Practical Tips for a Successful Skype Interview

By: Kandice Thorn

"Can you hear me now?"

When I was a kid, my dad had a car phone. Not a cell phone, a car phone with the handset attached to the fixed base with a long spiral cord. To eight-year-old me, it was incredible. This was before even cordless phones had become commonplace, and now I could call my best friend from my dad's truck. The only catch was that it frequently took 3-4 tries for the call to be connected, and once connected, I couldn't actually hear the person on the other end (or they could not hear me). Never mind that - to me it was the coolest thing ever.

Fast forward a few decades. The iPhone is a vast improvement over my dad's old car phone, and the latest technology today is video calling with programs like Facetime and Skype. Yet frequently when I use these programs I feel like I am back in my dad's truck in 1987. The call quality can be atrocious, calls are often dropped, and I sometimes find myself shouting "Can you hear me?" at my computer monitor.

Nevertheless, employers have embraced this new technology as a way of screening potential candidates without paying for costly plane tickets. This means that job seekers, particularly those who are looking for jobs remotely, must embrace this technology in the job-search realm too. The following tips will help make your Skype interviews as successful and glitch-free as possible and will make your interview feel less like 1987 and more like 2025.

The Best Way to Jump Start Your Networking

By: Kandice Thorn

If you are looking for a good way to jump start your networking, in my opinion there is no better place to start than with membership in a local bar association. Most bar associations offer student memberships at a steeply discounted rate. Some of the benefits of bar association membership include:

• Opportunities to work alongside prominent practitioners in a variety of areas through committee membership
• Career-related programming
• Programs and conferences in substantive areas
• Social events
• Pro bono opportunities

Bar memberships simply give you a lot of bang for your networking buck, giving you access to tons of practitioners with whom you can interact in a variety of settings. Joining is easy and can be done online. There are many bar associations out there, but we recommend two that are local and are particularly active: the New York City Bar Association and the New York County Lawyers' Association. Make it a goal to join one of these organizations by the end of the month and you'll be surprised by the number of opportunities that come your way.

One Question You Should Always Ask in a Job Interview

By: Kandice Thorn

Students frequently ask me when is the appropriate time to follow up after a job interview.  This is a very good question - follow up is important.  It is always good to put yourself back in their minds and reiterate your interest in the position.  But you need not wonder when to do this - you just need to ask the right question in the interview!

Fun with Networking: Meetup.com

By: Kandice Thorn

If you are looking for a fun way to explore the city and meet new people (yes, network), I encourage you to check out Meetup.com.  If you have an interest in something (anything!), Meetup.com is the place to find others who share your interest.

• Do you live near Columbus Circle and love soccer?  There's a Meetup for that.
• Is knitting your thing?  Join the "Knitting Around New York" Meetup group.
• Have a passion for the wines of Israel?  Believe it or not, there's a Meetup group for that.  

You don't have to call this networking.  Call it taking a break, having fun, exploring the city.  And if some professional contacts come out of it, all the better!