Difficult Interview Questions

[James Carrabino]

When drawing examples of skills demonstrated in competency questions, would it be too long ago to mention something from my early teens/highschool roles of responsibility if I've already mentioned all my recent examples?

My personal view would be that this is possible if the experience is really an excellent way of demonstrating the relevant skill. In general it is better to keep this as recent as possible but if the absolute best answer is from school for one question, I would be okay using it!

 

[atrumregina1]

So ideally you would say something like you didn't mind being blamed for someone else? What actions did you take?

I think it’s important to show that taking the blame is difficult but it is not your place to throw a colleague under the bus for making a mistake so I personally answered that I did not assume the blame but I tried to ensure the customer that the mistake would not be repeated and apologised for their experience. At least that is how I answered this

 

[j.s.cox]

I was asked 'How would your friends describe you?' and 'what was you worst job?'
Didn't like either of those much.

 

[James Carrabino]

I was asked 'How would your friends describe you?' and 'what was you worst job?'
Didn't like either of those much.

Those are tricky questions! I am interested to hear how you responded?

 

[George Maxwell]

When drawing examples of skills demonstrated in competency questions, would it be too long ago to mention something from my early teens/highschool roles of responsibility if I've already mentioned all my recent examples?

Hey @lawnoob,

It honestly depends on the stage that you are currently at. For example, if you are in your first year, I think that drawing on your experiences from secondary school would be fine. I would think that early teens is probably too far removed from who you currently are though (e.g., if you are now 19 and you mentioned a situation that you faced when you were 15 or younger). My rule was, as long as it was recent enough to mention on my CV, then it would be appropriate to speak about in interview.

For me, I found that after reflecting on competency questions long enough, I really did have a lot of experiences to draw on (a lot more than I thought initially). One way that I got around a mental block on examples was to have my CV printed out in front of me. This often jogged my memory and made me think about what I have done in the past.

Do let me know if I can be of any further help 😇

 

[thirdtimelucky]

A few of my hardest were:
1) Should the Courts have the power to invalidate a signed contract? (as a non-lawyer this was quite tough)
2)(In the case study) can you tell me what a clause in a contract between these parties would include?
3) Where should lawyers draw the line morally with clients?
4) Would I feel comfortable going to work if protestors were outside? (I work for the Government so I said I was used to it )
5) Did I think I had changed in the last two years of applying to TCs and how?

 

[George Maxwell]

A few of my hardest were:
1) Should the Courts have the power to invalidate a signed contract? (as a non-lawyer this was quite tough)
2)(In the case study) can you tell me what a clause in a contract between these parties would include?
3) Where should lawyers draw the line morally with clients?
4) Would I feel comfortable going to work if protestors were outside? (I work for the Government so I said I was used to it )
5) Did I think I had changed in the last two years of applying to TCs and how?

Hey @thirdtimelucky,

I would be interested (if you felt comfortable discussing it!) how you responded to these? The first, third and fourth are particularly difficult I think.

I was asked the second one in one of my interviews (HSF I think). The way I dealt with it was to think about the general considerations/concerns that might be relevant in the scenario (i.e., major risks or contingencies that your client would want to protect against) and to suggest that a clause related to them would be advisable.

Essentially, I think it is important not to think that your interviewer will be looking for an answer that is wrapped up in legal terminology (especially as a non-law student), but to demonstrate that you are able to consider, in general terms, what might be worth protecting against/explicitly providing for in the contract. I hope that makes some sense!

 

[j.s.cox]

Those are tricky questions! I am interested to hear how you responded?

I tried to be as truthful as possible without getting too personal. I was aiming to appeal to the values listed as the firm's core values without forcing a link too much. It seems to have worked as I got to the next stage.

For the friends question, I gave three adjectives that I think my friends would genuinely describe me as (I think they were caring, dependable, and trustworthy) and gave a short example of why I think my friends would descibe me as each of those adjectives. I considered using words like 'organised', but whilst it is a good word to describe me, I think my friends would use words to describe my personality rather than the attributes that would help me excel in a workplace.

For the worst job, I talked about a really monotonous job I had when I was 13 and the ways I managed to get through the task I had been set (I think I talked about rewarding myself, setting time blocks, and setting myself a list of the items I had to get through each day). Again, I wanted to be truthful, but I didn't want to come across as whiny, and I think this helped demonstrate some of my key competencies.

 

[thirdtimelucky]

Hey @thirdtimelucky,

I would be interested (if you felt comfortable discussing it!) how you responded to these? The first, third and fourth are particularly difficult I think.

I was asked the second one in one of my interviews (HSF I think). The way I dealt with it was to think about the general considerations/concerns that might be relevant in the scenario (i.e., major risks or contingencies that your client would want to protect against) and to suggest that a clause related to them would be advisable.

Essentially, I think it is important not to think that your interviewer will be looking for an answer that is wrapped up in legal terminology (especially as a non-law student), but to demonstrate that you are able to consider, in general terms, what might be worth protecting against/explicitly providing for in the contract. I hope that makes some sense!

Yes I agree!! I was a bit thrown by them but I really felt like I was incredibly lucky in that I had answers for them!

1) For number one, I am incredibly lucky that my boyfriend is studying to become a barrister and we often talk about cases. In this instance we had discussed a case (Pakistan international Airlines v. Times Travel) which saw the Supreme Court decide against dissolving a contract (in this case because they did not believe there was any proof of economic duress). So I used this as an example of why I didn’t think courts should. This this became a conversation on NDAs and sexual abuse victims - should a court be able to dissolve this kind of contract. I said no, it’s the choice of the victim to chose to sign the NDA/settlement and unless there is proof of it being signed under threat or not consulting a lawyer then I think it’s fine to have them and for the court not to dissolve them.

3) for three, I said that I think firms need to think about their company ethos, does the client fit that ethos and are the clients asking for the firm to cross that line. If so I think it’s fair for the firm not to work with them. I then used the example of Elon Musk asking Cooley to fire one of their associates as a good example of this point. I was then asked about working with oil/gas firms and climate change. To which I responded that I felt the transition to clean energy needed energy clients and regardless, all clients need representation especially if we are trying to transition to clean energy - there is a lot of new regulations and possible fines - so as a lawyer I would not mind representing these clients.

4)Which leads into question 4- what if there are climate change protestors outside of work, how would you feel? I said well given that I work for the government (in housing/building safety) I am very used to protestors outside of work so as long as I know I’m doing a good job and not working on something I feel is morally wrong I am happy to go into work!

With the contract one in the case study I actually did not give a very good answer as I misunderstood the interviewers question so your advice is well received from me if I ever come across this in another AC!!