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Carrie,
This might surprise you, but I would try not to focus on any of that! You have 20 or 30 precious minutes to communicate to the employer that you are prepared, interested and a great fit with the employer. Time spent on anything else is not in furtherance of that goal. So do what you can to save all of those questions for after the interview (i.e. by email), if at all.
Jack,
First is to recognize that if they selected you for an interview, they see something there that makes them think you can do the work. In other words, you’ve passed an initial test! Interviews are generally about interaction, communication and fit, so keep your focus on that and less about your academics.
Hey Jack! Is there an OCI angle to your question? If so let me know. If not I’ll email you separately so we can keep this OCI focused.
Hey Taylor! Not entirely sure I understand the sample question. Are you asking what level of work do junior associates get?
I think the best way to make questions firm specific is to use clients or cases you can read about online to form the context. So if the firm helped put together the Sirius/XM merger deal, you might cite that specifically and ask what role did the junior associates play.
I also think looking at matters individual attorneys list in their bios as what they have worked on can help form good substantive questions as well that are firm-specific.
DH
By the way, be sure to click on the Subscribe button on the bottom-right to get an email when a new blog post goes up!
DH
Hey Joanna! I think it is understandable and reasonable to not have decided on a practice area(s) at this point in your law school career. And I think most employers feel the same. That said, I think most do expect you to have a leaning toward litigation or corporate/transactional, even if you aren’t sure.
Further, you still need to demonstrate you have researched the firm, because they want to know why you want to work for them. And if practice area isn’t the reason, you need something else. Maybe it’s their culture, their pro bono program, the types of clients they have (e.g. certain industry clients or mid-sized businesses). Maybe there is a specific attorney at the firm who is interesting to you. Find something that you can talk about in the interview that connects for them why you want to work there.
DH
Hey Kush! 1) Happy to visit about specific employers as always; and 2) The truth is there is an enormous range of question types that can be/have been asked in an OCI interview. Could you get a hypo? Yes. Likely? Not at all. Could you get a question like “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?” Yes. Likely? Not at all.
Here is what I would focus on: 1) be prepared to give 60-90 seconds about you, how you got to where you are and why you want to work with THAT employer; 2) try to bring all your answers around to what you believe are your strengths, 3) use examples to back up everything, and 4) have great, substantive (i.e. not questions about process and callbacks, etc.) questions to ask that are specific to that employer.
Great question!
Hey Savannah! You should assume they are offering all offices to all students, and work from there. Some asked for an office preference list during the bidding process; if they didn’t, they will likely ask you in the interview. Just be prepared to answer the question of which location(s) you are interested in and WHY!
