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October 22, 2007
Hiring Partners and Recruiters Tell It Like It Is
Everyone agrees that interviewing is a necessary, but stressful process. Fred Cohn, a writer for Jungle Law, interviewed four hiring partners and recruiters to find out what it really is that they are looking for in a successful candidate. I've highlighted a few notable answers below.
What's the first thing you look for when a candidate walks into the room?
"We want to find out if they have a sincere interest in our law firm, and in the particular office where the interview is taking place... It's also important that they have a good personality, a good sense of humor, and that they're outgoing. Lawyers are in the business of advocating for their clients, so we look for individuals who will be good advocates." Michael R. Gordon, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham
"We look for indicators of confidence, poise, intelligence." Rod Miller, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
What's the best thing a candidate can do to make a good impression?
"Information still rules. The more you know about the company, the more it will distinguish you from other candidates." Karyn Thomas, Arent Fox
What are your turn off's?
"It you don't make good eye contact or have good posture, it leaves a bad impression with the interviewer." Rod Miller, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
"I try to elicit the reasons a student has for coming to a particular location of our firm. We want people to show up for our summer program because they're interested, not just because they're dating someone in the city." Matthew Gorson, Greenberg Traurig
"If a writing sample has typos, that's a bad sign." Michael R. Gordon, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham
To read the full article, click here.
Posted by cld30 at October 22, 2007 03:40 PM