Share your interview nightmares, sticky situations and stories!

[George Maxwell]

Hey everyone,

I thought it would be fun to start a thread about interview fears! It would be interesting (even therapeutic) to hear about the community’s biggest interview fears and/or interview nightmares (both law and non-law!).

This is a place to share:
· situations that, in theory, make you feel anxious or worried when you imagine interviewing
· situations that you have actually experienced which were difficult or stressful, how you dealt with them at the time and how, on reflection you would now deal with them now
· reflections on others’ difficult interview experiences, encouragement and suggestions for how you might deal with them
· funny interview scenarios (showing the community what can happen in an interview!)

Please share what makes you feel nervous, what has made you feel nervous and how you would deal/have dealt with a particular situation. Hopefully this will inspire some useful discussion.

Feel free to include, or leave out, the names of firms too. Please engage with other posts and let us know how you would deal with any situations mentioned.

Really excited to hear about your experiences! 🚀

 

[George Maxwell]

I will kick this off by sharing my (nightmare) interview story.

The story

To summarise: I brought up a topic that I really shouldn’t have.

So, this was one of my earliest interviews(!). For context, at the time I had been really enjoying studying International Political Economy at university.

When the interviewer (a Partner) asked me about a topic that I was interested in, I mentioned the possibility of introducing a global currency transaction tax (“CTT”). It sounds nerdy but I found it super interesting at the time.

Anyway, given that this topic was something I studied the term before, and was certainly not something I was planning on mentioning in my interview (so I had not revised it or looked over any relevant materials prior to my interview), I quickly realised that I knew less about a CTT than I thought.

After pretty extensive prodding by the interviewers (primarily the Partner), it became pretty clear that I didn’t really know much about the technicalities of a CTT, nor how it would actually be implemented… Suffice to say, it was a difficult (and fairly uncomfortable) experience which I definitely learned from.

Oh! And adding to this was that I had not appreciated the danger of mentioning a topic/area about which my Partner interviewer was an expert. Given that they were the Head of Tax of said firm, it was not the cleverest interview move. 😅

My reflections

Looking back, I would not have (voluntarily) brought up an extremely technical area which:

a. the Partner interviewing me was extremely knowledgeable about and
b. I didn’t fully understand (or remember the details of!).

Ultimately, it was an ok interview, although I was unsuccessful. It was a situation where I had to talk myself out of a really tough line of questioning (for which I didn’t really have the answer). This was honestly my nightmare scenario and I came out the other side.

So tell me, what is your interview fear/nightmare?

@James Carrabino @AvniD @Jessica Booker @Jaysen

Also interested to hear from the wider community!

@F1_Legal @futuretraineesolicitor @ek125712 @SLKEJRWOI97 @Roxana Tudosa @Breeg345 @nkji500

 

[James Carrabino]

Oh boy @George Maxwell thanks for this thread, have I had some of these too! 🤣

The worst has to be when I went for a paralegal interview a couple years back (oh have I come such a long way since then) and I read up on the firm and thought I was well prepared. The interviewer asked me if I wanted to work in corporate or litigation and I just had no clue what that meant!! I asked the interviewer 'What is that?' and the worst part is that I believed it was always good to be honest if I did not know something so I had no sense of just how embarrassing my question was

How about the time I thought I was having a great rapport with my interviewers and when they asked why I wanted to be a commercial lawyer I meant to say something about the versatility of the career but my answer came out as 'Because I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life'! In the moment I thought I sounded super confident and charming and then immediately afterwards I was like 'NOooo wait that's not what I meant; I just mean I have a lot of options of different practice areas...'

I remember getting distracted and talking about hedge funds when the topic was private equity and the interviewer interrupted me to ask 'James, do you know the difference between hedge funds and private equity funds'? I actually managed to save that one since I did know the difference but it definitely made me freak out in the moment.

I had a scary interviewer who told me that my background was too broad and that he knew I would quit law in a few years. I was completely stumped as to how I should respond to that. I literally asked him, 'Is that a question'?


