50 Common Interview Questions

Whether you’re interviewing for a paralegal position straight after graduating, or are an associate or senior associate looking to make a move, most legal interviews throw up variations of the same questions.

We’ve listed 50 of the questions most commonly to help you prepare for your all-important interview.

1. Why did you choose a career in law?
2. Why did you choose the area of law that you did?
3. Why did you choose to pursue a career at a high street/boutique/commercial firm?
4. Could you talk me through your CV?
5. Could you describe your current position?
6. What is your caseload like?
7. What are your targets/billings?
8. What are your main achievements to date?
9. Have you ever held a position of responsibility?
10. How do you manage your time?
11. How do you prioritise work?
12. How well do you work under pressure?
13. Could you tell me about a time you had to deal with a personality conflict with a colleague?
14. Could you tell me about a time you handled a stressful situation well?
15. Could you tell me about a time you could have handled a stressful situation better?
16. Could you tell me about a time you have built a rapport with someone where it didn’t come easily?
17. Could you describe a time when you worked with another colleague well?
18. Could you describe a time when you worked with another colleague and it didn’t go as well as you would have liked?
19. Could you describe a time when you showed initiative?
20. Could you describe a time when you had to relay bad news?
21. What’s the biggest challenge you have ever faced?
22. How do you make decisions?
23. How do you handle disagreements?
24. How do you handle difficult customers?
25. How are your advocacy skills?
26. Who is your typical client?
27. How would you go about generating new business?
28. Could you describe yourself in three words?
29. What are your strengths?
30. What are your weaknesses?
31. What motivates you?
32. How would a colleague describe you?
33. What would your current manager say are the areas you need to improve?
34. Why did you join your current firm?
35. Why do you want to leave your current role?
36. What do you know about the firm?
37. Who are our competitors?
38. Why do you want to work here?
39. What can you offer the firm?
40. What are your goals?
41. Where do you expect to be in 1/2/3/5 years’ time?
42. How do you view the future of the legal profession?
43. What is your current salary?
44. What was your starting/final salary at job X?
45. What is your salary expectation?
46. Are you applying for other jobs?
47. What’s your view on…? (current affairs question)
48. What do you do in your spare time?
49. What do you do for wellbeing?
50. What are your personal values?