Angela Vorpahl: Finally got the law firm interview of your dreams and worried that you're gonna
blow it?
I've got you covered.
Hey guys, I'm Angela Vorpahl of the law tribe network, a community of lawyers and aspiring
lawyers designed to help you master the craft of law, learn the tricks of the trade and
build a legal career that you love.
In this video, I'm going to share with you the top five biggest mistakes that law students
and lawyers make in law firm interviews so that you know what not to do so that you can
rock your law firm interview and get the job of your dreams.
Angela Vorpahl: Before we get started, be sure to hit that subscribe button, tap that
notification bell so that you can be notified every single Tuesday when we release new videos
on topics related to law school, law firms and the legal world in general.
Mistake number one, being overconfident.
The fastest way to turn an interviewer off from you is to act like you are the greatest
thing that has ever happened to that law firm.
That they are so lucky that you showed up to the interview, that they are so fortunate
that you took the time to stop by.
Angela Vorpahl: Now, this may sound crazy, but it happens way more than you think, especially
for students who are ranked really high in their classes or who are coming out of top
ranked law schools.
And yes, the legal market is very strong right now.
There are a lot of jobs to go around.
If you are from a top ranked law school or are highly ranked at your school regionally,
you have a really good shot at getting a job in one of these law firms., But you have to
remember that the people who are interviewing you, the lawyers were in your exact same position
and they are also hardworking, highly accomplished, probably interviewing dozens or even hundreds
of law students.
Angela Vorpahl: So make sure you take this opportunity, the interview for what really
is, your chance to impress them.
Your chance to show them what an amazing person you are, what an amazing addition to the team
you are, and really sell yourself and convince them that they couldn't do better than you.
Even if the interview is with a law firm that you're not that excited about, that you're
not even necessarily seriously considering accepting a job offer from.
It doesn't matter.
The whole point of the interview is to get the job offer and then you can decide later
which offer you actually accept.
But what you don't want to do is put yourself in a position to miss out on an opportunity
for a job offer from a great place just because you let your ego get the better of you.
Mistake number two, talk about how much you want to work in public interest law or do
pro bono work.
Angela Vorpahl: And I know this one sounds harsh you guys, but it's the truth.
Yes.
Some lawyers at law firms do pro bono work and volunteer in the community.
Yes.
Some law firms offer pro bono opportunities to their associates and yes, some law firms
even count pro bono hours as billable hours.
That being said, no.
Pro bono work is not the business model of law firms.
It's not how law firms make money and it's not how they can afford to pay you a six digit
salary for the work that you're going to be doing.
You absolutely do not have to work for a law firm out of law school.
That being said, if you've already made the decision to interview with a law firm, and
again the goal of the interview is to get a job offer, then think through why that firm
should hire you.
Angela Vorpahl: How you can add value, what characteristics or qualities or skillset or
experiences you have that would help the law firm, why you're a good fit for the team,
why you are the best person for this job.
And when you do this, it's important to communicate implicitly to show the interviewer that you
understand what the business model of the law firm is, IE, billing paying clients and
not focused disproportionately on your desire to do pro bono work.
Angela Vorpahl: Mistake number three, not having answers prepared to the top three questions
asked in law firm interviews, specifically why you went to law school, what practice
area you want to work in, and why you want to work at this law firm in particular.
The good news is that I made a video specifically on this topic.
I'll link it up here where I give advice and insight into exactly how you should craft
your answer to these three questions because they come up all the time and you want solid
confident answers that you can repeat at the drop of a hat because you will be asked them
over and over and over.
Angela Vorpahl: If you guys are still with me, comment below with your why I went to
law school answer, or a good why I went to law school answer that you've heard if you've
interviewed people before.
That's going to give us some good ideas and approaches for how to go about tackling this
question.
Mistake number four.
Committing an obvious, and the obviouses are things like showing up late, wearing anything
other than a suit, forgetting the law firm name, forgetting something that you've put
on your resume.
These are things that you know are going to come up that you should have prepared and
polished, and be confident in because they are going to be part of the interview, asked
in the interview, something that you need to do on interview day.
The only things that you should be on your toes about and prepared to be surprised by
are sort of random off the wall questions, left field questions like what kind of plant
would you be, which is absolutely something I was asked in an interview one time, but
just random questions like that.
Angela Vorpahl: The other stuff, make sure you prepare that stuff ahead of time because
you know that that's something you're going to have to do,, or rely on or be prepared
to answer for.
Mistake number five, going in with zero questions prepared.
The worst thing that can happen in an interview is you get to the end and they ask you if
you have any questions and you say no.
The most important part of an interview are the questions that you've prepared for them
ahead of time, because the best interviews are conversations and you don't know the person
sitting across from you.
And the only way to engage, or the best way to engage with somebody that you don't know
is to ask them questions.
Ask them questions about themselves, ask them questions about where they work, about the
work that they do, about their experiences.
That is the way to engage with them.
Angela Vorpahl: And it's also the best way to show that you're interested.
You're interested in the law firm, you're interested in them, you're interested in the
work that they do.
And conversely, not having any questions screams that you don't care, that you wanted to get
out of there as quickly as possible, that you didn't spend the time to prepare questions.
And because the questions you prepared ahead of time are such an important part of the
interview, I've actually created a best questions guide.
I'm going to link it in the description below.
You guys can check it out, and it has best questions to ask associates and best questions
to ask partners.
And using those questions you will be able to keep that conversation and that interview
going four hours.
Angela Vorpahl: And if you're interested in joining a community of lawyers and aspiring
lawyers just like you who are looking to build a sustainable and fulfilling legal career
in the law, then check out our Facebook group Law Tribe Network, where we will be sharing
tips and tricks, answering questions, giving general motivation and creative approaches
to building that legal career of your dreams.
That's it for this video guys, thanks so much for watching.
If you enjoyed the video, let me know by giving it a big thumbs up, commenting tribe on in
the comments section below, and sharing it with someone you think might benefit from
it.
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And until then, I hope you guys have a wonderful week.
I'll see you in the next one.
Bye.