The lesson here is not to worry because if you think you screwed something up, chances are others have screwed it up worse! Interviewers are used to seeing candidates under pressure and for the most part are very understanding. In a decent number of the above interviews (I won't say which ones) I was successful and in other interviews that I thought went swimmingly I was unsuccessful. Just try to avoid being phased by unpredictable questions and feel completely free to take time on the spot to think about your answer or clarify the question

 

[bethbristol]

I was doing a case study interview, and the partner was really prodding me for an answer on why a long term contract spanning 20+ years may not be suitable given the fact that the contract was reliant on the current leadership teams expertise. I could not for the life of me work out what he meant until I all of a sudden blurted out 'oh of course they will be dead' to which the partner replied 'a more suitable answer would be that they would be retired'. I could feel myself going super red and thought I had blown the interview until the other interviewing partner changed the scenario and asked me to imagine that the contract had gone 't***s up'. The look of surprise on my face when I heard her swear! I learnt then that most of the interview is just about personality...

In another interview the partner was typing on their phone throughout the interview, and actually answered a call when I was giving an answer. This really threw me off and lots of my answers were not properly thought through as I just could not focus at all and felt frustrated with the situation. I couldn't even tell her what an IPO was even though that was my 'specialised topic' at the time! I was unsuccessful in this interview but it definitely taught me that an interview is a two-way process, and I did not want to work for a firm like that!

 

[Ruby96]

My first ever vac scheme interview, the partner apologised for not having any still water and asked if sparkling was fine. I, very absently due to the sheer terror of coming across as anything but agreeable, said no problem, that's fine.

20 minutes later, during a particularly stressful question posed to me by said partner, I remembered reading somewhere that one should take a sip of water when unsure how to answer a question. Grabbed my glass to take quick swig, remembering two seconds too late that it was sparkling water, but alas was too late to stop the coughing and spluttering that ensued, along with the glass spilling all over the desk.

The partner, wiping off her besmirched glasses with an unamused expression, asked no further questions.

I did not get the position.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

I have not been interviewed yet since this is my first application cycle but I remember writing "seduction" instead of "sedition" while describing one of the articles that I had written at a content writing internship. Thankfully, I caught it before I submitted it.

This is why you should never rely on apps like Grammarly because according to them, "my writing was clear and I was good to go!"

 

[AvniD]

Nightmare Part I

I woke up early on the day of my interview energised and excited for the 3-month long application process that led up to this day to finally culminate. Made coffee, had a nice breakfast, laid out my outfit neatly and sat down to practice some questions when I heard a loud bang from outside my flat. It had been raining very heavily (please see Google images of monsoons in India to get an idea 😅) and my mind instantly darted towards thinking that something had gone wrong.

I peered out my window, only to see a thick plume of smoke rising from my electricity box. I ran downstairs to check it out and realised that water had seeped into the box and blown a pretty massive fuse (sorry if this is technically incorrect language-apologies to those who are electrically proficient!). By the time I came back up to my flat, I realised that since the fuse was blown, the electricity in my flat got cut and that I had no internet three hours before one of the most important interviews of my life that also happened to be virtual 😭

As you can imagine, I started panicking pretty badly and basically stopped functioning because this was an important day in my life and there was a pretty big chance of it having gone completely to sh*t. Thankfully, my mother stepped in for me and called a few electricians on an emergency basis, one of whom responded with just a couple of hours to go for my interview. He was such an angel for me that day because he decided to venture out to a close-by market in the rain, buy a replacement fuse and fix the electricity box as he knew it was an important day for me. I know I would not have been successful at that interview had he not swooped in to save the day and I will be eternally grateful to him! 😇

While the electrician was hard at work, I began to come out of panic mode and resume being a functional human being and came up with a few alternate places I could go to in case the internet didn't come back on, like my mum's office or my grandma's place. Thankfully, as we were debating the viability of venturing out to these places in the rain, the light came back on and the router started blinking its many lights- all with 50 minutes to go for the interview.

