How to Answer Tough Interview Questions

Everyone has holes in their resumes that interviewers might call out. You may think there’s nothing you can do about it, e.g., they want firm training and you went straight in-house, or they may prefer long tenure, and you’ve left a couple jobs in a row. However, you can prepare solid answers that put the hiring manager at ease.

What do you need to do? Understand interviewers don’t have the time or inclination to follow your whole life story. They will only give you a few minutes to determine if you are a cultural and skills match. While the typical lawyer might want to give all the context, do not do this. Instead, give a short clear answer that will make immediate sense to the interviewer.

Let’s go through some top tough questions and potential answers.

“How did you get training if you didn’t work in big law?”
The interviewer may not ask you this directly, but if they trained in big law, they likely have this bias and are thinking this question. I recommend discussing your:
* Mentorship. Definitely include if your mentor came from big law and worked with you one-on-one.
* Programs or playbooks. Mention any that you used or developed that provided a strong foundation.
* Direct and early experience. Highlight work with execs, cross-functional teams, and clients.
* Compliments. Include any received from management or clients on your skills and achievements. Use metrics, name drop, or list an award or two to back up your answer.

“Why did you leave?”
Some acceptable answers:
* You were recruited by [Executive A] to join your previous company, so when that person left it was a good time to explore options.
* The business unit you support is changing [being eliminated, focusing on something else, etc.], so after having helped it [scale, pivot, etc.], you want to do that again for the company you are interviewing with.
* You were hired to accomplish ABC, and now that you have achieved that, you are ready for another challenge, and you are attracted to [company you are interviewing with] because

“Why were you at your company such a short time?”
* You can use any of the above explanations here too (e.g., an old manager asked you to follow them to the next company which then had growing pains, your company faced headwinds, etc.).
* But if none of the above applies and the reason you left was a toxic workplace, you can point to high attrition at the company, and the interviewer will likely understand. A sample answer could be: “In the [X months/years] at the company, I worked for [high number] of [CEOs], [CFOs], [direct managers], and/or [X%] of the team turned over. I love that [your company] …”

In an interview, you must show you are right for the job without being defensive or over explaining. To do it right takes thought and practice so you can execute during the interview!