Almost every attorney interviewing for a new position gets asked at some point during the interview: “Do you have any questions for me?” This is your chance to not only learn more about the position and the company but to also make a good impression with the questions you ask. As recruiters advising Texas attorneys on how to get the job they’re seeking, we heartily agree with four of the five questions that ZipRecruiter recommends. In fact, we also recommend that our attorney candidates ask: 1) Why is this position vacant; 2) Can you describe a typical workday for the lawyer in this position?; 3) How would you characterize the culture of this company/law firm, and; 4) What are the goals of this company, and how does this position and legal department factor into those goals?
We would not, however, advise an attorney in Texas to ask the fifth question recommended by this article: “Do you like working here?” There are other ways to glean this information during your conversation with the interviewer – how enthusiastic and positive do they sound about the position and the company as they visit with you; do they seem happy and pleasant? Asking if the interview likes working at this particular company might be a good question to ask in other situations – we admittedly only know the legal recruiting arena – but the legal departments and law firms that we work with are all savvy enough to not put an unhappy employee on your interview schedule, much less a disgruntled one, so asking this question is a waste of your limited time with this interviewer. In addition, it might come across as an unsophisticated question to ask, since the interviewer would never answer you honestly even if they weren’t happy there (and will think you should know this). Other than this one caveat, however, the attached article is good advice for attorneys interviewing for new jobs in Texas.