Episode 117-Nailing the Job Interview-A View From Both Sides of the Table with Amy Katz and Nancy Reiner

Counsel to Counsel - Career Advice for Lawyers

Job interviews can cause a lot of stress. Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate that this is true whether you are the candidate or the interviewer.

The stakes can feel high. Both sides are trying to assess whether they are right for each other. The candidate may be imagining that they are interviewing for their dream job. They may be worried about the competition.

The interviewer may have a desperate need to fill a role and there are few candidates with the right mix of skills and personality. Or worse, they made a bad hire and they are now trying to fix the problem.

But just like dating, neither side will really know what it is like to be married until they are actually living together.

So what are some ways that candidates and employers can prepare for a good interview? What can candidates and interviewers do to make themselves more attractive to each other? How can candidates and employers get the information they need to make an informed decision about whether to extend an offer or accept an offer?

In this episode, I have invited two seasoned recruiters who share their collective wisdom.

Both are members of the in-house legal recruiting team at the search firm Major Lindsey and Africa.

Amy Katz is a returning guest on Counsel to Counsel. Amy recently rejoined the team at Major Lindsey after spending a year recruiting in-house for her old employer Outside GC. I last spoke to Amy about her journey from big law to in-house to OutsideGC, and finally into recruiting.

Amy’s career experience includes over 25 years as a practicing employment attorney. Prior to joining MLA the first time, Amy was a Member at Outside GC, advising employers on a wide range of employment law matters, conducting workplace and academic investigations, and designing and delivering compliance training. Before that, she served as senior employment counsel for Genzyme Corporation.

Today, she focuses on recruiting general counsel and other in-house attorneys in a wide range of industries, most notably life sciences and technology.

My second guest is Amy’s colleague, Nancy Reiner who spent over 20 years in private practice including stints at two major firms. She last served as a partner at Brown Rudnick where she worked on business, environmental and public interest litigation.

Nancy has been in the legal search business since 2008.

Today she is the leader of the Boston In-House Counsel Recruiting team for MLA where she focuses on placement of general counsel and other in-house counsel for public companies and private businesses, major global corporations and disruptive start-ups, hospital and other healthcare systems, and colleges and universities.

Nancy has placed close to 100 senior-level leaders in corporate legal departments throughout New England and across the country.

Additional Resources

• Tips for a Successful Job Interview-Live and Virtual
• Episode 5-Nailing the Job Interview
• Episode 91-Transitioning Your Legal Career to In-house and Beyond With Amy Katz