5 Tips for 1L Interviews

As the New Year is well underway many 1L’s will soon be interviewing for the TCDIP 1L Summer Clerkship Program.  Here are 5 quick tips to help you 1L’s get ready to look and sound your best!

1) Do your research!  Do not assume that all firms are the same.  Pay attention to the different areas of practice, key clients, and such minor details like whether you are interviewing with a litigation shop or a full service law firm doing both litigation and transactional work.  If you want to work as a transactional lawyer, DO NOT go into an interview with a litigation shop and ask to do transactional work.  Sadly, this happens all the time. Do your homework.

2) Phone interviews do not lower the bar!  Before interview season begins, please make sure your voicemail message is professional.  And when you answer the phone for an interview, make sure you do so in a professional manner.  DO NOT answer the phone sitting at a coffee shop or while driving.  Background noise must be kept at a minimum and you need to sound relaxed, prepared and thus professional.

3) Know your resume and yourself.  You must be able to explain how your work experience(s), your first year in law school and your extracurricular experience(s) will benefit the employer. Keep in mind that anything on your resume is fair game for discussion. Since all 1Ls have limited legal experience, it’s important to consider what other experience, skills and personality traits you have that may prove useful in the practice of law.  Be prepared to explain how and why you should be hired over your peers.  What distinguishes you from all the others?

4) Treat everyone your encounter with respect.  First impressions matter, from the receptionist, to the recruiter, to the administrator sitting outside the partner or associate office, people talk and their opinions matter to the people they work for.  These are the same people who can make or break you if you get the job. There’s a simple rule for every casual encounter — BE KIND.

5) Dress for success. Dress conservatively and  practically, blue, black, brown or grey are best.  For women DO NOT wear heals you cannot walk in and/or a skirt you cannot sit in.  I cannot tell you how many interviews I have been through where people are so uncomfortable in their suit it makes me uncomfortable.  Be practical and feel good in what you are wearing.  It matters.