What I Learned in My First Year of Law that Applies to Interviewing

On November 3, 2024

I started my career as a litigation associate, didn’t stay on that track, but learned some key lessons that port over to interviewing: Prepare for interviews like you’d prep for a case. Research the company and the audience so you can anticipate likely questions, e.g., why should they hire you, what do you have to […]

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Return To Office vs. Work From Home

On September 22, 2024

Amazon is calling workers back in the office five days a week! How common is this? WSJ gives some context on RTO vs WFH: Of all US companies, 33% require employees in office 5 days/week. Of large tech companies, 7% require employees in office 5 days/week. Pre-pandemic, workers reported working from home 7% of the […]

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What’s the State of AI in the Legal Workplace?

On July 14, 2024

AI is everywhere! What does Legal think about it? (Spoiler alert: Legal is pretty skeptical about using AI) The SF-based software company Retool surveyed 750 tech workers about their AI use and found: Legal is the slowest department to adopt AI compared to 9 other departments. From most to least, here are the 10 department’s […]

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Crazy Long Recruiting Process Get You Down? At Least You’re Not Applying to Be an Astronaut

On November 26, 2023

Yes the legal hiring process is long and complicated. But check out what NASA does! NASA hires new astronauts about once every 4 years. 18,000 people applied for 12 spots a few years ago! Candidates must have a master’s degree in a science, engineering, or math field and a minimum of two years of relevant […]

Interview, Market, Timing, Uncategorized

Yes, Interviews ARE Taking Longer, for a Lot of Reasons

On May 28, 2023

It’s not your imagination. Interview cycles are taking longer. Why? This recent WSJ article addresses the reasons. In a nutshell: “Hiring for the office set is slowing down and employers are getting picky again.” Factors listed that I also have seen accounting for the increased time to land a job: Hard for employers to get […]

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Why Companies Don’t Hire the Most Experienced Candidate Applying?

On September 4, 2022

I am often asked why an employer wouldn’t want to hire the most experienced candidate interested in a job. The most common reasons I get: The hire would upset internal hierarchy. Existing team members may feel like they will lose out on promotion opportunities or interesting projects. Experienced candidates want to be paid more than […]

Interview, Uncategorized

What Behavioral Questions Do Top Companies Ask?

On September 15, 2019

I like this recent Inc. article listing common behavioral questions asked by top companies like Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Dropbox. I recommend reviewing the questions and my guidelines below on how to respond so you can comprehensively prepare for any interview, even if it’s not with one of these companies because smaller companies often follow […]

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ABA Releases Data on Lawyers (Spoiler: Silicon Valley Lawyers Paid #1 in Nation)

On August 18, 2019

The American Bar Association just released its 2019 profile of the legal profession. Some interesting stats: Compensation. The average national salary for lawyers is $144,230. The highest average for a region belongs to San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, the heart of Silicon Valley, at $207,950. The second highest metro region is San Francisco/Oakland at $183,070. Southern California […]

Interview, Presentation, Uncategorized

4 Ways to Quantify Legal Achievements (Which Are Notoriously Vague)

On January 12, 2019

Interviewers want to know about your skills and concrete successes. See this recent interview with an Apple global HR specialist explaining the magic formula for answering interview questions in four steps: (1) describe a situation you were in, (2) outline what you had to do, (3) detail what you executed, and (4) explain how this […]

Interview, Uncategorized

Behavioral Questions Lawyers Face in Interviews & 5 Ways to Handle

On December 15, 2018

Interviewers often ask lawyers at least one behavioral question in the interview process. Below are typical behavioral questions lawyers face, whether from HR (who come up with these) or the hiring manager: What is a challenge you recently faced? If a client wants to do something you don’t agree with, what do you do? How […]

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