Difficult Interview Questions

[futuretraineecity]

Thought I’d make this thread to see what everyone’s hardest interview question that they’ve been asked is. Might be helpful to see what kind of level these questions are at. Thank you!

 

[James Carrabino]

This is an excellent thread idea and I will tag @George Maxwell and @AvniD to see what their thoughts are on this!

First of all, you may find some ideas in this thread. Some of my personal tricky questions are as follows:

• You seem to have a lot of interests; how do I know that you won't quit law after a few years?
• What would you do if you committed to preparing some work for a senior associate by tomorrow but a partner tells you last minute that you have to get a different piece of work done by the same deadline, and you cannot do both well?
• If I were a client and I were to pay you for a service, what would stop you spending all the money on wine? (I wasn't sure what this question was even asking)
• What is the single problem that you would fix in the world if you could?
• Describe yourself in one word

I will think if there are any more that come to mind

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

This is an excellent thread idea and I will tag @George Maxwell and @AvniD to see what their thoughts are on this!

First of all, you may find some ideas in this thread. Some of my personal tricky questions are as follows:

• You seem to have a lot of interests; how do I know that you won't quit law after a few years?
• What would you do if you committed to preparing some work for a senior associate by tomorrow but a partner tells you last minute that you have to get a different piece of work done by the same deadline, and you cannot do both well?
• If I were a client and I were to pay you for a service, what would stop you spending all the money on wine? (I wasn't sure what this question was even asking)
• What is the single problem that you would fix in the world if you could?
• Describe yourself in one word

I will think if there are any more that come to mind

Hey, James. Thanks for the list. Would love to hear your version of Q2. I'd say that if the firm really boasts of its non-hierarchical structure, we should complete the work for the senior associate since he/she had allotted us the work before the partner. That's my guess but would love to know how you tackled the question.

Thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

This is an excellent thread idea and I will tag @George Maxwell and @AvniD to see what their thoughts are on this!

First of all, you may find some ideas in this thread. Some of my personal tricky questions are as follows:

• You seem to have a lot of interests; how do I know that you won't quit law after a few years?
• What would you do if you committed to preparing some work for a senior associate by tomorrow but a partner tells you last minute that you have to get a different piece of work done by the same deadline, and you cannot do both well?
• If I were a client and I were to pay you for a service, what would stop you spending all the money on wine? (I wasn't sure what this question was even asking)
• What is the single problem that you would fix in the world if you could?
• Describe yourself in one word

I will think if there are any more that come to mind

The third one 😂

 

[AvniD]

• What do you think keeps CEOs up at night?
  • ngl I blanked here😅 came up with something eventually that somehow worked!
• What made you choose the UK over your home country?
  • Difficult to answer without portraying your home country in a negative light.
• How do you know you'll be able to balance your work with your life when you start training?
  • There's no way to definitively know this so I pivoted my answer towards the things I will ensure I do to achieve and maintain this balance. It worked!

 

[George Maxwell]

Thought I’d make this thread to see what everyone’s hardest interview question that they’ve been asked is. Might be helpful to see what kind of level these questions are at. Thank you!

Hi @ek125712,

This thread idea is fantastic. I am going to post my initial thoughts and may come back to it. I still can't get over @James Carrabino's question about wine 😅.

Personally the hardest questions that I found at the time were:

Level: Training Contract interviews

1. Why commercial law and not consulting?

I just had not considered this particular comparison at the time of my interview.

2. What could X firm do better?

This question really stumped me. With regard to the particular firm that asked me, I still honestly do not know the answer. I replied at the time saying that the firm's reputation amongst students might dissuade some (capable) students from applying because they might feel like they did not fit in. The Partner replied that this was a stock answer and for me to give another reason. I still do not really know how I would answer this question honestly.

3. What is your biggest weakness?

I think this is a really tough question to get right. On the one hand you do not want to portray yourself in a very negative light, but you also want to avoid giving a 'false' weakness (I was accused of this in an interview!).

Level: Vacation scheme interviews

4. You are going to train at X firm aren't you?

I completed a workshop at another firm's open day and my interviewer had seen this on my LinkedIn profile. I answered this well, but it was a tough one at the time, especially because the two firms are quite similar.

5. How do you tell someone that you do not like them?

This was a little strange.

6. What role do you naturally play in a group?

Tough question. One which I think is difficult to answer in a unique, non-stock answer way!

Really looking forward to seeing more replies to this thread 🙌

 

[atrumregina1]

These questions are definitely food for thought

not law related but I recently had an interview with my company about getting a promotion and I got asked a question that made me think:

“Tell us about a time you were held accountable for someone else’s actions, what Steps did you take and how did this impact our clients”.

Might be a bit too much for TCs but I think that taking on the responsibility for someone else’s mistakes or taking a hit for the team could also apply to this

 

[Alison C]

This is an excellent thread idea and I will tag @George Maxwell and @AvniD to see what their thoughts are on this!

First of all, you may find some ideas in this thread. Some of my personal tricky questions are as follows:

• You seem to have a lot of interests; how do I know that you won't quit law after a few years?
• What would you do if you committed to preparing some work for a senior associate by tomorrow but a partner tells you last minute that you have to get a different piece of work done by the same deadline, and you cannot do both well?
• If I were a client and I were to pay you for a service, what would stop you spending all the money on wine? (I wasn't sure what this question was even asking)
• What is the single problem that you would fix in the world if you could?
• Describe yourself in one word

I will think if there are any more that come to mind

@James Carrabino, what was the word? And would you still choose that word? (You don't have to answer either of these, and an opportunity no longer depends on the response in any case!)

