How to answer motivational questions?

These are questions where you will be asked your personal reasons for becoming a lawyer and for applying to the particular firm, company or chambers in question. They come in the form of:

• Why you?
  • Questions about you as a candidate.
  • This is a question that asks essentially two things: Why should we hire you? And, what experiences do you offer that will help you succeed as a future lawyer?
• Why law?
  • This is a question to demonstrate your interest in the industry.
  • Law firms want to know you are serious about a career in law and that you have an idea about what it entails.
  • Demonstrate you understand the type of law you want to pursue.
• Why this firm?
  • This is a question to demonstrate why you chose the firm, chambers or organisation interviewing you and why you are particularly suited to it.
• Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?
  • The interviewer wants to see if you are committed to practising law in the medium or long haul.
  • Many law firms & chambers will sponsor (course fees &/or maintenance grant) while you study the LPC/SQE or Bar Course, which adds up to a lot of money per trainee solicitor or pupil barrister. They want to see if you are worth investing in!

• Focus on your strengths, USPs, work/academic experiences & evidence them – you could use a table or spider diagram to match up your USPs to your
  experiences that demonstrate them, & use the STAR technique (see the
  Competency Questions section).
• Make sure you link your points back to the firm’s key competencies (which
  you can find on the firm’s website).
• It may help to get a second opinion when answering this part of the question, as
  others may identify your strengths that you might normally disregard.
• Mention an experience you had, whether from university, work experience or
  something personal which relates to your ‘Why law?’ answer. Explain what you
  liked about that experience, what you learnt & how this experience plays to your
  strengths.
• If you can’t answer this question & can’t sell yourself, no one else will – show
  your self-belief!

Example Questions

• Why should we hire you?
• What makes you the ideal candidate for this role?
• How would you make yourself stand out as a trainee?
• What qualities are needed to be a good solicitor? Do you have these?

• The key is to show authenticity & be specific to your story or brand.
• Think about why you applied to this law firm or chambers in the first place – did
  you have specific criteria for which law firms or chambers to apply to? What has
  the firm done that demonstrates these criteria?
• What sparked your interest in this law firm? E.G. Attendance at an open day
  or networking event.
• If you attended an event with the law firm, what did it involve? I.E. Case study or
  research. & Why did you enjoy it? E.G. I developed my commercial awareness,
  participated in collaborative work, met friendly employees.
• How did you build on this interest? E.G. Subsequently I went to X talk, or
  completed X scheme.
• Ensure you are ‘applying the facts’ & linking back to this specific law firm,
  whether it’s the type of law practiced, international opportunities, career
  progression, industry specialism, etc.

Example Questions

• Why do you want to work for us over our competitors?
• What differentiates us from our competitors?
• What other firms or chambers have you applied to?

• To answer the question ‘why law?’, you need to break it down into three parts:
  
• Why work in the legal industry? Why you? Why this law firm? You should
  already have the answers to the last two questions (see previous sections).
• Provide a personal & unique reason as to why law is the career for you. Find an experience or interest that shows you are motivated to pursue a legal career.
• Be honest: Interviewers are likely to ask follow-up questions here if something you say piques their interest.
  You can talk about your career goals, experiences with the law (positive &
  negative) & general work experience that has pointed you in this direction. Avoid discussing the job’s salary & perks.
• You could give a chronology of what sparked your interest in law to where you are now. Was there a defining moment in your life that placed you on the path to becoming a lawyer? But your interviewers aren’t looking for cliche answers about watching Suits or wanting to become a lawyer since age 5.
• Make sure you are answering the question ‘why law?’, not ‘why did you want
  to study law?’. These are 2 different questions!

Worked Example

• What sparked my interest + what did it involve? Because risk is
  engaging to me, & from the commercial work experiences that I’ve
  undertaken so far, I can see that the business of commercial law is
  always about calculating the commercial viability of a business.
• Why did I enjoy it? I’m interested in commercial law because its
  operation is vital in a functioning economy & so regardless of where
  or what I do, it impacts my personal circumstances. The function of a
  commercial lawyer, as I see it, is about adding value through
  navigating or mitigating risk.
• Link it back to what I do: Now, more than ever, I want to be
  involved with so that I can be engaged with, & be challenged by
  concept problems & risks, so that I can enhance & enrich the
  positions of your clients, this firm & myself.

Example Questions

• Why do you want to become a solicitor instead of a barrister (& vice versa)?
• What do you perceive to be the most challenging aspect about being a trainee (or
  pupil barrister)?
• What is your reason for coming into the office the following morning after a late
  night working to meet a deadline/after dealing with a particularly demanding
  client?
• If you’re interested in commercial affairs/how businesses operate particularly,
  why not go into something like consultancy instead?

• Avoid being too general & vague as this also shows a lack of direction E.G. that
  you do not know where you will be in 5 years’ time!
• Use it as an opportunity to show you understand career progression at the
  firm & what it might involve E.G. that you would like to be a qualified associate
  in a specific department, or in a position where you have built meaningful
  relationships with a number of clients.
• Avoid being too honest & personal in your responses E.G. telling the
  interviewers at a law firm that you want to work in-house in future.
• As tempting as it is, do not joke in your answer to the question (avoid Suits/TV
  show references).
• You could perhaps suggest a practice area or industry that you are interested
  in & might want to specialise in.

Example Questions

• What are you expecting to gain from a career in law?
• What are your short, medium & long-term goals?
• What does success look like to you?