• So what salary are you looking for? click here
• Why are you looking to leave your current role? click here
• Tell me about a time that you made a mistake on a legal document. How did you handle this? click here

So what salary are you looking for?

Be aware that the interviewer will already have a salary in mind and they will be seeking to find out if your salary expectations are in line with their own.

There are several responses you can give and they could go like this.

“I am currently on “$state the dollars” and with my experience and qualification I believe that the market salary range is $ to $. “
It is expected that you will be looking for a salary which is not less and most likely more than what you are on. Giving a range gives you and the interviewer time to consider the value of the salary fit to your skills and experience and also leaves it open so that you do not count yourself out of the running and you appear to have scope for negotiation. Should the position be really attractive to you and you would consider the role regardless of the salary say so and it could go like this. “I am on a salary of $ and looking for a salary range from $ to $ however the position and what I will be doing is more important to me than salary so this would be my first consideration”

Why are you looking to leave your current role?

Keep the response positive and moving forward. In other words rather than saying you are leaving because you are not progressing and the firm does not support your career expectations turn it around and say something like “I am looking for a position that will offer me the opportunity to learn more, develop my skills further and be in an environment that is supportive of my career development." This is a more positive response moving forward.

Tell me about a time that you made a mistake on a legal document and it went out to the client. How did you handle this?

This is a behavioural question. It is designed to find out how you would response or act in a particular situation. In this situation they want to find out if you make many mistakes, take ownership and if it is picked up by someone else, in this case the client, how do you respond to this. The first step is to be honest, identify a time that this has happened and re tell your story taking ownership. It is not wrong to make a mistake, as we all do, however there is a right and wrong way to handle it.

If you can’t think of a time that you made a mistake, even better, let the interviewer know that. Other behavioural questions can centre on meeting deadlines, personality clashes or being dismissed. Honesty is best.