I’ve always found that the students who read cases that we were involved in to be ingratiating. I have hired a student who has done this, because usually it represents some sort of underlying psychosis, which we do not need.

Sending professional thank you notes? No offence, but we aren’t so easily swayed. Plus, we are busy. Also, this is ingratiating, and it doesn’t make you appear like you are a scare commodity, which sad to say, is important.

Westlaw alerts? Insane. We are not hiring laterals. We are hiring students.

I can’t even continue. Please do not listen to this advice, because it could be fatal.

Most places I have interviewed with and been hired by have told me (in referring to other, later interviewees) that sending a note to every interviewer is overkill.

First, who: focus on the deal-makers: the recruiting person/people (I’d send somethign to the manager, not a scheduler/assistant), the most senior interviewer with hiring authority and perhaps 1 or 2 others (maximum) that you felt you had a connection with.

How: This is not as clear. The effect you want to have is that you appreciate that the recipient took time from their BUSY day to try to get to know you and to add value to the (hopefully) good impression you made in person. Some interviewers will remember a nice card on “thank you” stationary. Some will be relieved to only receive a short, professional email that expresses your gratitude. If I were to hazard to make a sweeping generalization, I’d send the shi-shi thank you notes if your highest-ranked interviewer was a woman. Women notice these sorts of details (here we all are on this blog) and it will make a nice impression. Send most male managing or hiring partners types (or VPs or SVPs) an email. I think the stationary is lost on them. Whichever way you judge is best, be consistent. Send all recipients the same kind of thank you (digital or tangible).

A war story: a candidate for a summer associate position once had the nerve to ask a random secretary to “run over to Nordstrom” to buy the candidate a pair of hose since she’d gotten a run in hers. Not only was this despicable, she didn’t even offer the secretary any money to use to purchase them! (There was a Nordies only a block away.) This news spread like wildfire while the candidate was in a partner’s office interviewing. The whole office knew about it by the time she was escorted to the next interviewer. So, yes, bring a spare pair of hose and yes, as always, BE POLITE to everyone! Especially in this economy, don’t give anyone any reason to think you won’t excel at the job.

And yes, you are screening your employers just as they are screening you–always go with your gut and walk away (graciously) from anything that gives you an off feeling.

Re: #8: I think this is good advice. How helpful would it be to have a record of your impressions of potential employers for your own purposes — to remind you of what, or who, you did or did not like at a particular place, etc? If you can keep it all straight in your head, great, but I would rather free up that mental space for other things.

Re: Lawyerette’s advice — I am assuming this means know the firm’s corporate clients. If your firm has high-profile clients who are actual, real-life people, it may be a good idea to be aware of this going into an interview but I would not suggest dropping names. Discretion is valued.

MJ: that is great advice about the purse-friendly drinks. I had never heard that — great rule of thumb!

Obviously, you can’t do this without a little bit of research or networking. But this isn’t about looking at past cases on Westlaw, it’s about noting who are big clients of the firm, and thinking a little about what the firm seems to value about itself based on its marketing materials. Don’t buy the marketing — just realize that, because the partners paid a lot for that crap, they like to believe that the marketing truly reflects some of the things that differentiate their firm. Finally, you can hardly go wrong by telling the firm that you chose to interview with them because of their great reputation, but that should be a secondary point to pointing out some fabulous point about yourself – point one or two. To really hit on out of the park, you want to take the question that they give you and turn it into why you are so awesome and how you will fit into their business plan. Think about it: as a litigator, all I do is take facts and law and swing it into why my client should win. Take that skill and use what you are given to say why you should win. Especially lawyers will appreciate it.

The other interview tip I believe is truly important is that not only are they interviewing YOU, you are also interviewing THEM. This may seem like dumb advice when you’re desperate for a job, but it’s not. If you get a bad vibe from a firm when you interview, think twice about accepting their offer. Gut feelings are often correct feelings, and although being unemployed sucks, being miserable isn’t so hot either.

Re: Westlaw — We stand by our advice. Say you want to be an appellate lawyer and the firm SAYS they do tons of appellate work and then you run a Westlaw search and there are only 5 opinions (or worse, 5 briefs) involving the firm — you’ve just discovered something, which you can ask about when talking to junior associates: has your experience at the firm been in discovery or in briefing? Let’s also say the firm is appealing a judgment of 9 figures against their client — that is something that EVERYONE in the firm will know about. The interviewee doesn’t need to discuss it — “So what’s your trial strategy?” or “Seen any hot privileged documents lately?” — might come off a bit weird — but to acknowledge that the firm is involved with a huge case is helpful and shows your interest.

Personally a Westlaw search came in useful for me — I was interested in a specialty and when I interviewed with one of the top firms, I ran a search and found that one of the partners at the firm had litigated a HUGE case in that area. It had been a few years ago so we could discuss it, and where the law was going, and how the court’s opinion in the case had affected the law. I got the offer, but ended up declining. Always felt horrible about that, too, since he and I had bonded so well over that case.

The spreadsheet sounds anal, and is a little OTT, but I concur that after dozens and dozens of interviews, it’s good to connect/remember something specific about things. So, a silly reminder notes are fine, but an excel spreadsheet…well, you’re gonna make a good lawyer when it comes to taking notes during due diligence…..