Job search strategy: Be prepared. Be prepared. Be prepared.

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

As I have watched various friends and fellow attorneys in transition go through the interview process, they have reported on some unexpected techniques and remarkable interview stories. I also have experienced some bizarre interview techniques.

One smart and poised colleague received a call on his cell phone.  The caller introduced himself with an unintelligible name and identified his law firm with another unintelligible name.  He then informed my colleague that he and three of his associates would like to conduct an impromptu discussion on speakerphone and did he have 15 minutes to be interviewed.  My friend had no idea which of his job applications had prompted the call and was taken aback by the “surprise” technique. He responded that he had to schedule a better day and time for the interview.  He then went home, researched the law firm, and prepared for the interview, a prudent strategy in response to unexpected interview requests.

Maybe the interviewer was testing to see how the prospective candidate “thinks on his/her feet,” but we have to weigh the risk inherent in accepting such an impromptu interview request against the possibility of not being contacted again by that prospective employer.  But one ill-advised answer made without the opportunity to prepare could sabotage the extensive efforts that go into getting an interview.

When we work on the resume, plan the search strategy, execute our networking plans, etc., there is time to polish and edit.  But the pedal meets the metal during the interview, all else is rehearsal and you usually have one chance.  I prepare by over-studying, by being hyper-prepared and by being absolutely sure of the facts, sequence and substance of my stories.  You really are telling the interviewer a story, the story of you, and if you do it very well, the interviewer finds your story compelling and recognizes you as someone with whom he or she wants to work.

I prepare by engaging in a particularly tiresome and annoying process: I ask a friend or a colleague to do a mock interview with me, and while studying my resume, ask me whatever comes to their mind, no matter how rude, or out in left field or boring they think the question is.

It forces me to ready myself for routine as well as bizarre questions (e.g. describe the color red to someone who has never seen it!?! a question a colleague was really asked on an interview). If you are really serious about this, you can video yourself during this process.  I was once horrified to see myself on a practice video leaning back in my chair, legs crossed, dangling one shoe off the toe of my foot.

So do a dress rehearsal, or several dress rehearsals, with a willing coach, so that by the time you get to the real show, the interview, you are totally ready, calm and mentally prepared.  My colleague of the “ambush phone interview” did all this and was rewarded with a happy ending when he finally figured out which firm it was, went to a scheduled interview and received an excellent offer.