GREETINGS law open eats readers,
interviewing tips are a popular request these days so let’s get right into it
→ 3 things I wish I’d known before OCI:
1. STORYTELL
The point is to get your interviewers to want to know more. No one likes q and a’s. They’re easy to read and they’re easy to ignore.
People gravitate toward natural conversations that flow!
Think of it like this - what is the reason many people give for not download dating apps? They say they want to meet someone naturally!
Well with OCI you’re already on tinder - the firms are coming to you! It is an area, solely set up for you to interview for an opportunity to work there!
Best you can do is make that interview as natural as possible.
You don’t answer your friends’ questions about “how’s life going” with yes or no’s, ending with a network-y line that shows off your gpa and class rank.
Your friends know you already, they don’t need to hear the pitch.
Similarly, firms have access to your GPAs and class list.
They want to see who you are outside of that and how you communicate that.
(image credit: https://blog.graduateadmissions.wvu.edu/the-summit-ahead/4-reasons-the-art-of-storytelling-is-essential-to-marketing-communications-professionals)
2. Jokes - if you can
OCI is exhausting because it’s round after round after round of interviews.
But here’s the thing: you’re not the only tired one in that zoom room. There is a lawyer in that room with you, who has taken on hours and hours of interviewing ON TOP OF their client affairs and billable hours.
That lawyer is the most tired one in that room.
So try to brighten the mood, make it worth their while!
A little humor can go a long way.
HOT TIP: appropriate humor! remember AS YOUR TORTS CLASS TAUGHT YOU→ be REASONABLE, BE A REASONABLE PERSON IN YOUR HUMOR!
3. The Interest Section at the End of your Resume
I got asked about the interest section way more than you’d expect.
Putting something quirky on there can take a normal interview and turn it into a great one!
It also gives lawyers a break from asking about your favorite classes, and why law, and why this firm. This is the time to let your personality SHINE!
STORYTIME: I once talked with an attorney about Neil Gaiman’s Sandman for the whole 30 min of my callback. We didn’t even mention the firm, but I learned more about the firm through that conversation than all the Linkedin descriptions in the world.
(image credit: https://ew.com/books/2018/03/01/neil-gaiman-sandman-universe-comics/)
ok that’s it for today folks, I got to go learn how congress can tax and spend 4 the general welfare..
and wear sunscreen!!
next post will be 3 things i wish i’d known before starting law school (for all you NEW 1LS OUT THERE)
xoxo law open eats out