Nightmare Part II

My mum, the electrician and I secured his precious handiwork with many layers of tarp so that water would not get into the fuse box again and with about 20 minutes to go for my interview, I ran back up to the flat, dried myself, flash-changed into my suit and assumed my place in front of my laptop screen, going into my interview thinking that surely, nothing else could go wrong now 😅

Since my worst nightmare about my interview had come true, I went into my interview feeling pretty calm- the drama of preceding hours had worn my nervousness away. I was getting through each stage confidently and everything was going well till the case study interview. I had 30 minutes to prepare and as I went into opening the file containing the case study, I realised that half of it was not loading. On top of that, I had not noticed that my charger had decided to give up on charging my laptop midway and that it was currently at 9%. I quickly spoke to grad rec about the file, while pleading to the laptop charger gods to be merciful towards me as I fiddled with the charger.

With 15 minutes to go for the interview, I was finally able to see the whole case study and get my laptop charger working. Since I essentially had only been able to use half the allotted time to prepare, I realised that I had to let my interviewers know what was going on, wing a lot of what I needed to say and learn the parts I hadn't been able to read while presenting my analysis. Somehow, my strategy worked and my case study went off extremely well- I'm guessing it probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was quite familiar with the topic that we were discussing, thanks to my intensive 2-month law internship with a private equity law firm that had concluded quite recently.

I waited two excruciating weeks to hear about the outcome of my interview, thinking that the electricity drama or the charger drama or the case study file drama had surely cost me the role, but was relieved when I eventually received the call informing me that I had made it 🥳

Reflections

• In hindsight, I wish I hadn't shut down completely when faced with an adverse situation and am incredibly grateful to my mum and the sweet electrician for saving the day!
• I am also grateful for these 'nightmares' because they taught me how to think on my feet and deal with unforeseen circumstances and high-pressure situations.
• ENSURE YOUR CHARGER IS WORKING!!!!
• I liked the way I clued the interviewers into why I had to prepare in a rushed manner- it made me more relaxed and helped me approach the case study in a more focused manner because I'd addressed the elephant in the room.
• No matter how hard you try, there will always be more things out of your control than in your control and you have to be able to look at the picture going into an interview. Yes, it's important. Yes, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But no interview is the be-all and end-all of your career and even if it doesn't go your way, as long as you stay in the game, there will always be more chances and opportunities in the future.

 

[George Maxwell]

I was doing a case study interview, and the partner was really prodding me for an answer on why a long term contract spanning 20+ years may not be suitable given the fact that the contract was reliant on the current leadership teams expertise. I could not for the life of me work out what he meant until I all of a sudden blurted out 'oh of course they will be dead' to which the partner replied 'a more suitable answer would be that they would be retired'. I could feel myself going super red and thought I had blown the interview until the other interviewing partner changed the scenario and asked me to imagine that the contract had gone 't***s up'. The look of surprise on my face when I heard her swear! I learnt then that most of the interview is just about personality...

In another interview the partner was typing on their phone throughout the interview, and actually answered a call when I was giving an answer. This really threw me off and lots of my answers were not properly thought through as I just could not focus at all and felt frustrated with the situation. I couldn't even tell her what an IPO was even though that was my 'specialised topic' at the time! I was unsuccessful in this interview but it definitely taught me that an interview is a two-way process, and I did not want to work for a firm like that!

My first ever vac scheme interview, the partner apologised for not having any still water and asked if sparkling was fine. I, very absently due to the sheer terror of coming across as anything but agreeable, said no problem, that's fine.

20 minutes later, during a particularly stressful question posed to me by said partner, I remembered reading somewhere that one should take a sip of water when unsure how to answer a question. Grabbed my glass to take quick swig, remembering two seconds too late that it was sparkling water, but alas was too late to stop the coughing and spluttering that ensued, along with the glass spilling all over the desk.

The partner, wiping off her besmirched glasses with an unamused expression, asked no further questions.

I did not get the position.

Thanks for sharing these @bethbristol and @Ruby96 😅

 

[George Maxwell]

I have not been interviewed yet since this is my first application cycle but I remember writing "seduction" instead of "sedition" while describing one of the articles that I had written at a content writing internship. Thankfully, I caught it before I submitted it.

