A few days ago I addressed a group of largely foreign lawyers, including many candidates for LLMs and JDs at US law schools. The panel discussion at the Inter-American Development Bank was sponsored by the International Law Section of the ABA, the American Society of International Law and American University’s Washington College of Law.
Many foreign lawyers requested tips on interviewing for US-based jobs. So, here goes:
TIPS FOR INTERVIEWING: USE AMERICAN STYLE LANGUAGE AND INFORMALITY
As international lawyers know, the Spanish spoken in Mexico City differs from that in Buenos Aires, and the German spoken in Vienna differs from that spoken in Frankfurt. Similarly, the English spoken in New York City is different from that spoken in Los Angeles.
Why is this important? Because when you are interviewing for a job, you want use some of the local parlance if you can: you want to speak in a way that the person interviewing you can imagine you as part of the team. In other words, you want the interviewer to think, “I’d really like to have this person as a co-worker. He/she would really fit in here.” You can enhance your chances of landing a job by helping the local employer envision you as part of the team. After all, studies show that most people, consciously or subconsciously, like to be around other people who are like them. Here are some tips to help you interview well, but follow them only as long as doing so feels comfortable and natural:
- Work on Fluidity: Foreigners interviewing for jobs in the US—even if they are native English speakers—often have accents of their country of origin. In some global companies, this is a particular plus; it may make such a candidate more appealing as the company tries to boost its image as an employer with a global workforce. However, it’s one thing to have a native accent, and it’s quite another to speak English in a way that is so stilted that your interviewer struggles to communicate with you. Maybe you read English expertly, but you speak it in a slow and stilted manner. If so, work with a tutor and practice, practice, practice. Keep your radio and television tuned to CNN and similar American news services to absorb the newscasters’ verbal pace, annunciation and the like.
- Integrate Local Expressions: If you learned English from a non-American, your slang is likely quite different from that used in the US. In addition, different parts of the US use very different slang. If at all possible, try to spend a few days before your interview integrating yourself into the local culture and becoming comfortable with its parlance. For example, you will hear New Yorkers talking about “catching the local”. During the interview try to throw in a few of the local expressions. If doing so seems awkward, either omit the expressions entirely, or use them with a self-deprecating laugh and flourish.
- Use Appropriate Formality: American business etiquette is often more informal than that of other cultures. Prior to an interview, you should try to evaluate the company’s formality. How do employees dress? How do they interact with each other? Sometimes current and former employees share details about their employer’s corporate culture on the internet. Or, if you have an acquaintance employed there, inquire about the level of formality. If all else fails, try to get a sense from articles about the company in newspapers and magazines. Even the company’s own promotional materials can give you clues.
- Integrate Industry Jargon: Let’s say you are interviewing for in-house legal positions with companies in a variety of industries. Make sure that you learn—and use—the jargon of the relevant industry when interviewing. Whether the potential employer’s industry is pharmaceuticals, energy or banking, each industry has it own professional terminology. If you don’t know some of the relevant terms, grab some trade publications and learn a few. Demonstrate your interest in the industry by mentioning how you have read some of these publications.
- Integrate Corporate Jargon: Even companies in the same industry use different expressions. These reflect a company’s unique culture. For example, one successful store chain makes its employees avoid the word “problems” and instead use the word “opportunities.” The employees of a now-defunct US-headquartered energy trading company coined—and often used—the term “optionality.” Try to discover some of these terms in advance by asking current or former employees, and integrate them into your interview.
- Dress Appropriately: In Silicon Valley, jeans rule. However, for a job interview you should never match the informality of the interviewer: instead, dress “one step up.” You want to show that you care enough about the interview to make an effort. On the other hand, you don’t want to appear so overdressed that you intimidate the interviewer—or subconsciously signal that you are far too formal of a person to fit into their culture. Do your research and dress a bit more formally than your interviewer will dress. For example, if you learn that men wear nice pants and jackets without ties to the office, dress the same but add a tie. Feel free to ask the assistant coordinating your interview for suggestions. If all else fails, go a day early and watch employees walking in and out of the office to assess their dress.
- Practice with the Concierge: Let’s say that your English is fluid, and you learned it in New York. You have just flown to Dallas for an interview, and you want to know how Texans speak. Grab the concierge at your hotel (assuming your hotel has one) and practice. A concierge usually has been chosen for his or her excellent people skills and so will be attuned to local customs. Again, don’t try to say “y’all” like a Texan might if it’s not natural for you, but do try to gauge the level of formality and pace at which locals talk. (Hint: Texans generally speak more slowly than New Yorkers.)
