Interview Question Types
1. Traditional
Traditional interview questions are typically open-ended questions, such as “What did you like and dislike about your job?” or “What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?” or “What were your responsibilities?”
2. Behavioral
The Purpose of Behavioral Interview Questions
In a nutshell, a behavioral interview is designed to elicit information about how you have handled certain situations in the past. It is based on the premise that how a person behaved on the job in the past is the best predictor of how that person will conduct him/herself in a future position. Behavioral questions are very common in corporate and government interviews and, increasingly, in law firm interviews as well.
Employers who use behavioral interviews have determined that certain traits and skills lead to success in their organizations. Generally, employers are looking for some or all of the following characteristics:
Communication/interpersonal/team skills
Leadership/management skills
Ability to handle adversity/conflict
Distinguishing personal qualities (e.g., good judgment, determination)
Ethics (e.g., integrity, trustworthiness)
Behavioral Questions vs. Traditional Questions
In contrast to the more open-ended traditional questions, behavioral interview questions often start with “Tell me about a time when you…” or “Have you ever…” or “Give me an example of…” or “How did you handle…”?
The interviewer wants to hear concrete examples of when and how you applied the specific skills and personal qualities that he or she needs in a prospective employee. Rather than just gathering information about you, the interviewer wants to hear how you handled situations similar to those you are likely to encounter in your desired position.
Examples of Behavioral Interview Questions
The following are some examples of common behavioral interview questions:
Tell me about a time when you had too much to do and not enough time.
Have you ever made a mistake? How did you handle it?
Tell me about a time when you felt you really excelled at ____ (negotiation, oral advocacy, client management, etc.).
Have you ever worked with a difficult client, and how did you handle that?
Give an example of how you set goals and achieve them.
Have you ever lost an important case? How did you tell the client?
Give an example of how you worked well on a team.
What do you do when you disagree with your supervisor?
Responding to Behavioral Interview Questions: The STAR Method
STAR stands for:
Situation (S)
Task (T)
Action (A)
Result (R)
The “STAR” method is a great way to structure your responses to behavioral interview questions. The idea is to:
Explain the situation (“I was given a case that involved an unfamiliar area of law”);
Describe the task assigned to you (“I was designated as the point person for substantive legal questions on the team”);
State the action you took (“I researched the legal topic and spoke with other lawyers in the firm with a level of expertise for advice”); and
Give the result you achieved (“I became well-versed in the field and was able to successfully advise other team members”).
Preparing for Behavioral Interview Questions
Because there are an infinite number of possible questions you could be asked, it is virtually impossible to prepare for all of them. The best way to prepare is to do the following:
Think about, organize and practice your answers to traditional interview questions.
Pay attention to the key words in the job description or posting – and the biographies and LinkedIn profiles of people in similar positions – to determine what skills and personal qualities the position requires. Some examples include strong communication skills, management skills, decision-making skills and client relationship skills.
Check websites like Glassdoor and other sites geared to job candidates which may indicate whether that specific organization conducts behavioral interviews. Also review the organization’s mission statement and any published values, as those may help you identify the traits you will want to demonstrate in your meetings.
Re-read your Candidate Selling Points Exercise, and think about your skills and competencies in the context of the job description.
Think about specific matters and deals you have worked on that required you to use the relevant skills and personal qualities. Take a look at your past written performance reviews, any feedback from clients and colleagues and your old law firm timesheets or end-of-year billing summaries (if you have them). These resources may jog your memory about specific work you did, as well as the challenges you faced and met.
Write some notes to bring to the interview about specific stories that you want to share, and feel free to refer to these notes if necessary during the interview. Organize your stories thematically, and structure your notes as a brief summary with a STAR answer (e.g., “My approach to conflict is to (a) make sure I have all the facts, (b) make sure I understand the other side and (c) look for mutually beneficial solutions.” Then go into your STAR details.) Too often, candidates waste precious opportunities to share their stories by talking without having a focus or by giving a summary with no supporting details. Having organized notes can help you communicate your compelling stories, even in a stressful interview environment.
Record yourself responding to some questions. Notice any uncomfortable body language, use of filler words (“um,” “like,” “you know”) and rambling or meandering answers. Remember: While you are obviously trying to sell yourself, there are no right or wrong answers to behavioral interview questions! Your responses will help the interviewer determine whether there is a match between your skills/personal qualities and the position which the organization needs to fill. Be self-promoting but honest when you respond. If your answers aren’t what the interviewer is looking for, this position may not be a good fit for you anyway (e.g., “I’ve never had to work with a very difficult client,” when the interviewer knows – but can’t tell you – that your main client in the new position would be someone who is quite difficult).
Many examples of behavioral interviews are posted on YouTube. Consider watching some of these as you think about anticipated behavioral interview questions.
3. "Case Study"/Hypothetical
Case studies are commonly used in the business world (often for business school students), and are particularly common in interviews for management consulting organizations. These kinds of interview scenarios are also used with lawyers – in the form of hypotheticals – particularly by the government, large companies and, increasingly, law firms.
In the legal world, a case study gives the interviewer a chance to examine your substantive legal knowledge and to see how you would approach and analyze a question or problem. It will most likely be a hypothetical question that could be referred to you if you had the job, e.g.:
"You learn that your Head of Sales has been falsely posting on her private Facebook page that your competitor’s product contains a certain undesirable chemical. What would you do?”
“A newly hired staff attorney has been absent six times so far this year, and her manager wants to fire her. What would you do?”
Some companies (particularly technology companies) give their case study questions in written form. A candidate is given certain documents and information and is asked to use those to draft an agreement (e.g., a licensing agreement, an outsourcing agreement), either by the next business day or else during the interview itself.
In answering the question, your job is to provide a logical thought process, not necessarily to come up with the right answer. Just like when you wrote your answers to your bar exam questions, it is important for you to answer the question by issue-spotting and analyzing step-by-step, rather than rushing directly to an answer. If you come to a roadblock in your logic, it is fine to say that you now realize Approach A won’t work, so maybe you will try Approach B. Remember that the interviewer wants to hear how you would solve a problem in real life, and real life legal problems are rarely simple (or else the organization wouldn’t need to hire a lawyer).