This is why you should never rely on apps like Grammarly because according to them, "my writing was clear and I was good to go!"

@futuretraineesolicitor this is a great reminder! I have definitely been there too. Often I only noticed these sorts of errors after leaving my application for a few days. Getting someone else to scan through your application is also really helpful.

For anyone wanting other tips for catching spelling errors (I know you have already seen this @futuretraineesolicitor), this thread might be useful!

 

[shannontongg]

Great thread idea!

One of my worst interview experiences happened at my first legal assessment centre. I was feeling really intimidated already as it was my first one. The Partner interviewing me started the conversation by sighing and said 'let's try to get this over with quickly'. She had a document with all the questions grad rec set out for them, and she mentioned being bored of asking the same questions year after year.

I was so put off by her comments! She clearly did not want to spend 45 mins speaking to me. She was already in a really bad mood, and I was terrified of saying anything which could impact her mood further. This led to me giving briefer answers than usual, and unsurprisingly, I failed to build any type of rapport with her.

I was not successful at this AC. The feedback I got from my interview was that I made some good points, but she would have liked my discussions to have more detail...

Reflections

• I was not very confident in my abilities at the time. I should have believed in myself more and in the value I could bring to that firm.
• I should have made every effort to build a rapport. Instead, I gave up because I was scared she saw our conversation as a waste of time. I could have tried to find something in common with her to encourage her to engage more in our conversation.
• I should have stayed positive throughout. I am usually very upbeat and energetic in interviews, but was quite deflated here.

Looking back, I'm quite happy I didn't become a Trainee at this firm. I've never had any other interview experiences where I felt like my interviewer was actively against me. I know this was only an interaction with just one of the Partners, but it really changed my impression of the firm.

 

[CC03]

Great thread idea!

One of my worst interview experiences happened at my first legal assessment centre. I was feeling really intimidated already as it was my first one. The Partner interviewing me started the conversation by sighing and said 'let's try to get this over with quickly'. She had a document with all the questions grad rec set out for them, and she mentioned being bored of asking the same questions year after year.

I was so put off by her comments! She clearly did not want to spend 45 mins speaking to me. She was already in a really bad mood, and I was terrified of saying anything which could impact her mood further. This led to me giving briefer answers than usual, and unsurprisingly, I failed to build any type of rapport with her.

I was not successful at this AC. The feedback I got from my interview was that I made some good points, but she would have liked my discussions to have more detail...

Reflections

• I was not very confident in my abilities at the time. I should have believed in myself more and in the value I could bring to that firm.
• I should have made every effort to build a rapport. Instead, I gave up because I was scared she saw our conversation as a waste of time. I could have tried to find something in common with her to encourage her to engage more in our conversation.
• I should have stayed positive throughout. I am usually very upbeat and energetic in interviews, but was quite deflated here.

Looking back, I'm quite happy I didn't become a Trainee at this firm. I've never had any other interview experiences where I felt like my interviewer was actively against me. I know this was only an interaction with just one of the Partners, but it really changed my impression of the firm.

May I ask what firm this was?

I have had couple similar situations. Do you have any tips on how to build rapport with an interviewer?

 

[shannontongg]

May I ask what firm this was?

I have had couple similar situations. Do you have any tips on how to build rapport with an interviewer?

My tips for building rapport would be:

Be enthusiastic about law/the firm, and be passionate when talking about your past experiences. This will hopefully prompt your interviewer to engage with you more. This is what I failed to do in my interview because I was thrown by the initial convo!

Where relevant, be sure to flag any experiences of yours which are more unique. For me, I spoke about competing in powerlifting championships which others find unexpected! 9 times out of 10 this prompted a conversation outside of their planned questions.

See if there are any opportunities for you to turn the interview into a conversation. For instance, if you are asked why you are interested in the firm, could you end it by asking the interviewers what they enjoy about the firm and turn it into a back and forth conversation? People love talking about themselves and sharing their own experiences, so I feel like it can result in them leaving the interview with a better feeling about you.

I hope these help!

