17 Questions Lawyers are Likely to be Asked in a Job Interview

As part of a leading specialist legal recruitment agency, assisting legal industry candidates to prepare for interviews with our clients is an important part of my role in ensuring their success. With extensive experience gained over the years below are some interview questions that I know my clients will commonly ask at interviews. You can see a more comprehensive list that covers lawyers and legal industry support staff here.

Are you an experienced and talented lawyer that is starting to think about getting out of your comfort zone? Is it time to take the next step in your legal career? If so, practicing your interview skills is a great place to start. This list of questions can help you prepare examples and situations to demonstrate your competencies, experience and personality type.

It may have been some time since you last went for a job interview, or you may even be going for an internal promotion. Alternatively, you might just be brushing up on your interview technique. The below questions are designed to extract information from you about your background, what motivates you, your interpersonal skills, organisational skills, management skills, decision making and problem-solving skills.

These are a selection of example questions which can often be asked in a Lawyer interview:

Background:

1/. What is the most significant contribution you made to your previous employer?

Motivation:

2/. Tell me what you know about our company? What attracts you to our Firm?

3/. How do you define professional success?

4/. Give two examples of things you have done that demonstrate your strong work ethic.

5/. Describe a time when you know your performance was below average. What did you do about it?

Marketing and Networking Skills

6/. Are there any relationships you formed that managed to bring in new business to your previous employer?

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

Influencing Skills

8/. Describe a situation in which you were able to successfully convince someone to see things your way.

Decision Making

9/. Give me an example of a time when you used good judgement and logic to solve a problem.

Public Speaking and Advocacy

10/. What is the most significant presentation you have had to deliver?

Managing Team Members

11/. As a people leader, have you ever had to discipline or counsel an employee? What was the nature of the problem? What steps did you take? How did that make you feel?

Financial

12/. Can you provide an indication of monthly financial budgets you were set in your last role?

13/. What steps have you taken to improve your performance against budget?

Handling Difficult Situations

14/. Tell me a time about dealing with a difficult client.

Handling of Pressure & Stress

15/. Can you describe a recent high-pressure situation you had to deal with?

16/. Describe a time when you were faced with problems or stresses that tested your coping skills. What happened to cause the stress? How did you deal with it? How did the situation resolve?

Last but not least…..

17/. Do you have any questions for us? (Don’t forget to prepare some well researched questions that highlight your knowledge of the company you are applying to.)

So there you have it, a list of tried and true interview questions for Lawyers. Take some time to print it out and make some notes in relation to examples you can use to demonstrate the relevant competencies. Or ask a trusted friend to select a few and practice your answers. I hope they help you prepare for your next job interview!