Beat the clock: How to nail on-campus interviews in 20 minutes or less

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Twenty minutes: That’s how long most law students have to prove they’ve got what it takes to go from the classroom to the courtroom, or at least the file room.

The on-campus interview, or OCI, as many interviewing attorneys call them, is more than a test of a student’s evolving legal acumen. For second-year students, it’s also a chance to show you not only want to be part of a law firm, but that you have the personality and drive to fit in.

“Any interview is this little snapshot of who you are,” said Jennifer Mirus, a partner and former chair of the recruiting committee at Boardman & Clark LLP in Madison. “And you do have a very limited little window to have it be a great snapshot of someone I find to be interesting and engaging and committed and trustworthy. That’s the snapshot you need to create.”

If you’re successful, you could land a spot as a summer associate. If you’re really successful, you could have a job waiting for you after graduation.

It all depends on how you approach the opportunity.

For Carmen Couden, senior counsel and a member of the Milwaukee recruiting committee with Foley & Lardner LLP, making the most of your time (and hers) is always important, especially since she might not give candidates a full 20 minutes.

“I always make my assessment of the candidate immediately at the end of interview, and that may mean ending the interview a minute early so I can do that,” Couden explained. “To wait until the end of the day after interviewing 20 candidates is just impossible. So, the candidates that do stand out are the ones you’re able to have a comfortable conversation with.”

And that means more than reiterating a resume.

“I like to talk about things that are not on the resume,” said Kadie Jelenchick, another member of Foley’s recruiting team. “For me, it’s about that student finding a topic of conversation or something of interest we can just talk about and have an interesting conversation more than them trying to highlight everything in their resume, or their school or employment history. Because I can read those for myself.

“That said, I think it is good when people can work in their experience or attributes in the course of conversation. People who can do that easily or without coming across as arrogant, those kinds of conversation really stand out.”

Mirus, who recently went through a round of on-campus interviews, said attentiveness and enthusiasm are underrated assets.

“If there’s any sense of disinterest, if there’s any sense of reluctance,” she warned, “it’s just too competitive of a field to come off as anything other than completely committed to this as a career.”

At the same time, crossing the line to cocky or over-confident also can kill a candidate’s prospects.

“That’s a fine line,” Mirus said. “You need to sell yourself as someone who, in both an intellectual and technical matter, will be capable of being a great lawyer, but also someone who has humility, is willing to take feedback, is going to be someone clients want to work with, and someone I want to see in the hallway day in and day out.”

Lack of preparation is a quick way to show you’re not up to the task.

“They don’t have to have all kinds of things memorized about the firm or me,” Couden said, “but they should know where our locations are, what our practice groups are and have questions that show they have checked into Foley.”

Jelenchick agreed. In one recent campus interview, an otherwise promising candidate made a geographical gaffe, asserting an excitement for working in Milwaukee, Minn., instead of Milwaukee, Wis.

“This was in the last couple of minutes of the interview. I thought he was a great interview. He was a terrific candidate,” Jelenchick said. “The minute he said that it was a no brainer. We weren’t going to consider that candidate.”

Working ahead

The importance of that brief window is part of the reason students get so many chances to practice for on-campus interviews, said Michael Keller, assistant dean for career and professional development at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

From required interviewing workshops for first-year students to interview boot camps for second- and third-year candidates, students are continually coached on not only how to research law firms and ask insightful questions, but how to dress and shake hands.

A new speed interviewing workshop focuses on the all-important first impression, he said, giving students a Groundhog Day-like opportunity to relive the first five minutes of an interview until they get it right.

Full 20-minute mock interviews, which include a 10-minute feedback session, also are available. And students can stop by Keller’s office throughout the year for an impromptu interview session or just to get advice.

“If you want to test drive that suit, if you’re not sure about a tie, about that blouse — come on in,” he said.

The school even has a Pinterest account, available via the law school’s website, which focuses on things such as the ideal lengths of skirts and pants, how a jacket should fit, how to tie a tie, what shoes to wear and how to navigate the ambiguous world of business casual.

The practice can definitely pay off, Couden and Jelenchick said. But students shouldn’t focus so much on preparation that they forget what the interviews are really about.

“When it comes to presenting yourself in the best way possible, it helps if you’re interviewing at places that you really want to work,” Couden said.

“We want candidates who are going to fit with what our needs are,” Jelenchick said, “but candidates should want a firm to fit their needs, too.”

It’s a consideration that has come back after years of limited options, Mirus said.

“Between 2008 and 2012, I didn’t even talk about that with law students because the market was so bad,” she said. “It was just disingenuous talking about picking for culture when 45 percent of your graduates didn’t have job options.”

Now, Keller said, prospective hires have more options.

“Think about what you really want to know about this organization,” he said. “Not the things you can find out on the website, not how many hours you have to bill or the pay. But how do they do things beyond that summer? What happens if you get offered a position? What was your firm’s reaction to the downturn in the economy, and how has that changed with the recovery?”

Good advice, Jelenchick said, since when it comes to an on-campus interview, she shouldn’t be the only one asking questions.