 

[CC03]

My tips for building rapport would be:

Be enthusiastic about law/the firm, and be passionate when talking about your past experiences. This will hopefully prompt your interviewer to engage with you more. This is what I failed to do in my interview because I was thrown by the initial convo!

Where relevant, be sure to flag any experiences of yours which are more unique. For me, I spoke about competing in powerlifting championships which others find unexpected! 9 times out of 10 this prompted a conversation outside of their planned questions.

See if there are any opportunities for you to turn the interview into a conversation. For instance, if you are asked why you are interested in the firm, could you end it by asking the interviewers what they enjoy about the firm and turn it into a back and forth conversation? People love talking about themselves and sharing their own experiences, so I feel like it can result in them leaving the interview with a better feeling about you.

I hope these help!

Wow thanks Shannon, this is really really useful! 🤩

 

[CC03]

My tips for building rapport would be:

Be enthusiastic about law/the firm, and be passionate when talking about your past experiences. This will hopefully prompt your interviewer to engage with you more. This is what I failed to do in my interview because I was thrown by the initial convo!

Where relevant, be sure to flag any experiences of yours which are more unique. For me, I spoke about competing in powerlifting championships which others find unexpected! 9 times out of 10 this prompted a conversation outside of their planned questions.

See if there are any opportunities for you to turn the interview into a conversation. For instance, if you are asked why you are interested in the firm, could you end it by asking the interviewers what they enjoy about the firm and turn it into a back and forth conversation? People love talking about themselves and sharing their own experiences, so I feel like it can result in them leaving the interview with a better feeling about you.

I hope these help!

I actually did ask a partner once, what they found interesting about the firm, as soon as I finished my “why the law firm?” question she just laughed and said we can discuss that at the end. I try to build that rapport but don’t know how to unfortunately

 

[George Maxwell]

Great thread idea!

One of my worst interview experiences happened at my first legal assessment centre. I was feeling really intimidated already as it was my first one. The Partner interviewing me started the conversation by sighing and said 'let's try to get this over with quickly'. She had a document with all the questions grad rec set out for them, and she mentioned being bored of asking the same questions year after year.

I was so put off by her comments! She clearly did not want to spend 45 mins speaking to me. She was already in a really bad mood, and I was terrified of saying anything which could impact her mood further. This led to me giving briefer answers than usual, and unsurprisingly, I failed to build any type of rapport with her.

I was not successful at this AC. The feedback I got from my interview was that I made some good points, but she would have liked my discussions to have more detail...

Reflections

• I was not very confident in my abilities at the time. I should have believed in myself more and in the value I could bring to that firm.
• I should have made every effort to build a rapport. Instead, I gave up because I was scared she saw our conversation as a waste of time. I could have tried to find something in common with her to encourage her to engage more in our conversation.
• I should have stayed positive throughout. I am usually very upbeat and energetic in interviews, but was quite deflated here.

Looking back, I'm quite happy I didn't become a Trainee at this firm. I've never had any other interview experiences where I felt like my interviewer was actively against me. I know this was only an interaction with just one of the Partners, but it really changed my impression of the firm.

My tips for building rapport would be:

Be enthusiastic about law/the firm, and be passionate when talking about your past experiences. This will hopefully prompt your interviewer to engage with you more. This is what I failed to do in my interview because I was thrown by the initial convo!

Where relevant, be sure to flag any experiences of yours which are more unique. For me, I spoke about competing in powerlifting championships which others find unexpected! 9 times out of 10 this prompted a conversation outside of their planned questions.

See if there are any opportunities for you to turn the interview into a conversation. For instance, if you are asked why you are interested in the firm, could you end it by asking the interviewers what they enjoy about the firm and turn it into a back and forth conversation? People love talking about themselves and sharing their own experiences, so I feel like it can result in them leaving the interview with a better feeling about you.

I hope these help!

