Preparing for Legal Interviews

Whether you’re a 1L who has never done a legal interview before or a 2L or 3L who’s looking to polish up your skills, we offer myriad resources that will help you prepare for a successful legal job search.

Each of our career counselors, including our Director of Professional Development, is available to help you land the career of your choosing including reviewing your resumes and cover letters, conducting mock interviews, and helping you connect with employers of interest to you.

person counseling another person

Polish Your Resume and Cover Letters

To review sample cover letters and legal resumes, writing-sample cover sheets, as well as correspondence to employers, download the Career Development Handbook: Application Materials.

Would you like your legal application materials reviewed? If so, send a copy in MS Word format to cso-resumes@law.utexas.edu.

Be Interview Ready

To best prepare for your legal interviews, we offer a variety of interviewing resources including sample questions that employers may ask and questions you should ask employers.

Need a practice interview to hone your interview skills? Students can take advantage of our mock interview programs with attorneys or request a mock interview with a career counselor at any time.

Explore Employers In-Depth

The only way to assess your interest in a potential employer is to research them before you apply. What are the primary practice areas for the various locations or what does the employer do? What are their hiring criteria, and do you meet them? Where is the employer located? Do they have multiple offices?

We offer helpful resources including our peer insights from fellow Texas Law students for those seeking to work in the private or public sector by employer type.

Grow Your Professional Network

Networking is building relationships with your peers and colleagues, mentors, and those you work for and those who work for you. These trusted relationships are reciprocal and may lead to opportunities for both you and your contacts.

We encourage you to take advantage of our networking programs so you may connect with employers as well as attend engaging workshops offered throughout the year.

Ace Your Callback Interviews

Callback interviews are a series of interviews that follow successful initial screening interviews that take place during available interview programs. During a callback, you will typically meet with four or more lawyers, individually or in pairs, as well as possibly a member of the recruiting staff.

Learn Even More

Informational interviewing is a specialized form of networking. It is talking with people in careers you are interested in to learn more about specific jobs and career paths and current developments in the legal industry. It is also a way to learn about other potential contacts and build your network.