 

[Deleted member 19327]

These questions are definitely food for thought

not law related but I recently had an interview with my company about getting a promotion and I got asked a question that made me think:

“Tell us about a time you were held accountable for someone else’s actions, what Steps did you take and how did this impact our clients”.

Might be a bit too much for TCs but I think that taking on the responsibility for someone else’s mistakes or taking a hit for the team could also apply to this

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

 

[lawnoob]

If you don't understand a question, is it okay to literally say "sorry I don't quite understand what you mean, do you mind explaining?"

I feel like this is also not the best way to phrase this, does anyone know what to say?

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

If you don't understand a question, is it okay to literally say "sorry I don't quite understand what you mean, do you mind explaining?"

I feel like this is also not the best way to phrase this, does anyone know what to say?

I'd give the interviewer my interpretation of what I think the question is looking for and say something like "please correct me if I'm wrong but, just to clarify, you're looking for .....". Because you're right, it does kind of sound rude to label the question as something that was difficult to comprehend IMO.

 

[lawnoob]

I'd give the interviewer my interpretation of what I think the question is looking for and say something like "please correct me if I'm wrong but, just to clarify, you're looking for .....". Because you're right, it does kind of sound rude to label the question as something that was difficult to comprehend IMO.

thats very true, thank you so much for your reply!

 

[Jessica Booker]

If you don't understand a question, is it okay to literally say "sorry I don't quite understand what you mean, do you mind explaining?"

I feel like this is also not the best way to phrase this, does anyone know what to say?

Rather than starting with the negative “I don’t quite understand” you could say, “sorry would you mind explaining the context of the question further so I can ensure I provide a clear answer” or something of that accord.

 

[lawnoob]

Rather than starting with the negative “I don’t quite understand” you could say, “sorry would you mind explaining the context of the question further so I can ensure I provide a clear answer” or something of that accord.

that is a much better way to approach, thank you so much jessica!

 

[Deleted member 19327]

Rather than starting with the negative “I don’t quite understand” you could say, “sorry would you mind explaining the context of the question further so I can ensure I provide a clear answer” or something of that accord.

That's very helpful! Is it okay to say 'on top of my head I cannot think of an example right now but I would do the following if I were in this situation"? Are there better ways to say it? Also what to say when you do not know the answer to a technical question, such as "do liabilities transfer with asset deals'?

 

[James Carrabino]

Hey, James. Thanks for the list. Would love to hear your version of Q2. I'd say that if the firm really boasts of its non-hierarchical structure, we should complete the work for the senior associate since he/she had allotted us the work before the partner. That's my guess but would love to know how you tackled the question.

Thanks.

It's a tricky one, although I do think that ordinarily a direct request by a partner would most likely take precedence over that of a senior associate. Firms don't tend to boast so much of a non-hierarchical structure that they would consider an associate akin to a partner - you can bet that they continue to give the highest pay and the most amount of client contact to partners!

The fact that the partner is going directly to you as a trainee means that the work is a client matter which really needs to be done asap, whereas the senior associate could be delegating a matter that they were assigned to you. That said, I believe that when asked this question, I clarified that it is impossible to know how to answer this question without context as to what the two matters are.

I would probably let the partner know about my other commitment and see whether they instead ask another trainee to complete their assignment, or whether they tell me to prioritise their assignment over that of the senior associate. Usually a partner would have no reason to undermine the request of a senior associate unless the circumstances are urgent. In such a case, I would make sure that I then go to the senior associate to fully explain the situation!

The thing I have learnt about these kinds of questions is that good answers tend to identify where more information about the context is required. To say with confidence which piece of work I would prioritise would likely not be the best approach, in my opinion.

I hope that helps

 

[James Carrabino]

@James Carrabino, what was the word? And would you still choose that word? (You don't have to answer either of these, and an opportunity no longer depends on the response in any case!)

Honestly I gave a slightly cheesy word that initially came to mind as something that others may not say but was still a good quality that I believed I had... I said 'loyal'.

With hindsight, the choice of word makes me cringe a little as it can also have negative connotations (e.g. 'loyal' to the point of covering something up) and it also sounds too fluffy and does not particularly relate to law or my professional aspirations.

That said, I think it can be a great quality and I do try to live by it! For me, it was a better choice than a word that they probably hear all the time (e.g. determined, empathetic, innovative) or one that is too boring (e.g. diligent, organised, efficient)!

 

[James Carrabino]

Hi @ek125712,

This thread idea is fantastic. I am going to post my initial thoughts and may come back to it. I still can't get over @James Carrabino's question about wine 😅.

Thanks @George Maxwell - for anyone who was wondering, the answer was something about putting money into an escrow account🤣

 

[James Carrabino]

That's very helpful! Is it okay to say 'on top of my head I cannot think of an example right now but I would do the following if I were in this situation"? Are there better ways to say it? Also what to say when you do not know the answer to a technical question, such as "do liabilities transfer with asset deals'?

I think that this is okay to say It depends how broad the question is though - if it is, 'When have you demonstrated teamwork?' then it may seem odd to say that you cannot think of an example off the top of your head but proceed to outline how you would demonstrate teamwork if you were faced with the opportunity! I think that your approach would mainly work for very specific situational judgement-style questions.

Remember that if what you are about to say is compelling enough, then you could just claim it actually happened...

...jk! 🤣

 

[lawnoob]

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?