Hi @shannontongg,

I LOVE your tips for building rapport. Thank you for sharing! 🚀

I think your reflection about drawing on unique experiences is spot on. Unique stories and narratives, I think, are the things that interviewers remember in retrospect, so this is great advice. These are the things that will make you stand out! This is also a great way to tackle the boredom which, let's be honest, all interviewers must experience (especially if they do it every year). That being said, this does not excuse the way you were treated in that interview(!).

I particularly like the reflections you outlined following this difficult (and fairly nightmarish) interview.

One thing I found was that maintaining confidence in yourself and your abilities (whatever you think your interviewer is feeling) is important (which you touch on in your reflections).

During one (successful) VS interview I completed, for example, the interviewer purposefully acted disinterested. I know this because I was later told that they did this every year for the sake of fairness(?). I know other candidates had the same experience when they interviewed too (and we were all successful. We basically ignored it and carried on as best we could). I would therefore really advise others confronted with this sort of situation, as Shannon advises too, to have faith in yourself. Try not to draw conclusions too quickly based on the reactions of your interviewers (as it may be intentional). You have been progressed to interview for a reason(!) and it is not a waste of anyone's time to speak with you.

In your experience Shannon, it sounded like, it really was not personal. I think this is a helpful reflection too. If you find that your interviewer is in a bad mood and you do your absolute best, there just is not more that you can do. It is not fair, but ultimately you mustn't beat yourself up about it. Unfortunately this happens sometimes in interviews and you can only work with the situation you have been given.

So as general advice for those confronted with this sort of scenario, my tips would be:

a. try your best and focus on yourself (I know this might be easier said than done); and
b. do not invest energy (if you can) on being frustrated that you were given really bad luck. From my experience (and I think Shannon's) it worked out for the best in the end! Ultimately that investment is unproductive and will not help (even if it is very valid, as it would have been in the situation outlined in the above post!).

If you felt comfortable to talk about it @shannontongg, I would be interested in hearing about how you built from this interview afterwards? I can imagine it feeling really deflating. If you experienced felt frustrated following this experience too, how did you deal with it?

@Andri2000 tagging you here as I thought you might find this and @shannontongg's posts helpful!

 

[George Maxwell]

I actually did ask a partner once, what they found interesting about the firm, as soon as I finished my “why the law firm?” question she just laughed and said we can discuss that at the end. I try to build that rapport but don’t know how to unfortunately

Hey @TheChipmunk 🐿️,

So first of all, the example that you gave doesn't sound like you failed to build rapport (at all honestly). It definitely does not prove that you are incapable of doing it either(!). Although it is difficult to say without having been there, the interviewer may have just been trying to get through the parts of the interview they had/have to before going 'off-piste'.

I also would try not to understand their laugh as being (necessarily) dismissive. It may just have been that they didn't have great reasons themselves, or that they were amused you wanted to hear their thoughts because they didn't think they were particularly insightful (I have received this response before!). It may have been that a lot of students ask that question (but I honestly doubt it as I think it shows confidence which not all candidates would have). It is not a stupid question either and is the type of question I would have asked myself(!).

You might be right that they thought it was a silly question or that they were being grumpy. Sometimes you are just unlucky (this being an example of bad luck), but personally I don't think it is.

A great way to build rapport is just to take an active, genuine interest in the person interviewing you. Your effort sounds like you were trying to make it more conversational (which perhaps the interviewer, for some reason, didn't want to entertain), but this is definitely the right approach to take in certain interviews (I think anyway!).

@James Carrabino @AvniD how did you go about building rapport in interviews?

 

[AvniD]

Hey @TheChipmunk 🐿️,

So first of all, the example that you gave doesn't sound like you failed to build rapport (at all honestly). It definitely does not prove that you are incapable of doing it either(!). Although it is difficult to say without having been there, the interviewer may have just been trying to get through the parts of the interview they had/have to before going 'off-piste'.

I also would try not to understand their laugh as being (necessarily) dismissive. It may just have been that they didn't have great reasons themselves, or that they were amused you wanted to hear their thoughts because they didn't think they were particularly insightful (I have received this response before!). It may have been that a lot of students ask that question (but I honestly doubt it as I think it shows confidence which not all candidates would have). It is not a stupid question either and is the type of question I would have asked myself(!).

