Glad You Asked
One way to engage your interviewer is with well-crafted questions. Most hiring contacts seem quite open about the types of issues that are appropriate to raise. “It is hard to ask a bad question. Candidates should ask whatever they feel they need to know. It’s a mutual
interview,” says Manuel Varela, a hiring partner at Baach Robinson & Lewis.
“Nothing is off limits. You get to ask everything,” agrees Bean, but adds a critical caveat. “You can’t lead with questions about work-life balance and pro bono opportunities.
And that is not to say I don’t care about these things, I do, but these are not the first questions I would ask.” More than a few people mentioned that questions designed mainly to make an impression are not effective. “The worst thing they can do is to try to please me instead
of being themselves,” warns Varela. “I want to get to know their interests, how they like to work, and what is important to them.” Keep your interviewer’s position in the firm in mind
in connection with the questions you ask. For instance, Barninger, who handles associate development at Cadwalader, says, “I want them to ask me about the associate committee, about recruiting, and about other ways they can get involved in the firm and its culture.”
Kara Reidy, director of professional recruitment and retention for Patton Boggs, sees good questions as an opportunity to “blow away the competition.” She says, “I have been floored by the great, well-thought-out questions I have gotten from a few candidates.” Let the questions you ask reveal your strong listening skills. “Use something you learned during the interview as the basis for a question you ask,” suggests Reidy. “It shows you listen well and also demonstrates a certain tenacity.”
 
What Are You Thinking?
Failure to ask questions can lead to negative inferences, including that you are not prepared or not sufficiently interested to have thought through any points of inquiry. Take the situation of a candidate from a large law firm interviewing with a substantially smaller firm. This is common for Kayan, whose firm employs 50 lawyers. “An obvious topic to be explored on both sides,” he says, “is transitioning from a 250-person office to here.”
If a candidate doesn’t ask questions about practicing at a smaller firm, Kayan says, “I am left wondering, ‘Have they really thought this through, us specifically, and are they really ready to make this kind of move?’ ” And one final point on questions from Reidy: “When you say you don’t have questions because they’ve already been answered by others on the [interview] schedule, it suggests that you may not value different viewpoints on the same issue.” Last but not least, know yourself. Invest time upfront in determining what you want to do and how a particular job opportunity is compatible with that. You should consider how a potential move meets your professional development goals and how you will gain exposure to specific clients, industries, and responsibilities. The next year is going to be a tight market for lateral
associates. Leave it to your competition to fail to thoroughly prepare for the interview. Keep in mind that while your résumé got you the interview, it is the interview that will get you the job. Distinguish yourself with targeted research, well-crafted questions, and an eagerness to
explain why you want this job with this firm. If you don’t, someone else might.

Sadie J. Madole is a legal recruiter with Garrison & Sisson, an attorney search firm in Washington, D.C. She previously practiced law for 10 years at a law firm and with the Treasury Department. She can be contacted at smadole@g-s.com.