- Have Fun. You might be thinking, “How can I possible have fun at a job interview?” That’s precisely the point. If you try to relax and see it as a chance to make new business acquaintances (rather than a do or die job opportunity), you are more likely to come across well. Try to have confidence that another job will come along if this one doesn’t work out.
- Be Authentic: Regardless, the most important tip is to be authentic. Interviewers can spot inauthenticity a mile away—and forthright Americans may even mention this. Never do or say anything that makes you feel too uncomfortable in an attempt to “fit in”, because it will show.
Are you a law student interested in an international career? If so, studying abroad has many advantages including: (1) signaling employers that you are interested in and have exposure to the international arena, and (2) making international contacts.
Unless you have a fabulous clerkship offer, the 1L summer can be an ideal time to study abroad. Future employers usually don’t look askance at studying abroad during the 1L summer (in contrast to the 2L summer during which study abroad may signal an inability to get a clerkship). Spending a semester abroad during the 2L spring or 3L fall are also good options; doing so will give you a more substantial foreign living experience, and, as a more senior law student, you will better appreciate and understand the subjects studied overseas.
How do you choose a program that’s right for you? If you are drawn to a particular geographic region or legal specialty, you might choose your program accordingly. For example, if you want to jump in the Chinese bandwagon, choosing a program based in China and focusing on Chinese law seems logical.
You should certainly also research and check the caliber of the professors who have participated recently in the program. Find out whether foreign professors or merely US professor transplants will be teaching. It can be enriching to study under foreign professors; they will become future overseas contacts and approach the legal world differently than your US professors. Foreign professors (and foreign students) can also help you with future international networking. When examining the faculty at a study abroad program, delve into the professors’ professional backgrounds. How are they linked to legal specialties or geographic regions that interest you? Who are the contacts that they might have?
Be sure and consult with recent program graduates and inquire about their experiences. A program with a large enrollment of native students will make your study abroad experience feel more authentic and teach you a lot about foreign legal systems.
Helpful websites include:
http://www.nyls.edu/pages/241.asp
http://www.abanet.org/legaled/studyabroad/abroad.html (with links to summer, semester, and co-operative programs).
Interesting summer programs include:
http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/international/study_abroad/paris_summer/index.cfm
http://www.law.duke.edu/internat/institutes.html
http://www.law.case.edu/summer-institute/
Good luck with your study abroad adventure!
Question from Joshua: I wanted to inquire as to whether you could answer some concerns I may have in taking an international legal position. I am currently in my final year of law school. I have received an offer to practice law at a major international law firm in the US, as well as at the German arm of a major international law firm in Munich. In Germany, I would be on a German track, i.e. German pay scale. I was told that foreigners have difficulty making partner in Germany, and that the firm, should I want to be a partner, would expect me to move back after 4-5 years to be on a US partnership track. I do not necessarily know at this stage whether I want to be a partner or not.
My concerns are twofold – First, if there is any slowdown in work, is an American lawyer more likely to be fired and second, will I have difficulty either in returning to the US as a mid-level associate or in the event of a downturn that results in the position no longer being open.
Any thoughts you may have would be helpful. I think that the safe route would be to take the US opportunity and then go abroad after a few years; but I also think the Germany option presents a great opportunity to start a career in Europe.
Response from Janet: Nowadays, very few lawyers stay in any one job for a long time. Even those who make partner often transition to other law firms. Thus, you might view your next career choice as a good stepping stone for the future; perhaps you will remain at this same firm for the rest of your career after making partner, but more likely not.
You might weigh the two opportunities to determine which will provide you the best training and experience early in your career. You can’t go wrong with a major international law firm, whether it is located in the US or abroad. You are lucky to have both choices.
You might create a chart to help you evaluate the pros and cons of each. Do you have a sense for the kind of work and the amount of responsibility you would have at each place? Do you know how associates are treated and valued? Do you know any of the partners with whom you would be working, and if so, do you like and respect them? What is the culture like at each firm? What kind of training and professional development programs do they offer associates? What are the billable hour requirements? If you don’t have a sense for the answers to these questions, see whether you can chat with some current associates off the record, or search the Internet for entries on some of the law firm associate internet chat forums.
I would be less concerned about potentially being laid off as a US lawyer in a European firm. It’s impossible to predict that outcome, and I wouldn’t base my career decision on that, if I were you. Further, in case of layoffs, being an American might actually work to your advantage; because you would offer unique expertise as a US trained lawyer, you might be the last to be laid off!