You might be right that they thought it was a silly question or that they were being grumpy. Sometimes you are just unlucky (this being an example of bad luck), but personally I don't think it is.

A great way to build rapport is just to take an active, genuine interest in the person interviewing you. Your effort sounds like you were trying to make it more conversational (which perhaps the interviewer, for some reason, didn't want to entertain), but this is definitely the right approach to take in certain interviews (I think anyway!).

@James Carrabino @AvniD how did you go about building rapport in interviews?

Completely agree with George! The best way to build rapport is to be interested and interesting. This requires a two-way street- both you and the interviewer need to be engaged at similar levels, which can be tough due to the tense environment and time constraints that interviews occur in. Note that having a rapport with your interviewer is neither necessary nor a prerequisite for you to get the role- it's more important to demonstrate your motivations and the suitability of your qualifications.

 

[CC03]

Hey @TheChipmunk 🐿️,

So first of all, the example that you gave doesn't sound like you failed to build rapport (at all honestly). It definitely does not prove that you are incapable of doing it either(!). Although it is difficult to say without having been there, the interviewer may have just been trying to get through the parts of the interview they had/have to before going 'off-piste'.

I also would try not to understand their laugh as being (necessarily) dismissive. It may just have been that they didn't have great reasons themselves, or that they were amused you wanted to hear their thoughts because they didn't think they were particularly insightful (I have received this response before!). It may have been that a lot of students ask that question (but I honestly doubt it as I think it shows confidence which not all candidates would have). It is not a stupid question either and is the type of question I would have asked myself(!).

You might be right that they thought it was a silly question or that they were being grumpy. Sometimes you are just unlucky (this being an example of bad luck), but personally I don't think it is.

A great way to build rapport is just to take an active, genuine interest in the person interviewing you. Your effort sounds like you were trying to make it more conversational (which perhaps the interviewer, for some reason, didn't want to entertain), but this is definitely the right approach to take in certain interviews (I think anyway!).

@James Carrabino @AvniD how did you go about building rapport in interviews?

Thank you so much George! 🦊 Your response has definitely provided me with a better outlook 😊

You are very right - it is quite hard to build rapport sometimes and I’m glad you thought my approach was the right one to take. In your interviews how did you go about building that rapport? also when you mention try to show a “genuine interest” in the person interviewing. How can I do this? When I know nothing about them. I find this part so hard!

 

[James Carrabino]

Great thread idea!

One of my worst interview experiences happened at my first legal assessment centre. I was feeling really intimidated already as it was my first one. The Partner interviewing me started the conversation by sighing and said 'let's try to get this over with quickly'. She had a document with all the questions grad rec set out for them, and she mentioned being bored of asking the same questions year after year.

I was so put off by her comments! She clearly did not want to spend 45 mins speaking to me. She was already in a really bad mood, and I was terrified of saying anything which could impact her mood further. This led to me giving briefer answers than usual, and unsurprisingly, I failed to build any type of rapport with her.

I was not successful at this AC. The feedback I got from my interview was that I made some good points, but she would have liked my discussions to have more detail...

Reflections

• I was not very confident in my abilities at the time. I should have believed in myself more and in the value I could bring to that firm.
• I should have made every effort to build a rapport. Instead, I gave up because I was scared she saw our conversation as a waste of time. I could have tried to find something in common with her to encourage her to engage more in our conversation.
• I should have stayed positive throughout. I am usually very upbeat and energetic in interviews, but was quite deflated here.

Looking back, I'm quite happy I didn't become a Trainee at this firm. I've never had any other interview experiences where I felt like my interviewer was actively against me. I know this was only an interaction with just one of the Partners, but it really changed my impression of the firm.

Your reflections are excellent @shannontongg. This process is not about being a well-oiled law applicant from the outset, but taking the time to reflect and build upon your prior experiences. We have to all thank @George Maxwell here for creating not just a fun and humorously honest thread but one that enables us all to look back on our own experiences and work out how we can do better going forward!

