How to Turn a Negative into a Positive: Best Ways to talk about Your Weaknesses in Law Firm Interviews

Summary: No one is perfect. How should you talk about your weaknesses in a law firm interview?

When you hear “What’s your biggest weakness” or “Why are you leaving your current firm” you’re facing the dreaded “negative” job interview question.
Relax. You’ve got this. Just remember:

• To prepare
• Don’t be evasive but don’t overshare
• Don’t lie: Your interviewer will know a story when they hear it
• Sell it with your eyes
• Research: figure out what the firm needs in a lawyer candidate
• Learn the best ways to balance a weakness
• Know the possible questions you might be asked

The Lawyer’s Negative-Quality Interview Questions:

You look great. You’re wearing your power suit and best shoes. You don’t have a hair out-of-place. Everything about you exudes competence and assurance. Don’t worry, job seeker. You’re going to kill. But then:

What is your greatest personal weakness in your legal practice?

Well…I…I guess I’d have to say my, er, lack of confidence in my work abilities. But over the years I’ve learned to compensate. Now it’s nothing a good cry in the bathroom and a flask of vodka can’t fix!

The purpose of so-called “negative” question is to dig a little deeper and to reveal something more personal about you. It’s a way to test your interpersonal skills and self-awareness. Acknowledging your shortcomings reveals how you can grow and improve. It may also show how you can work with others and provide hints into your personal and professional development. An interviewer is not your therapist so don’t go dark on them. This is your opportunity to be aspirational.

Answer the question

Evading the question won’t be a winning strategy. They want to know how you would handle something challenging. And in the process of answering the question, they hope to discover something about your level of self-knowledge and honesty. It’s a good opportunity for you to offer something genuine (but also positive). It’s no accident that the question elicits insecurity and strong emotions: they want to test your confidence. They want to see you if you take responsibility or whether you’re going to blame someone else. Your interviewer wants you to unveil some personal traits you might not otherwise reveal.

Of course, everyone will be expecting you to turn a negative quality into a more positive one. But it’s also an opportunity to point the question into a more favorable direction: There are some good negative qualities to use in an interview and some not so good ones. Some suggestions below:

Prepare

Have you ever seen a great stand-up comedian take apart a heckler? Do you think they were that good at it at their first gig? Of course not: they prepared, they honed, and they practiced—then they slayed.

So, to reiterate: be prepared. Research and plan; don’t improvise—strategize. Create a script. Try to find the best way to bring together what you’ve learned in your career, how you were able to accommodate and overcome shortcomings, and how you’ve been able to make yourself into the kind of attorney that will benefit the law firm you’re speaking to.

Don’t pull amateur moves on a pro

Expect that your potential employer has interviewed other legal cadidates before. In the process of hiring for the position, they may talk to 10, 20, or 30 attorneys over the phone and another 5-10 in person. They will have heard a lot of answers to that question. They’ll know the deflections, avoidances, bad answers, non-answers, and the heart-moving stories. And don’t say you can’t think of a weakness or shortcoming. If you do that, you’ll look unprepared, or afraid, or maybe even cocky. (See more about eye contact below.) Don’t try to fool them. Chances are they’ll be way ahead of you.

Here’s how to turn bad things into good things

Just smile and/or smolder and they’ll believe anything you say.

Maybe that worked with grandma; it’s not going to work here.

The worst thing about me is that I work too hard! I’m always the last to leave. I keep digging until I find the answer. Clients want their children to marry me!

Again, these aren’t off-the-bus marks waiting to be suckered by the interview equivalent of Three Card Monte. Trust that they’ll spot the card and you’ll lose. Of course, you want your answer to make you look good, and you’ll want to smile from time to time, just assume they know the game.

This isn’t to say that you can’t sell it with more than words

According to research by UCLA professor Albert Mehrabian, 55% of messages processed in our brains are based on a person’s body language; your facial and eye movements are constantly being monitored—even more so, perhaps, than what you’re actually saying. However impressive your résumé and general knowledge of legal matters, if you can’t sell yourself, you’re doomed. Some of your most important interview questions and answers will be coming right from the expressions on your face. From your eyes ,they’ll be reading your interest level as well as your confidence and professionalism. Plus, good eye contact makes you appear more likable. Don’t look down at your shoes or focus on the table or shift your eyes around the room or fidget—that makes you look like you are answering without thinking.

You’re an attorney; you know there’s such a thing as “too honest.”

This isn’t Dr. Phil. This is no time to come clean. Confessing weaknesses that can hurt your chances of succeeding as an attorney is no way to win. If you confess that you don’t work well with people and then say that’s okay because you’re a writing genius, your interviewer is going to see you as having a limited role at the law firm.

Honesty is great. Attorneys know how this works. Don’t be dishonest; just don’t overshare.