Rather, I would make sure that you choose a firm in which you will be happy working, at least initially, because you are bound to be working long hours at either. Second, I’d focus on the training that you will get, making sure that you will be working from the beginning in the kind of practice area you desire. You don’t want to find yourself stuck in an unappealing or uninteresting practice group. Once a lawyer has practiced for several years in one area, it’s sometimes challenging to switch. Good luck!
Question from European Father: My son, a US citizen, is completing his undergraduate education in the UK and eventually wants to practice law there. What are the pros and cons of his attending law school in the US and then practicing in the UK?
Janet: Which educational path your son chooses really depends on his long-term goals. For example, where does he want to be based in the long-term? What kind of law does he want to practice? If he knows that he wants to be based in the UK, then a UK law school seems the easiest and most logical choice. It’s very helpful to have close connections with law school peers down the road for networking purposes, and so having a lot of peers based in the UK would be helpful. Further, he would have the requisite education to take the bar exam, become licensed and practice law fully in the UK if he attends law school there. Note, however, that many (but not all) lawyers in the UK take law as their undergraduate course of study,
This wouldn’t preclude him from practicing in the US down the road, but he would (at least under the current laws) either have to work in the US just as a foreign visiting lawyer (because he wouldn’t be licensed to practice US law), or become qualified to practice law in the US (such as by obtaining a LLM degree from a US law school, for example, and taking a bar exam in the state in which he wanted to practice.) Many states, like the State of New York, have more lenient rules for foreign lawyers trained in the common law who want to become qualified in New York.Your son’s area of interest might also dictate his choice of school. Certain areas of the law are more developed in the US (such as personal injury law) than in the UK, and so this might influence his choice. Conversely, there are other areas of the law for which he would be better served to have a UK law degree, such as if he wanted to focus on laws of the European Community.
Certain law schools are also known for excelling in certain kinds of law, and so he might opt for a school with a good program in his chosen specialty.
If he obtains a US law degree but returns to the UK to practice, he will be licensed to practice in the US, not the UK. Certain law firms and corporations with offices in the UK do hire US trained lawyers, especially to handle sophisticated corporate and securities transactions, it seems. In fact, most of the major US firms have branch offices there. However, these positions are much sought after and quite competitive to get. If he has a US law degree, your son could also take the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (assuming he meets the prerequisites), or get additional legal training in the UK and take any applicable UK exams so as to qualify him to practice in the UK. More information for attorneys wanting to qualify to practice in the UK can be found at: http://www.legaleducation.org.uk/Careers/thebar.php#clp If it is too soon for him to answer these questions, he might apply to a variety of schools in both jurisdictions and then pick the best school that accepts him and appeals to him.
Question from Sandra: I am an accredited lawyer in Germany and have been practicing law for 3 years. I am currently working in an international law firm practicing real estate law with American and English clients. My boyfriend, an American citizen, and I are moving to the United States. I am interested in understanding the requirements for becoming a U.S. Lawyer.
Janet: To practice law in the US you will need to become licensed (by taking the bar exam) in the state in which you plan to practice. There are two parts to a US bar exam—first, the multistate (which has questions taken by all lawyers across the US), and second, the specific state law questions posed by the particular state in which you are sitting for the exam. In order to qualify to take a bar exam, however, you will need to see who is permitted to take the exam under the laws of the particular state in which you plan to practice (and take the exam). Here is a link to a list prepared by the American Bar Association (“ABA”) with such state by state requirements. As you can see from the list, the requirements are more stringent in some states than in others. You should double check the rules of the state in which you wish to practice against the summary in this ABA form to ensure that the summary information is up to date; each state should post its own rules on its website. As the ABA summary indicates, you would need to get additional education (such as an LLM) from an ABA-accredited law school to sit for the bar in some states. Because New York is a popular jurisdiction for foreign lawyers, here is a link to the relevant rules of the NY bar: http://www.nybarexam.org/foreign.htm. As you can see, New York lets lawyers trained in the common law qualify to take the bar exam more easily.
I am not sure whether you have a US job already waiting, or whether you also will need to look for a job in the US. If you need a new job in the US practicing law, you will need to be licensed to practice law here first, as discussed above. However, if you want to work before becoming licensed to practice US law, you can try to get a job as a foreign visiting attorney or similar role in the United States. Realistically, getting such a job with a law firm is quite competitive. (In addition, under any scenario, you will have to tackle work permit and visa issues.) However, if you have some connections at US law firms, such as through your current firm or a German firm with offices here, this might aid you. In addition, you might consider employment with corporations, especially those that do a lot of business with Germany or Europe in general. Good luck!