I have a friend who attended a vacation scheme interview at a top city firm and a junior recruiter sat him down and read out a list of questions, writing down his answers on a sheet of paper word for word as he spoke and not even pretending to engage in conversation. She then told him at the end that she would submit this to the rest of the team and he'd hear back shortly. It was so impersonal that it made him wonder why he even came in for an interview and didn't just get sent a bunch of questions to respond to in writing.

The point of this is that there are some strange interview methods out there. You might be the most charming person in the world and that will make it all the more confusing when your interviewer seems bored or uninterested. Just stick to what you have prepared and maintain the same sense of genuine enthusiasm that you would demonstrate if you were getting on really well with the interviewer!

 

[James Carrabino]

I actually did ask a partner once, what they found interesting about the firm, as soon as I finished my “why the law firm?” question she just laughed and said we can discuss that at the end. I try to build that rapport but don’t know how to unfortunately

Thank you so much George! 🦊 Your response has definitely provided me with a better outlook 😊

You are very right - it is quite hard to build rapport sometimes and I’m glad you thought my approach was the right one to take. In your interviews how did you go about building that rapport? also when you mention try to show a “genuine interest” in the person interviewing. How can I do this? When I know nothing about them. I find this part so hard!

I once asked an interviewer what they liked about the firm and they responded 'I have no f****** clue' 🤣 I once asked an associate during an interview at a different firm's vac scheme why he chose the firm and he said 'I applied to 50 jobs and this is the only one I got'!

Way to kill rapport!

You're going to have some strange experiences and yes...I do think that part of this may be down to the unorthodox characters that can be found in high-intensity law firms, but also a lot of the time this will be done deliberately to see how you respond in surprising situations. Clients can behave completely erratically and you're going to have to be able to deal with it.


So how do you deal with something that feels a bit awkward as per your above question, or how do you build rapport more generally?

1. Firstly, don't worry at all if you do something a bit awkward. These are the kinds of situations we all stress about but usually go completely unnoticed by the interviewer. The interviewer in your example was almost definitely just trying to follow the rules and would have felt really bad if she thought that her instruction to ask her at the end threw your confidence.
2. On this same point, rapport is not the main thing to worry about. If you are well prepared and feel that you were able to give good answers to the questions that you were asked, then you should be fine. Trying to be overly friendly or confident can look quite contrived.
3. It is possible to build rapport, however, by doing your research. If you are given the names of your interviewers in advance then look them up! Not all firms will provide you with this information but if they do then it is a gift and you should spend time trying to find common ground between your interests and theirs.
4. If you don't have this information in advance then listen closely to what they tell you when they introduce themselves at the beginning. See if there is anything in their background that you can relate to or would generally be interested in talking about.
5. Failing this, just try to be as amiable as you can at the start of the interview, perhaps asking the interviewers how their week is going or just mentioning how you have enjoyed getting to know the firm and have appreciated the smooth interview process etc.
6. My final piece of advice is to arrive at your interview early. I found that with almost every interview I attended there was one interviewer running late and I had the opportunity to make small talk with the other interviewer. These kind of interactions can be the most authentic and can set the interview off on a good footing if you have already started to build rapport.

Here is my anecdotal example of how I built rapport. I did all my interviews online and always wore a suit whilst my interviewers were in casual clothes since they were working from home. I almost invariably got a comment from the partners that 'We apologise for being so underdressed compared to you', to which it became a habit of mine to laugh and respond, 'It's okay, because you are not trying to impress anyone.' They would then always say that this is not true - interviewing is a two-way street! I would then smile and ask something about whether they thought the conservative law dress code is changing for good or whether they think clients will expect suits going forward. We'd end up having a mini conversation about the current environment before one of them would say 'Alright, it's probably time to start asking some of the questions we have lined up for you'.

It seems weird typing this out as it makes it sounds so rehearsed, which is really the last thing you want yourself to sound like if you are trying to build rapport. Nevertheless, I hope it is at least an insightful example of how rapport can flow from the start of your interview. Ultimately, if you go in with enthusiasm and don't worry about saying something awkward, then I am sure you will build great rapport!