Talented but Overlooked

• Author: Heidi K. Brown
• Pages: 22-23

Talented but Overlooked

We should transform hiring and mentoring of introverted lawyers

By Heidi K. Brown

Law students and attor neys seeking guidance rega rding

legal job interv iews and new employment positions often

hear advice li ke: “Sell yourself!” “Exude confi dence!” “Wow

them!” and “Be alpha!” Considering the day-to -day tasks of

many lawyers—fact-gathering, reading, thinking, research-

ing, writing and problem-s olving—being gregarious and

outgoing is not exactly a prere quisite for numerous, critically

important law yering activities. If hi ring managers and legal

recruiters a llow personality stereoty pes to overshadow

lawyering compet encies and inward-facing analy tical

capabilities, we ri sk overlooking highly gifted c andidates.

Classic job inter views tend to favor extrovert s, on the

interv iewer and interv iewee sides. Employer s and applicants

with the gif t of gab can sail through one- on-one chats.

The interv iewer might understa ndably envision the ski lled

conversationa list representing t he fi rm well at net working

events, engaging potenti al clients in

riveting banter, or captiva ting courtrooms

during closing arg uments. For naturally

quiet individuals s uch as introverts, who

process informat ion, stimuli and energy

internal ly, the forced outward spont ane-

ity of a job interv iew can be challenging.

Introverts natu rally resist the inau-

thenticity of small t alk, which often

unavoidably accompanies initial

professional i nteractions. For other

individua ls who experience shy ness

or social anx iety—which can stem from

a fear of judgment or a histor y of shame-

based criticism—the si zing-up nature of

a job interview c an be daunting. However,

expert s on introversion, shynes s and

social anx iety report that these thre e cat-

egories of quiet indiv iduals bring tremen-

dous asset s to interpersona l encounters:

active listen ing, deep methodical think-

ing, creative problem-solvi ng and empa-

thy. These are important tr aits for lawyers

to o er to at torney-client relationships—

and the profession. What if we cu ltivated

interv iew and practice env ironments in

which introverted a nd otherwise natural ly quiet individuals

can showcase ski lls beyond smooth verbal volleys?

LET INTROVERTS SHINE

A novel approach to consider is to ask job c andidates—

in advance —whether they self-identif y as introverts or

extroverts . Because introverts proces s new queries and

concepts interna lly and like to vet and test ideas or re sponses

to questions b efore articulat ing them aloud, spontane ous

discourse is not alw ays fl uid. As an alter native to the tra-

ditional interv iew model, employers could o er introvert s

the opportunity t o write out answers to clas sic (or creative)

interv iew questions prior to t he face-to-fac e meeting.

For example, one recent LinkedI n job posting stands out:

A law fi rm ex pressly seeking talented legal w riters invited

candidates to subm it a 750-word piece arguing why a par-

ticular novel should have won a Pulit zer

Prize. This f resh approach would allow

candidat es to demonstrate str ong writing

and analyt ical skills (and possibly even

humor and intere sting personal tra its)

while providing both t he interviewer and

the interviewe e with ready-made talk ing

points for the fa ce-to-face enc ounter.

A or ding introverts t he opportunity to

write out t houghts, concepts and opi nions

before an interv iew could generate a

platform for a remarkably dy namic

conversation.

In addition, inste ad of relying on

traditional law job inter view questions

and gauging how well each c andidate

converses, an inter viewer could ask self-

identifi ed quiet c andidates to talk spec ifi -

cally about the applicat ion of introverted

strengths to t he advocacy context: act ive

listening, methodical thinking, creative

problem-solving, legal w riting, etc. The

applicant could share ex amples of how

introverted as sets helped resolve a

confl ic t or overcome an obstacle.

Employers further cou ld set up a

22 || ABA JOURNAL AUGUST 2018

Advocacy

EDITED BY KEVIN DAVIS,

LIANE JACKSON

Practice

PHOTOGRAPH BY KRISTA BONURA

“INTROVERTS DO NOT NEED

TO SPEAK ALL THE TIME

TO HAVE AN EFFECT ON

OTHERS.”

—

HEIDI BROWN