My main questions are:
1. Could you give me some inspiration for an answer on why I want a career in law as I understand this needs to be personal but am really stuck.
2. When asked to tell someone about yourself how should you structure such an answer and what should you include
3. What types of questions should I ask at the end of the interview?
Thank you so much for all your help!
Thanks for posting this here. (To anyone reading this, the OP PM'd me with the context behind these questions, and I asked her to create a thread. For the avoidance of doubt, these questions are not about a law firm interview.)
1. I wrote about this in the
Training Contract Guide, although it was for the question: "Why do you want to be a commercial lawyer?":
Most of the questions above are still applicable if you are being asked why you want to pursue a career in law.
So, some of the things you might want to consider include:
- Why did you choose to study law?
- How does that translate into a career in law?
- When did you first become interested in a legal career?
- Why not investment banking or consulting? Why not medicine?
- What experiences convinced to pursue a career in commercial law?
To come to a good, personal answer, I encourage you to write your ideas down to these questions. It may help if you imagine that someone you know is asking you these questions, rather than an interviewer -- this will help you to form a personal answer. Later, you can turn them into interview answers.
If it helps, you can use our fillable PDF below to help. You'll have to assume the question is "why law?" rather than "why commercial law".
To give you an idea, let me share some of the reasons why I was interested in a career in law:
- During my law degree, I liked how, although the law is supposed to operate as a rigid set of rules, in practice, it is open to interpretation and argument. I found practicing law to be technically interesting: commercial lawyers, for example, pour through hundreds of contracts, spend weeks negotiating a few sentences in a document, and come up with creative ways to use the law to secure an objective for a client.
- I found my legal work experience exciting. I liked how -- in a commercial context -- huge multinational companies entrusted lawyers to drive their business forward. It meant I would have the opportunity to learn what drives a variety of businesses, and I would be advising on many of their most important deals. I liked how -- contrary to how they are often presented -- lawyers aren't just there to remove risks or pitch in when things go wrong. Instead, lawyers are actively involved in helping businesses achieve a competitive advantage. The law is just a tool they use to get there. (In my answers, I would often tie this back into my personal experience with start-ups)
- I liked how good lawyers aren't just technically proficient. Lawyers had to develop strong relationships with their colleagues and their clients. I would have the opportunity to work with bright people from very diverse backgrounds.
2. I had this question at a couple of interviews for law firms. The first time, I was asked: "Tell me about yourself" at the end of my interview, and it completely threw me off. (I'm pretty sure that was why I got rejected for that interview.) I practiced a lot after that.
I suggest you keep your answer concise but interesting. Often, it's used a warm up question -- the purpose of your answer should be to get the interviewers up to speed on who you are and why you are there. Use it as an opportunity to make a good first impression.
My structure was something like this:
- My current education/occupation e.g. "I'm in my final year of my law degree at LSE..."
- Quick overview of my early background (I used this to talk about something personal, but I kept it short) e.g. "I'm half Mauritian. My mum moved to England when..."
- A short explanation of why I studied law at university and an overview of my legal work experience.
- A short overview of my employment history (factual)
- My personal interests
That should give you an idea of the kind of things your answer should cover. Although, you definitely don't need to follow my structure: there are many ways to answer this question.
3. Lots of options here:
- Check over the online materials for the place you are interviewing at. Do you have any questions about what you have read? Anything that isn't obvious from the website? If the interview is for a university: Do you have any questions about choosing modules? Or office hours? Or extra-curricular activities?
- See if there are any questions that follow from your interview. For example, if the interviewer asked you about a topic in the news or what you would do in a particular situation, you could ask for their opinion on the subject. (In my opinion, these are the best kind of questions as they don't feel forced.)
- Ask about your interviewers. During my interviews, this was always my "safe" question. I varied it slightly, so it didn't come across as too generic: "What is it about this place that gets you up in the morning and has you working here day in, day out?" The answer from the interviewer was always, invariably, about the people at the law firm.
