This blog post is part of our ongoing guest Blog Series: “Opportunity Knocks.” For a full schedule, please see: http://law.scu.edu/lcs-blog/upcoming-blog-series-opportunity-knocks/
I got my 1L summer internship in-house at Samsung Information Systems America through the LCS job board. I mostly dealt with patents, reviewing invention disclosures, and maintaining their internal databases. I learned a lot working in-house. It’s an interesting mix of business and law so it’s a lot more administrative work than at a law firm, which is different but not bad. But the most important lessons I learned while interning at Samsung were about soft skills and dealing with coworkers, supervisors, and managing your boss’s expectations. The best illustration of this came when I interviewed for the position.
I started applying very early on for internships that I could find relating to intellectual property. I would have applied for anything that sounded interesting, but my previous paralegal experience already pigeonholed me into civil litigation. I started sending out applications over the winter break but the process was slow. It was a little discouraging but I just kept reminding myself that my chances were better if I sent out more applications. Finally I was called for an interview a week or two before the LARAW final. Unwittingly, and because it was the only interview I had received thus far, I scheduled my interview on the day that pesky LARAW final was due.
The interview was intimidating and stressful. Even if I had not just turned my LARAW final in three hours prior, it would have been harrowing. I did research on the company, which does R+D for Samsung, and came in knowing I would be speaking with three different people but it still wasn’t enough to prepare me. The interview started out with just me talking to one other person, then another came in while I was answering a question. I was unsure of what to do. Do I stop answering to shake her hand? Do I just finish and then acknowledge her? I chose to finish my answer first and was promptly scolded for my lack of interpersonal skills. I was told that I would have to stop answering, stand up, and acknowledge the next person who came in, if I wanted to make a better impression.
When the the next interviewer came in, I stopped answering questions, stood up, shook her hand, and sat back down to answer. I was immediately asked if I had only done that because the other two interviewers had told me to. Not wanting to be a liar, I said yes. I was then regaled with a story about a previous law student who had come in for an interview but had not stood up to acknowledge and interviewer and how he blew his chances at the job. The rest of the interview was somewhat of a blur but I do remember two things: 1) Never cry at an interview and 2) a thank you letter is always required.
I was offered the position right there in the interview. It felt like an honor, but looking back it seems like that was standard practice for the people I interviewed with. I was so relieved and so honored to get the position, I started tearing up. It was embarrassing. On any other day I would have been fine and kept it together, but I was so exhausted from writing the LARAW final that I couldn’t hold them back. There were comments made about it right there in front of me, and not very complimentary. But at least they didn’t rescind my offer. One of the interviewers told me later that summer that although I had been one of the better interviewees she had seen, I should never, ever cry in an interview again. That, as a woman, it was a sign of weakness and since I would, more likely than not, be interviewed by men later on in life, it would not be looked on favorably. Whether you believe that or not, I’ll never do it again just because it was one of the most embarrassing things I’ve done in my entire life.
I left the interview feeling elated, embarrassed, and extremely anxious. I was specifically told to send thank you e-mails to everyone I interviewed with. Having gone to almost every LCS lunch meeting about finding and getting a job, I already knew this was a requirement. But something I heard in the interview made me rush home to send the thank you e-mail right away. As the interviewer told me to send the thank you e-mails to the interviewers, she paused and asked the two other interviewers if they had received any thank yous from a guy who interviewed earlier that week. It turns out he had forgotten to send thank you e-mails even 2 days later so the interviewer said to rescind his offer. Needless to say, I made a mental note to send out that thank you e-mail the same day. But later that summer, I found out that guy, although he did have his offer rescinded, managed to get it reinstated. He drove down to the office, waited over an hour in the lobby, and apologized and thanked them in person.
My interview experience alone at Samsung was enlightening. We’re preparing for becoming lawyers here in law school by taking classes, learning the law, learning how to write and how to argue. But there’s another side that needs to be learned: how to deal with people. My experience at Samsung taught me better soft skills. It taught me how to read my boss better, to manage their expectations of me, and effectively how to get a job. The grades, the knowledge, and the experience get you the interview but soft skills get you the job.
Natasha de Dios
Natasha de Dios is a member of Santa Clara University School of Law’s Class of 2014. She has experience in civil litigation, patent law, and trademark prosecution. She will be sitting for the February 2014 Bar Exam.