10 Things to do before a Legal Job Interview
1. Review your CV. If an agent has sent it, ask them for a copy. We amend CVs nearly every time we send one out – mainly to remove any waffly bits or to present them in a better light. Get a copy, read it carefully. Remind yourself of anything you may have written 10 years ago and forgotten about.
Failing to research a firm before a job interview – not a good idea! Article from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Psychometric testing for solicitors – a good idea? Article from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment based on anecdotal evidence.
Should I tell a potential employer why I am leaving my current employer?
In most cases, the answer to this is no, absolutely not. This is because the overwhelming number of people leaving employers is due to either a personality clash, a perception that they are poorly paid and can get better money elsewhere. or unpleasant working conditions.
Effective Interview Techniques for Employers, a guide by Ten Percent Group of Legal Recruitment Websites for solicitors and legal executives.
Ten top tips for interviewing techniques – a guide for employers from Jonathan Fagan, MD of Ten Percent Legal Recruitment and Interim Lawyers.
10 Top Tips for Interviews – candidate guide from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment, solicitor recruitment specialists in the UK.
Interview Question and Answer 52 – Why haven’t you had many interviews? An article including an example answer from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Interview Question 51 – Give an example of how a situation or project that had a positive outcome depended on the work of people – suggested answer.
Legal Job Interview Question & Answer from Jonathan Fagan, MD of Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Give an example of a project or task that you felt compelled to complete on your own. What stopped you from delegating? Answer from Ten Percent Legal
Interview question and answer – explain the organisational structure in your last company and how you fitted into it? Advice from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Interview Question 47 – Do you work well with others, or are you a loner? Suggested answer from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Advice This is a very loaded question and one that has been asked in interviews up and down the country with the wrong answer given on numerous occasions. During a range of practice interviews I have regularly asked this question and been amazed at the response given. Interviewees often think it is the chance to…
Interview question on self-motivation and suggested answers from Jonathan Fagan at Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Interview questions and answers from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment – working for someone younger than you.
Interview question and answer on knowing how to motivate people.
Interview Question and suggested answer from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment and Jonathan Fagan MD.
Job Interview Technique – using a fake receptionist to root out bad employees attending for interview. Article by Jonathan Fagan of Ten Percent Legal Recruitment.
Interview question and suggested answer from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment – do you enjoy travelling? A loaded question.
Do you consider yourself successful?
Advice This is a difficult question if you have not worked in a senior managerial post or sales and profits did not increase in your last job. This is also difficult if you are applying at a time of recession rather than at a time of boom because sales and profits do not necessarily increase…
Advice This is a loaded question, if you say anything negative about a former employer it immediately makes the interviewer think you are likely to consider them in a similar fashion in a few years’ time. If however your application to the firm has been on the basis that there has been a lack of…
Interview Question 36 Advice This again is a fairly simple question with a fairly straight forward answer to it. Remember at all times in interview you must stay positive. Failing to stay positive will result in firms unnecessarily considering you to have negative thoughts. Negative thoughts in interview indicates someone who may be overly critical…
Interview Question 35 – Did the course live up to your expectations? Advice This relates specifically to somebody who has just left university and has very little work experience for the interviewer to discuss and explore. It will rarely be asked of anyone who has been out of college or university for a number of…
Advice This is a difficult question because it is asking you to in some way criticise work colleagues and to perhaps idolise other work colleagues. This is a question potentially loaded towards the interviewer as opposed to the interviewee. At its rawest form you could end up giving an answer that indicates to the interview…
Advice This is another question where you need to have a stock of answers ready to be tailored according to the particular question that is put to you. This one gives you the chance to demonstrate something of quality that pushes your case with the company in relation to the role you are applying for…
We do see some gems of interview questions coming our way, and this one is our favourite at the moment. Are you the type of person to cry if someone shouts at you? What a question, and perhaps the person asking it was really testing the interviewee to see how they would respond. Would the…
Advice This is a negative question and one that wherever possible should be avoided. It does not matter how you answer the question, the answer you give will have to result in you providing the interviewer with evidence of a negative point. Wit this in mind it is worth trying to avoid answering the question…
Advice This question is quite an easy one, but it is important not to fall into the trap of giving a general answer instead of a specific one. The question has asked you to describe a time, not a circumstance that you regularly find yourself in. Try to think of a specific occasion when you…