Sample Job Interview Questions for Legal Assistant, Paralegal, Solicitor and Lawyer Jobs
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Sample Job Interview Questions for Legal Assistant, Paralegal, Solicitor and Lawyers

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This article contains a sample of the types of interview questions you will encounter in the Legal Sector and for positions such as: Legal Secretary, Legal Executive, Legal Assistant, Paralegal, Solicitor and Lawyers in both a corporate and a private practice environment.

Most interviews in this sector will follow a standard structure which includes, The Introduction, followed by Setting the Scene, then Exploration, Selling and finally Closure.

The Exploration Stage is all about the questions and these will vary depending on the employer, the level of job you are applying for, the amount of experience you have, the recommended recruiting policy and the personal preference of the interviewer.

You will find that many employers are now using Competency Based Interviewing techniques when recruiting for Legal jobs. You should expect both Competency Based and Behavioural Questions exploring key skills such as:

  • Detailed understanding of the law and legal procedure
  • Excellent Client Facing Skills
  • Ability to deal with confidential and sensitive information
  • Attention to Detail
  • Ability to analyse large volumes of information
  • Interest in the law and an ability to follow procedures

Qualified Solicitors, Lawyers and Senior Law Professionals should expect questions exploring:

  • Your ability to manage a team
  • Skills with developing and building relationships
  • An ability to develop and maintain fee generating streams
  • Political and commercial awareness

For each of the above you should expect 3-4 questions along with standard questions exploring your legal training and qualifications, reasons for choosing your career and reasons for applying.
 

Sample Interview Questions For Legal Interviews

Here is a sample of interview questions for a variety of Legal roles. How would you answer?

Interview Question 1: 'Tell me why did you choose to specialise in this area of the law?'

Interview Question 2: 'Working within this Banking Paralegal role you will need to have excellent technical knowledge and be up to date with all procedural law and guidelines. So, tell me what is your understanding of the Money Laundering Regulations 2003?'

Interview Question 3: 'Talk me through a complex legal decision you made, where the data was ambiguous or the information led to two different conclusions.'

Interview Question 4: 'Tell me about a time when you had to communicate complex information. What was the situation, what approach did you take and what was the result?'

Interview Question 5: 'Describe a time when you used your skills to persuade a manager or colleague to accept your recommendations.'

Interview Question 6: 'Talk me through a situation where you had to use your initiative to solve a problem for which there was no set procedures.'

* Questions taken from the InterviewGOLD™ Interview System.

How to Succeed in Legal Interviews

Have you got an interview in Legal coming up soon? Want to dramatically boost your chance of success? Want help answering Competency Based or Behavioural questions?

Legal interviews can be challenging, especially when so many firms are using Competency Based Interviewing techniques as standard. Many candidatea find it difficult to answer Competency Based or Behavioural questions successful or even the common traditional questions favoured by many interviewers. To help, I recommend InterviewGOLD for Legal Jobs, the leading online interview skills training system developed by recruitments specialists.

With InterviewGOLD, not only will you learn all the skills to succeed in any interview you will also get EXPERT INTERVIEW ANSWERS to any interview question they can ask.

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About the Author

Annette Lewis is an accredited interviewer and has recruited for many organisations within Healthcare, Education, Customer Services and Banking. Google+

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Sample Job Interview Questions for Legal Assistant, Paralegal, Solicitor and Lawyer Jobs