Lawyers! Get Job Ready for 2017: Interview Preparation

During February on the Legal People blog, we are bringing you a series to get yourself job ready. In this article we bring you some of our favourite job interview questions for lawyers.

How long is it since you last had a job interview? For some candidates we see it has been a long time between interviews. Interviewing is a skill you can rehearse. Many of the questions used by hiring managers are similar and some answers you can easily prepare beforehand. We have included 20 of our favourite interview questions in this article.

It is a good idea to have a prepared “elevator pitch." This helps you describe who you are, what problem you solve and what you are passionate about.

It is also a good idea to have examples to situations that you can refer to easily. You may be able to recall these off the top of your head. Otherwise, it is fine to have jotted down some notes and to ask the interviewer if they mind you referring to them. This helps prove you prepared!

For more information about how to prepare for an interview see our recent article here.

So, grab a friend, a supportive colleague or a mentor and a coffee and practice answering these!

General Questions:

1. Tell us about yourself.

2. Why are you looking to leave your current employer?

3. What has been your greatest professional accomplishment?

4. What is the biggest mistake you have made? Describe how you handled the situation.

5. What motivates you to do your best in your role?

6. What is it about our organisation that attracts you to us?

7. Is there a particular case we have handled that interests you? Why?

Financial

8. Can you describe to us your performance in relation to the last budget you were set.

Leadership & Influential Skills

9. How would you describe your leadership skills?

10. Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.

11. Have you ever had to counsel or discipline a subordinate? How did you feel about it? How did you prepare yourself?

Handling Difficult Situations

12. Can you tell us about a time when you have had to deal with a difficult client? What was the situation? How did you handle it? What was the outcome?

13. Can you tell us about a time you worked under intense pressure and how you managed it?

14. Tell us about a complex legal issue you worked on?

Marketing and Networking Skills

15. What, in your opinion are the key ingredients in building and maintaining successful business relationships?

Problem Solving

16. Tell us about a time that you have come up with an innovative solution to a problem.

Decision Making

17. Can you give us an example of when you have had to make an important decision? How did you arrive at the outcome?

Teamwork

18. How would you describe your ability to work as a member of a team?

19. Do you prefer to work in a team or on your own?

Questions Please!

20. Do you have any questions for us? (Note this one is important! Please have some questions prepared!)

You can see some suggestions from us here.

If you are looking for a role in Melbourne, Australia, then get in touch with us here at Legal People. If you enjoyed reading this article, you can follow our Company Page on LinkedIn for available roles and more career tips for the Legal Industry.