GETTING TO KNOW YOU (AND YOUR BRAINS)

By Rich Janney

Interviews are interesting, to say the least.  You spend a few hours with some people to determine if you are going to spend most of your waking life with them for the next several years—up to the rest of your career.  Each company has a different approach to this high-stakes get together.  Some companies just want to have an old fashioned chat.  However, more and more, employers are taking a non-standard approach to getting to know you and how you work.  Like what—what kind of things will they do? 

I’m glad you asked…

Writing Test

Some law firms have determined that since lawyers mostly write stuff, they should probably see how well you do on a writing project from start to finish.  They will give you a file with some cases, a fact sheet, and some instructions on what they want you to do (write a memo analyzing the law for a client, most likely).  Then they will hermetically seal you in a conference room (with an air supply) and see what you have produced when they let you out.  Does this measure your ability to write an analysis of three cases in two hours?  Yes.  Will it likely make you feel funny, but you can’t quite put your finger on why?  Possibly.  But you should know that it exists.  My advice?  Don’t freak out if this happens.  Just go into the writing chamber and avoid getting distracted and making doodles all over the paper they gave you.

Personality Test

Employers are increasingly administering personality tests.  You sit down—maybe with a Scantron™ sheet and a number two pencil—and the test asks you all kinds of questions that seem totally unrelated, but, thanks to certain algorithms*, a computer will be able to sort you out into a few general categories of human being (e.g., Hufflepuff or Gryffindor).  From this, the employer will be able to tell if you are in the club or not.  Frustrating?  Not if you make it into the correct personality quadrant.  My advice?  You can’t ‘steer’ these exams into saying what a great person you are.  You just have to answer the questions as best you can and hope the sorting hat likes you.

*I am getting incredibly sick of this word

Brainteasers

This has received a lot of attention lately thanks to companies like Google making news that they are no longer going to ask interviewees mind puzzles.  However, Google notwithstanding, many companies still do it.  The philosophy behind brain benders is that they supposedly reveal how you think.  Here’s how it could all go down: You arrive for your interview and exchange some pleasantries.  Then, without warning, your interviewer may ask you this: “A windowless room has 3 light bulbs. You are outside the room with 3 switches, each controlling one of the light bulbs. If you can only enter the room one time, how can you determine which switch controls which light bulb?”  My advice?  Say this: “Just watch which light bulbs turn on and off through the open door.  Idiot.”  Then flip the table over, kick the door open, and leave.  I’m just kidding.  Don’t say “idiot.” 

HEADSHOT

By Rich Janney

 

Your LinkedIn photo is very important. People want to know what you look like, so let them know and don’t leave it blank. But please be smart about it. You really only need a shot that shows off your head. Why just your head? Because professional humans like to look at the heads of other professional humans. Dogs like to sniff butts, professionals like to size up heads. It’s how the universe works. So, long story short, there is no need to provide your LinkedIn bio with anything other than a professional headshot. And yet day in and day out I see all kinds of bizarre photos used on LinkedIn. Here is a rough list of things you should not use for a LinkedIn photo:

1. No low-cut sexy-time photos.

2. Nobody cares that you caught a salmon on that fishing trip that one time.

3. Don’t use a picture of you and the girls on a night out where you just cut out all the other girls.

4. No pets.

5. Don’t just pick up your phone and take a selfie and be all like, “Fine, LinkedIn! Here’s a picture of my head! Happy now?!” Yes, technically this is a headshot, but it’s a depressing headshot.

6. No children.

7. There is no need for a head-to-toe shot of you standing in a non-descript field (I am confused as to why I see this as often as I do).

8. No pictures from your vacation where you are very sunburned and wearing sunglasses and look a little buzzed.

9. No golf clubs.

10. No lovey-dovey marriage/couple photos.

11. No pictures of you dressed up for the renaissance fair. 

I understand that people desperately want to communicate to the world that “there’s so much more to me than just my job!” I get that, I really do. But on LinkedIn, you only want to communicate that you think of nothing more than your job—it’s a professional network. Don’t subliminally telegraph that you can’t wait to kick off work and get back to your real life. To that end, if you moonlight as a magician, for the love of God, do not use a photo of you flourishing a silk scarf while a dove sits on your tuxedoed shoulder. If you do that, your moonlighting hobby might have to become your day job.

Amy McCormack Quoted in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Article

January 18, 2013

A recent article (subscription required) published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin heavily quoted McCormack Schreiber's Amy McCormack regarding current attorney recruiting trends.  Below are some excerpts:

McCormack said the time needed to complete a lateral partner move is often "much longer in duration."

This was more pronounced in the second half of 2012, she said.

In the second half, "clients who were not able to move a search more quickly often lost top candidates to clients who were more nimble," McCormack said.

Also, McCormack said, portable business is not the sole qualification for a lateral lawyer anymore.  Today, firms examine a candidate's "practice area and expertise, client synergies" and a candidate's effect on other practices before they even talk to the candidate.  She said this scrutiny was always done, but today is more far reaching.

Regarding in-house recruiting, McCormack said experienced temporary lawyers - as opposed to permanent hires or outside counsel  - are oten sought for general corporate work and to counsel a company's sales force.

For 2013, McCormack predicted for recruiters that there would be "a lot of activity in the first two quarters, and hopefully for the entire year.  We were very busy in November and December. "

BE READY FOR THE VIDEO CONFERENCE

By Rich Janney

If you are searching for a new job, it will happen sooner or later—you will be selected to have a screening interview via video conference.  Here are some tips to make sure you have the best video conference possible:

1.      Yes, wear a suit.  And wear pants, too. I know it’s funny to tell people that you didn’t wear pants for your interview, but if you have a leather chair, your bare legs might make a funny sticking sound and people will wonder what’s going on down there.

2.      Make sure you have an appropriate background for the call.  If your office is a desk in your bedroom, move the computer elsewhere.  No one wants to see a bed over your shoulder, even if there are a million pillows on it.

3.      Look at the webcam instead of being fascinated with your image on the screen.  Put a sticky note over your face if you have to.  No, no--on the screen.  Put the sticky note over your face which is on the screen.

4.      Experiment with the lighting to make sure you don’t look dead on camera. 

5.      Don’t sit too close.  Webcams are ‘fisheye’ lenses and the closer you get, the bigger your nose will look.  I may be projecting my own feelings here, as I have a prominent nose and hate webcams.

6.      Think about all the times you’ve Skyped with your parents in Florida, then avoid doing all the things they do during their calls.

7.      Give other family members the heads up that you will be having this video conference.  A nude spouse in the background is thrilling, but ultimately unprofessional.

Handle the call with as few distractions as possible and you will have accomplished your mission.  Video conferencing has a long way to go before it truly is a suitable way to communicate professionally, but ready or not, here it comes.