The right question might seal the deal
Today is the day of your final interview for that coveted training contract. A culmination of hard work, perseverance and many sleepless nights. A strange mix of pride that you’ve made it through the umpteen other stages of the process, and impending doom about facing the final boss: the dreaded partner interview.
It’s easy for people to say, “Stay calm, don’t be nervous.” Actually doing that while sat across from a partner who could offer you a life-changing job? Less easy. Fortunately, there are things you can do in advance to make your partner interview a little less nerve-wracking. One of the easiest wins is planning some smart questions to ask at the end — a chance to interview the partners in return, if you like.
But not all questions are created equal. Some show curiosity, confidence and commercial awareness. Others show you haven’t done your research.
Here are some of the questions you could ask as well as ones you might be best off avoiding.
If you know your interviewers in advance
Some firms tell you in advance who’ll be interviewing you. Others don’t. If you do get the names, this is a golden opportunity to do a little research. Look at their firm profiles and LinkedIns: their practice, recent matters, awards, involvement in affinity networks — basically anything that gives you a sense of their work and interests. Then craft questions around that.
1. ‘How is your practice impacted by [insert current news topic here]?’
Asking a question about a current news topic and how it impacts their clients, and therefore their work, shows you’re really switched on. Hot topics might include reforms in the Employment Rights Bill (for an employment partner), private credit’s increasing prevalence as a source of funding for major deals (for a finance partner), or the commercial real-estate slump and the future of office space (for a real-estate partner).
2. ‘Where do you see the biggest opportunities or challenges for your practice area over the next five years?’
A question like this shows you’re thinking beyond day-to-day trainee work and are genuinely curious about the direction of travel, the bigger picture, and how the practice is positioning itself for the future.
3. ‘For trainees who join your team, what skills or habits make people stand out early on?’
This shows you’re thinking about how to hit the ground running, not just how to get the offer. It tells the partner you care about developing the right habits early on — something every team values.
Questions that work regardless of who interviews you
These are ‘safe bets’: reliable, partner-agnostic questions you can keep in your back pocket even if you don’t know who your interviewers are until you sit shake their hands.
5. ‘What’s been the highlight of your career at the firm so far?’
You’ll almost always get a thoughtful, honest response. It humanises the interviewer and gives you a sense of what makes the work meaningful to them.
6. ‘What do you enjoy most about practising here, and what has kept you at the firm?’
A classic for good reason. And a good way to indirectly ask about the firm’s “culture”.
7. ‘Where do you see the biggest opportunities and challenges for the firm over the next few years?’
Like the earlier question about their practice area, but from a firm-wide perspective. A smart, high-level question that demonstrates a strategic awareness of the legal industry as a whole.
8. ‘How is the firm embracing AI or legal-tech tools, and how do you see that impacting the role of trainees in the next couple of years?’
A sharp, forward-looking question. It shows you’re tuned in to one of the biggest shifts happening across the industry right now. And the likelihood is that most partners at big firms will have been impacted by AI or will have seen some form of legal-tech initiative rolled out across the firm.
Questions to avoid (the subtle and the not-so-subtle)
Some questions are guaranteed to raise eyebrows — or worse, quietly end your chances.
9. Don’t ask: ‘What’s the work–life balance like?’
Most people want the ideal life of finishing early, not being disturbed at the weekend, being able to log off without waking up to a barrage of emails the next morning. This is also true for the partner interviewing you. But asking this at the final interview can give the wrong impression. The hours will be long and you’re expected to work hard: that’s the nature of the profession. This obviously varies from firm to firm, by department, and between City and regional practices, but it’s something you should have thought about well before stepping into the interview room. You want to lead with the impression that you are the perfect candidate for the role and have fully thought through your decision to become a solicitor.
10. Don’t ask questions that can be answered by a 30-second scroll on the website
Don’t waste the partner’s time by asking redundant questions you should already know or could find through a simple Google search.
Examples include:
- “What seats do you offer?”
- “What’s the pay like?”
- “What countries do you have offices in?”
The list could go on forever, but each of them show a lack of tailored research into the firm you could soon be working for.
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