As the semester draws to a close, on campus interviews are officially approaching. I went into further detail about what OCI is exactly in another blog post, check it out! In the past, OCI took place in blocks of hotel rooms or in law school libraries. Since the pandemic, OCI has been virtual using platforms such as FloRecruit. I believe most schools are planning to continue OCI virtually for the foreseeable future, but this will be school-dependent so check in with your career services center if you are unsure. Also since the pandemic, firms have been filling an increasing number of their summer associate positions through pre-OCI so make sure you stay in the know there too.
When I was preparing for my interviews, I was anxious about the types of questions my interviewers would ask. To hopefully give you a laugh and some insight into what you can expect in a screener interview, I have listed some of the questions I was asked, ranked from reasonable to ludicrous. I also provide some advice about the ways you can prepare for some of these popular interview questions. Reading a post like this would have calmed me because I prefer to have a plan, so I will give my fellow Type A law students the comfort that I did not have. That being said, don’t memorize and recite responses verbatim in your screeners, it can come across as unnatural. Depending on the interviewing attorney, it is totally possible that you are not asked any of these, too.
· “Tell me about yourself:” I hate to be the messenger of bad news, but most of my interviews started with this question. Ahead of your interviews, I would have two or three sentences ready that detail where you went to college, work experience if applicable (if you went straight through, then include your college major), what type of law you are interested in practicing and then maybe something you like to do in your free time (keep it appropriate; cooking, gardening, reading, exercising, etc.)
· “Tell me about XYZ internship/job.” Interviewers will likely ask about the internship you had after your 1L (because by the time OCI rolls around, you will probably just have finished the internship). Any work experience before law school is on the table as well. For these questions, have an anecdote about a time you had to think through a complex issue and be ready to describe your typical responsibilities.
· “What do you like to do in your free time?” Your interviewer will likely ask you some academic or work related questions, but don’t be alarmed if they start trending in a non-work direction. In fact, embrace it and go with the flow. Attorneys, especially those at large firms, work a ton and your interviewer could simply be looking for a change in conversational scenery.
· “Why do you want to work here?” This question will require some research. Unless you have inside knowledge about the positive culture of a certain firm or your desired field of practice, just do a quick Google search on any relevant awards the firm has recently won. This information can be found on Law360 or Chambers. You could also look up recent big deals or cases the firm has posted on their website or LinkedIn.
· “What was your favorite 1L Class?” To be honest, this question caught me off guard at first. Just have a class in mind and a brief explanation of why you enjoyed it. I was also asked what my least favorite class was so similar advice would apply there as well.
· “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” GAG.
· “Do you read the Wall Street Journal, please give me a headline from this week?” I found this question too intense and the second half to be just ridiculous. That being said, current events could come up in your interviews so try to be generally informed. Don’t go crazy, though.
· “What were the facts of Marbury v. Madison?” So yeah, this one was ludicrous. The context here is that the interviewer asked me about my favorite 1L course and then took an unwelcome probe into my favorite case from that course. As you can probably guess, my initial response was Con Law and then Marbury v. Madison. The inclusion of this question was for a laugh, I don’t think we need to spend more time on it, it is very rare you will be asked something like this. Certainly don’t stress about it.
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