Valerie A. Fontaine earned her JD from UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) and her BA, Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, from UCLA. She was on the Editorial Board of COMM/ENT, a Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law. Valerie practiced law with a prominent Los Angeles law firm and entered the legal search profession in 1981. Valerie is Secretary to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC) and Chairs its Newsletter Committee.
Although legal employers should know better, sometimes an interviewer may ask a questionable question. In this era of heightened sensitivity to inappropriate language or actions, interviewers generally are more careful, but there may be an unintentional slip-up. When this occurs, what is the best way to handle the situation? In all instances, it is best…
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Rather than being intimidated by facing multiple interviewers at the same time, you can ace a panel interview with some preparation. Basically, you need to follow the rules for one-on-one interviews, but with a few tweaks. Just as with any interview, you must do your homework regarding the firm, job, and interviewers, and be prepared…
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Lunch often is an important part of the interviewing process, and must be handled properly. The lunch (or breakfast, or dinner) interview is ideally suited to reveal characteristics about the candidate not often discovered otherwise, and can be useful from the candidate’s point of view for similar reasons. And, if things are going well, the…
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If done right, an interview will provide an opportunity for both the employer and the candidate to learn more about each other. Therefore, questions asked by the candidate are just as important as those asked by the employer. Besides eliciting information you need to determine whether this is the right career move given your goals,…
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