I had an hour-long phone interview today for a company I'd love to work in a position that sounds like a *fantastic* fit for my experience, at least on paper. It... went.
The guy I interviewed with would be my boss. He is a big wig, and is basically starting a new department from scratch and it sounds like he's looking to hire several people, possibly in two rounds (he has approval right now for a few hires, but wants to hire more).
During the interview, he mentioned several concerns about me:
1. He has a "strong preference" for someone with in-house experience, because he thinks that firm lawyers will have difficulty transitioning to an in-house role in a department that has no structure right now (because it is just being built up). I only have firm experience.
2. While the listing asks for people with 10+ years of experience, I have far less experience than most candidates, and have the least experience of anyone he is interviewing. Most applicants from law firms are partners who are much farther along in their careers. (He also mentioned that he had received several resumes from partners at my firm. Ha! Particularly since we have very few US partners. He said that they have been passed over ).
3. The department is based in a smaller city that is 3+ hours away. That's where he sits. I applied because the listing specified New York as a possible location. It is, but he'd want me to split time between other city and New York for the first few months as I got up to speed. Which I am pretty sure would be fine with me as long as it is fairly short-term, but he made this sound like another count against me. (FWIW, they opened the listing up to New York because when they had it listed in the other city they get the quality of candidates they were looking for and thought they'd get better candidates if they let the position sit in NY too).
4. He knows the partners I've worked with at my current and former firms very well. I have two closely-related areas of practice -- let's call them A and B -- and I do 90% A and 10% B. This job is for A (though the company has an arm that does B, and understanding B is probably a plus). He asked lots of questions about how much B I do, I think because he wants to make sure that isn't my bread and butter. But when I mentioned who I work(ed) with, he said "All old school {B} players." So I'm afraid that he thinks that my experience is in the wrong area. (While the truth is that I avoid B as much as I can).
All that said, he said that he had these concerns but wants to talk to me anyway because my "bona fides have been vouched for so much by others" (?). He invited me to meet him and a few others in person for a round 2.
Obviously he's a tough interviewer, and I imagine it will be worse in round 2. And he's already put a lot of concerns on the table. Any tips on how to prepare for the tough sell without sounding phony/desperate? Particularly with respect to experience -- mine doesn't compare to a seasoned partner, and there's no way to pretend it does (years of experience mean a lot in my industry). I'd think that he'll need people of all levels of experience in his department, and that I'll be cheaper than the competition, but... right now he seems too concerned for my liking.
Sorry for rambling, but any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks!
Note: will DD because of info about partners and such.
Don't worry about the experience. You can't change that. If he wants someone with 20 years of experience, then you won't get the job. But if that was the only requirement, you wouldn't be getting a second round interview. Just go, be yourself and talk about YOUR experience.
Re experience A versus B, I think it's fine to say that you want to make clear that the majority of your work is in area A if it doesn't otherwise come up.
Don't worry about the experience. You can't change that. If he wants someone with 20 years of experience, then you won't get the job. But if that was the only requirement, you wouldn't be getting a second round interview. Just go, be yourself and talk about YOUR experience.
Re experience A versus B, I think it's fine to say that you want to make clear that the majority of your work is in area A if it doesn't otherwise come up.
So much this.
Do you have a sense of the qualities that your friends/colleagues/contacts who know the would-be boss would have talked up? He's obviously heard great things about you from people he trusts; I'd find out what I could about those conversations and aim to work mentions of those qualities into your answers.
Our fields are really different, but is it possible that he's in part testing your personality through this? Seeing how you respond to questioning like this? That was definitely a big part of my interview for my supervisor's job (for which I was runner-up).
Don't worry about the experience. You can't change that. If he wants someone with 20 years of experience, then you won't get the job. But if that was the only requirement, you wouldn't be getting a second round interview. Just go, be yourself and talk about YOUR experience.
Re experience A versus B, I think it's fine to say that you want to make clear that the majority of your work is in area A if it doesn't otherwise come up.
So much this.
Do you have a sense of the qualities that your friends/colleagues/contacts who know the would-be boss would have talked up? He's obviously heard great things about you from people he trusts; I'd find out what I could about those conversations and aim to work mentions of those qualities into your answers.
Our fields are really different, but is it possible that he's in part testing your personality through this? Seeing how you respond to questioning like this? That was definitely a big part of my interview for my supervisor's job (for which I was runner-up).
Absolutely could be that. I definitely got the sense that he was trying to make it tough, though people I know who have worked with him say he's really nice.
Honestly, an interview like that would be kind of a a breath of fresh air to me in the interview process. Not only does it help him assess you, but he is also making sure you have a good understanding of the potential job and the environment and that it would be a good fit for you. He is also telling you specifically what to talk about in interview #2 (which you obviously get, that's why you are asking here). Thinking back on various legal interviews I have had, usually they are just asking vague questions like Why do you want this job and then ending up being a conversation chatting about random stuff. Rarely do they tell you specifically why you may not be a good fit and you get a chance to respond in the interview. I can think of one interview I had like that and it made me decide I wouldn't want the job.
I think in your next interview, you should focus on #1 (why you can make the transition to in house) and #4 (that you do A and that's what he is looking for). As others have said, you can't make up experience as far as years, but you can show your knowledge, so try to slip in as many examples of relevant work that you can. You worked on those same deals that the partners in your firm did, I am guessing, and you may have done a lot of the real work.
And, to make sure this is a good fit for you, I would express your concern about #3 and say that you are fine with an initial period of working out location, but then you need to stay based in NYC. You don't want to make this move to still be spending most of your time away from home in 6 months to a year.
For my current job, I had a very awkward similar interview. He told me he didn't think I was the best fit for the job and it was a very tough interview. My thank you email included a follow up to every item he was concerned about- it was a very long email. I thought I had no chance but was later told he does that to every person he interviews because he wants to see how people act under pressure. He also told me he was impressed with my follow up email.
Bottom line, don't give up and write a kick ass thank you email.
Post by ellipses84 on Oct 31, 2014 23:54:00 GMT -5
I agree that you shouldn't worry about the years of experience, which you can't change. You meet the requirements they asked for and while they may love the candidates with 20 years experience, they probably can't afford them, especially if they want to hire more people they aren't approved for yet. Just address what would make you great at an in-house position and your experience in "A."