Stockfleet Global

Preparing for Phone and Skype Interviews, for Law Students

April Stockfleet left her position as an Associate Director of Career Services at Harvard Law School in December 2007 to start her own legal search consultancy, Stockfleet Global Legal Search, www.stockfleetglobal.com. At Harvard, April advised J.D. students on all facets of the job search and has a particular expertise advising on international legal practice and overseas career opportunities. She was also the primary advisor to over 1200 LL.M. and international students at Harvard.

While skype and phone interviews are similar to in-person interviews, there are certain issues to keep in mind when preparing for them.

Skype or Videoconference Interviews

• In situations where the law firm has a local and international offices, they may invite you to the firm to videoconference with partners in a foreign office. Make sure to show up a bit early so that you can make sure that the connection is strong and so that you have time to fix any technical problems while you still have assistance from the IT person who helps get you set up.
• In situtations where you will be using skype to set up a videoconference, make sure to get a wired connection, as wireless may not be strong enough to support skype video.
• Do a practice run with a friend, ask them to look for anything troublesome, i.e. anything distracting in the background (try to eliminate any clutter in the background, as it not only will be distracting for the employer, but will also create larger images for skype to convey), experiment with your distance from the camera, room lighting, etc., to acheive the best and most professional looking picture. Sometimes, being super close to the camera, as one would be in general web chat, does not look professional. Consider putting a small table between yourself and the webcam, to look more like you are sitting across the table from the employer.
• If you have an integrated webcam, usually your eye contact will look appropriate, but if you have an external webcam, try to put it almost in front of the image of the person to whom you are chatting, so as you watch for their response, you will be looking straight into the camera. Looking into a camera which is off to the side of your monitor can give the impression that you are not making direct eye contact and make make the interviewer question your honesty.
• While you may be tempted to take notes, and it is fine to have some paper nearby, make sure to act just as you would in a normal face-to-face interview, i.e. do not spend too much time writing.
• Make sure to keep other distractions from interrupting you, i.e. if you have roommates, put a note on the door not to interrrupt; turn off the ringer on your phone, set your skype status to invisible after your call connects so that friends do not interrupt with pop ups, close all other programs on your computer.

Phone Interviews

• Find a landline to use for your call. Cell phone service, even if usually good, can be very spotty, and you do not want to waste a partner's time with dropped calls and a poor connection.