to remember exactly what you’ve written. Your interviewer could bring up any aspect of your application - be prepared by reading over your application ahead of time, and re-familiarise yourself with your answers. The last thing you want to happen here is to confuse your answers with an application you submitted to a different firm!
5. Practise your answers aloud: Often the way you would answer a question in written form is different to how you would actually answer it in conversation. To avoid sounding like you’re reading from a script in your interview, note down the key points you want to discuss, and practise answering them aloud to a friend or family member. If you can’t find someone to practise with, try recording yourself. Watch yourself back and see how your answers come across from the interviewer’s perspective - this may be uncomfortable at first, but it’s a great way to refine your answers, and ensure they are coming across in the way you intend.

I can hear you saying, “This is great for preparation Erin, but how do I actually answer the interview questions?” Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

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I hope you found this useful, feel free to share any interview preparation tips of your own in this thread!

Erin 😊