Career advice for attorneys:
Think big picture.

• What does this law firm need from its lawyers? Think long-term: how can you provide that? How can you thrive together? Keep that in mind—always.
• Understand that these questions are being asked strategically. With these seemingly innocent questions they’ll want to test your ability to perform the responsibilities of the legal position. The better answers will come when you know more about the law firm. Go to their website. Check their LinkedIn pages and social media. Try to determine what answers they may be looking for so you can direct your “negative” qualities or professional weaknesses into what they may most want. What can you say that’ll have the most impact?
• Explain with your answer how you want to improve yourself as an attorney and associate. You should also include an improvement plan for the qualities you describe as negative. This will show your commitment to being the best lawyer you can be.

Worst of the worst: Some possible negatives & how to make them positives

Here’s how you can counteract them:

• Time management: Solution: use reminders, alarms, calendars, and notes on your phone, tablet, computer, etc.
• Managing stress for deadlines: Some stress is good. It canl be motivating. (Though, law firm stress is often on a whole other level.) Don’t let your interviewer think you get overwhelmed. Solution: You’ve overcome this issue by setting reasonable deadlines and making incremental progress, instead of the unreasonably ambitious goals you used to set.
• Being too self-critical: Solution: Early in your legal career, you may have been too self-critical and you learned to recognize how this could be limiting—not a becoming quality for a lawyer. Now, you choose to take moments to celebrate your accomplishments. In the process it helped you gain confidence.
• Introverted personality: Lots of people are shy, and that’s okay. However, a successful legal career requires you to work with and interact with new people on an ongoing basis. Solution: Let your interviewer know that, although you’re not always great at small-talk, you ask a lot of questions and you’re a great listener. You’ve also learned to be more vocal about asking for work.
• Procrastination: Waiting until the last minute is an all too common problem for many of us. Obviously, in a law firm, this doesn’t work. Solution: You’ve found that by creating daily schedules and task lists, you’ve been able to hold yourself accountable and meet deadlines for assignments well.

Going against the law: Other tough questions you may be asked

In addition to talking about your weaknesses, your interviewer may ask other questions that make you uncomfortable, such as why your grades were low in law school or why you were laid off from your last firm. Frame your answers by using the STAR interview method. It’ll help provide you with a simple framework for helping you tell a meaningful story about a previous attorney work experience.

STAR is an acronym for:

• Situation: Set the scene and give the necessary details of your example.
• Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation.
• Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it.
• Result: Share what outcomes your actions achieved.

Here are more potential challenging questions as devised by the Office of Public Interest Advising at Harvard Law School. When answering the questions below, try to humanize the situation described in your response and back up your decisions by providing relevant details. Use this as an opportunity to highlight the strengths and skills you could bring to being a lawyer at their law firm.

• Explain the problem or issue you faced while completing a specific project.
• Describe the steps you completed or skills you used to address the problem or issue.
• Tell me about a time you had to make a quick decision.
• Tell me about a difficult experience you had in a clinic or internship and how you overcame it.
• Tell me about a time you had too many things to do and had to prioritize.
• What did you do the last time things didn’t go according to plan?
• Tell me about a situation where you failed. Why did you fail and what did you learn from it?
• Tell me about a time you had to work with someone who did things very differently from you.
• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult partner or senior associate.
• Describe a situation in which a detail you thought to be unimportant turned out to be very important.
• Tell me about a time you had to persuade an associate to accept your point of view.
• Tell me about a time you went above and beyond the call of duty.
• Describe a situation where your efforts had a direct impact on the outcome.
• Tell me about an ethical work situation you had to deal with. How did it turn out?
• Tell me about a time when you had to act in a leadership capacity.
• What have you done in your law firm position that shows initiative and creativity?
• How would you handle a situation where you and your partner disagreed about an issue or course of action?

For a more comprehensive list of questions attorneys may be asked in a law firm interview, check here. When you’re ready to connect with even more firms, HiringPartner is here to help with the job search.

About Harrison Barnes

Harrison Barnes is the founder of BCG Attorney Search and a successful legal recruiter. Harrison is extremely committed to and passionate about the profession of legal placement. His firm BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys. BCG Attorney Search works with attorneys to dramatically improve their careers by leaving no stone unturned in job searches and bringing out the very best in them. Harrison has placed the leaders of the nation’s top law firms, and countless associates who have gone on to lead the nation’s top law firms. There are very few firms Harrison has not made placements with. Harrison’s writings about attorney careers and placements attract millions of reads each year. He coaches and consults with law firms about how to dramatically improve their recruiting and retention efforts. His company, LawCrossing, has been ranked on the Inc. 500 twice. For more information, please visit Harrison Barnes’ bio.

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