In-House Interviewing
As you likely know, most in-house jobs are competitive, and many organizations prefer to hire candidates who already have some in-house experience. This certainly doesn’t mean that you can’t or won’t get an in-house job if you are coming directly from a law firm, but it does mean that you have some extra preparation and convincing to do. After all, the organization’s current in-house lawyers were probably also once-upon-a-time lawyers at law firms – but they now understand the important differences between working for a law firm and working inside a corporation. You need to convince them that you do, too.
If you are interviewing for an in-house job, you should expect behavioral and, possibly, case study interview questions. You should also be prepared for group/panel interviews.
To see some questions that have arisen at actual in-house interviews, consult the document below.
In terms of what you should be asking, in general, your questions to interviewers should concern their personal experiences, the difference between law firm life and in-house life, as well as their general perspective on the organization. It's helpful to consult the In-House page of this site where many ideas for such questions are listed in the Sample Questions handout contained in that page's resources.
It's also helpful to revisit for these purposes the list of in-house "personality traits" contained in that section, which we have reproduced below:
You're a decision-maker. You can make decisions quickly and are comfortable with some degree of uncertainty. You won’t have the luxury of time to research (or time to delegate the research of) every issue the way you can at a law firm.
You're capable of navigating the politics. You can handle, and navigate, the often-intense politics inherent in working for multiple clients and constituents who may have diverging interests (even though they are ostensibly part of a single organization).
You're a self-starter and a fast learner. You are ready, willing and able to learn new things, including the details of the business, the basics of how the organization earns its revenue and the relevant market and industry.
You're business-savvy. You have enough business acumen and common sense to make practical, business-friendly (or at least “business-reasonable”) decisions. The organization does not want a professional naysayer who imposes legal roadblocks to every new idea; rather, it needs a thoughtful lawyer who can offer creative solutions to try to balance business concerns with acknowledged risk.
You have leadership potential. You are comfortable managing and leading other people. This includes outside counsel, as well as people within the organization itself.
You're confident and resolute. You are comfortable saying “no” when justified, even to people who are quite important or senior – or who pressure you to say otherwise. (This is especially true for compliance-related positions.)
You're a skilled communicator. You do not need to be – or need to have others think you are – the smartest person in the room. In a law firm, subject matter expertise is often prized above most everything else. In contrast, an in-house lawyer’s subject matter expertise is assumed, and what is prized instead is the ability to listen, to communicate complex information to various constituents, to forge relationships and to inspire trust.