INTERVIEW ADVICE
Interviews are exacting and can be nerve-racking. Following this advice will help you give the best possible account of yourself.
- Always prepare thoroughly — read up about the firm, check the website for current news, and the business and legal press.
- A well conducted interview should be an open exchange between you and the people conducting the interview — YOU should do most of the talking — about 80%.
- Think carefully about what the role involves (using your experience of placements, what you have read and the people you have spoken to) and then match up your skills in these areas. Be prepared to give examples at your interview about these skills that will make you effective in the role.
- We appreciate you are likely to be nervous, however, try to remain calm and look confident. Good eye contact and a firm handshake at the start of the interview are important. Interviewers will be assessing how you may come across to clients — do you have the potential to inspire confidence in others — you would not instruct a lawyer who lacks this skill.
- Our interviewers will give you time to answer questions. If you need time to think, ask for it. At Lovells we are more interested in the content of your answer than the speed with which you deliver it!
- Be honest and be yourself, do not try to conform to what you think the interviewer may expect — you will probably be wrong. Instead, think about all the good things you want to get across about yourself.
- You should be prepared to ask a few questions yourself. You will be given the opportunity. Make sure they are pertinent, cover things you really want to know and are not answered by information readily available to you, e.g. on our website! For example, you may want more of an insight into the firm from a senior person's perspective — so you may want to know what they like about Lovells and their job.