UW School of Law > Careers > Center for Professional and Leadership Development > Finding a Job > Prepare for your Interview

Prepare for your interview

  • Look the part. Employers want to hire someone that they can put in front of clients from day one. Dress professionally and groom appropriately – a dark suit, no plunging necklines or short skirts, neutral cosmetics, trimmed or no facial hair.
  • Have an elevator pitch ready. By this, we mean have an answer for the “tell me about yourself” question that gives a little background information about yourself and then gets to the point of why you are interested in working for the employer you are interviewing with. Practice this until it sounds natural and flows out easily. This can really set a great tone for the interview.
  • Look at some sample interview questions and think about how you might answer them. Here are some sample interview questions and sample answers. 
  • Go beyond vague, subjective descriptions of yourself; give specific examples. In mock interviews with students, we often get descriptions like, “I’m a hard worker” or “I’m a team player,” but students fail to back these claims up with specific examples.

    To back up a statement of “I’m a hard worker” you could explain how you worked 20 hours per week during your undergraduate work while maintaining a high GPA, and fulfilling other leadership roles because you wanted to minimize your debt load. This gives facts that show what you did and what that accomplished. The employer draws the conclusion that you were a hard worker.
  • Schedule a mock interview with either your assigned professional mentor or your Career Coach at least a week prior to an actual interview. Your Career Coach will videotape a short interview and then review it with you, giving specific feedback on ways to improve your presentation.  
  • Prepare questions to ask your interviewer.

 

Last updated 11/7/2012