Interview Preparation

Interviews?

Likely questions
What is recruitment?
Why do you want to do it? (Earning potential, fast-paced career, more exposure to clients than a legal career, interest in Law)
What skills and attributes you have to evidence this? (Sales, Vac Schemes, Alumni cold-calling, mooting and debating, sports etc)

Interview prep/1st round

Research
Internet based searches
Look up who you are meeting on linkedin
Look at the website
Look at jobs on website, then find out what the jobs are

Attire – dress as if you were interviewing at a Magic Circle Law Firm
Get there early
Firm handshake, be bright, engaging, energetic, professional, positive
It’s good to make a few notes after your 1st round interview

What to expect
Fight for it!
Expect to be told the job is tough
Bring answers back as to why you’d be good
Answer the question - why you want to do Legal Headhunting NOT why you don’t want to do something else
Red flags/green flags – if it isn’t going to help you – don’t say it!

2nd interviews/finals
Prep on who you met last time and what they told you
Role/plays, scenarios - ask your MPL Consultant
Meeting more people - it’s important to meet the team and most companies want to get a consensus before hiring

Question asking – only ask positive questions like, ‘Can you give me an example of someone who joined at my level in the last year and what has made them so successful?’ Ignore things like ‘How long do I get for lunch?’

Develop your argument, you’ll need more than in a 1st round interview – you should be able to demonstrate more mechanical knowledge of how the role really works in detail, if you don’t know, ask!
 
Closing – Don’t ask if they have questions for you, they will ask them if they do – but it’s ok to close with something like ‘I’m very keen on the business/role/opportunity, do you think there’s anything I could have done better today, or work on in terms of research or prep, to help me to secure this role?’ (If there are reservations, feel free to overcome them so long as you maintain composure and professionalism – better to know now than later)

Money/negotiating – money may come up, you should have an idea from your consultant what the package is - it’s often a fixed salary so that it is fair to everyone who joins at that level – so you ought to show a mix of flexibility and ambition – talking about overall earning potential will go down better than focusing on just base salary, it’s a commission-based sales role after all.

Offers – sometimes you might be asked if you ‘would’ accept an offer if it was made, go with your gut, if the answer is ‘yes’, make sure you won’t renege later. If you have other ongoing processes it’s fine to explain that you would ideally like to see the whole process through.

Don’t mention something in interview you will later go back on, i.e. salary expectations!

Acceptance process – normally firms will require a ‘verbal acceptance’ first, that implies that you will pull out of all other processes, following that you will receive an offer letter and contract to sign, agree a start date and where applicable, be asked to supply reference contacts to your MPL consultant. It’s also good to ask before you start your new job if there’s any prep you should be doing?

Tips for once you are in and started

Timekeeping – Recruiters work hard and are sticklers for timekeeping, it’s an easy thing to get right but a hazardous thing to get wrong

Behaviours – you will be in a new environment learning a lot very quickly, focus on your active listening, be keen, be patient, listen and ask lots of questions. Longer term it’s a good tip to find out who’s the top performer, how do they do it, is it replicable?

Overall always push for more but be compliant – balance being hungry and patient!

Keep in touch with MPL - we’re happy to catch-up, see how you are doing and offer any advice you need; 0203 4880 633 or email INFO@MPLSearch.com