Interview Red Flags

I started talking to him, and he raised his finger, looked me in the eye, and said “shut up.”

Then he proceeded to talk to the young female lawyer that came into his office. She didn’t seem surprised that he told me to shut up.

I had never been told to shut up in my entire life by an adult, let alone by another lawyer that was interviewing me. Growing up, I wasn’t allowed to say shut up in my house, and was disciplined by my mom if I ever said it.

I felt so angry. I thought to myself…he told me to shut up! In an interview! What would he say to me if I was actually employed there? I have to get out of here.

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After the interview, I tried to process the language he used, and balanced that with the other red flags I noticed.

❌ It was 7pm and they still had a full office of lawyers. When do they go home to their families? I had a 2 year old at the time and was already missing enough time away from my family.

❌ I was told that I wouldn’t be offered a salary, that it would instead be an “eat what you kill” compensation model. This could work for some, but I wasn’t ready for that model yet.

❌ “Garbage cases”: I was asked if I could take over the “garbage cases” that they didn’t want to litigate. In other words, I would be assigned the loser cases that they didn’t want to bother with anymore. This one killed me – why did they have “garbage cases” to begin with?

❌ I spoke with a former employee, and was told to run, not walk, from this opportunity. Reputation is everything, and this confirmed that this opportunity was not right for me.

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👑 This is an excerpt from my book, Build Your Empire: A Law Firm Owner's Survival Guide to the Private Legal Industry. Want more? Get your copy now.