Qualities That Are A “Good Fit” and “Not A Good Fit”
Good Fit
- Selfless
- Thinks “team” before self
- Goal oriented
- Strong work ethic
- Fair regardless of “how chips fall”
- Strong listening skills
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Devoid of pretense and artificiality
- Unequivocal commitment to excellence
- Very practical
- Lots of empathy
- Ability to put legal issues in real life contexts
- “Roll up the sleeves” personality
- Write and communicate in perfect English and grammar
- Highly organized
- Able to juggle multiple tasks
- Sensitive to decorum
- Very quick and agile of mind
- Able to process large amounts of information quickly and accurately
- Gives more than takes
- Ability to receive constructive criticism
- Absolute gentleman or gentle lady
- Ability to embrace success of others
- Decisive
- High energy
- Proactive personality and entrepreneurial
- Tenacious
- Fun matters
- Keeps others up to date and status as to deadlines
- Able to say “made a mistake” and learns quickly from them
- Works well under pressure
- No task too small or beneath
- Highly accountable
- Highly self-motivated and high self-initiative
- Exceptional maturity
- Cheerful
- Positive thinker
- “Can do” personality with ability to overcome difficulty
- Considerate
- Shoots straight (nicely and graciously) but does not pull punches
- Cares about each other professional as a person and not just as a fellow professional
- Intelligent
- Flexible
- Wants to and works hard at developing new skills
- Never satisfied with job performance. Always trying to do better.
- High level of self-discipline
- Ability to motivate others
- Encourages others
- Ability to manage others
- Respect for others
- Able to work effectively without supervision
- Strong coping skills
- High self-confidence
- Takes self seriously and wants to be taken seriously
- High self-esteem and strong self-image
- Neat and professional appearance
- Committed to “giving back”
- Patience with others
- Will not accept failure
- Religious about deadlines
- Respectful of time of others
- Devoid of prejudice
- Comfortable in dealing with and meeting strangers – loves people
- Ability to disagree agreeably
- Ambitious for Firm
- Ambitious (in a positive way) professionally
- Thinks matters through, anticipates problems, and has solutions or responses in place
- Wants and seeks more responsibility
- Ability to deal with and solve problems with no easy answers
- Takes charge – strong leadership skills
- Creative
- Says what thinks and not what other person wants to hear
- Well read
- Well traveled, seen the world
- Very curious
- High level of common sense
- Will not let anyone take advantage of or not be sufficiently respectful
Not a Good Fit
- Large ego
- Lacks self-confidence
- Listens but does not hear
- Compromises excellence
- Sends something out before it is perfect
- Impatience
- Focus on being a legal scholar instead of a problem solver
- Talks without thinking
- Likes the sound of their voice
- “High maintenance”
- Self before Firm
- Crude
- Greedy
- Unprofessional
- Sloppy
- Secretive
- Insensitive
- Envy comes easy
- Political in office context
- Mellow
- Procrastinates
- Watches the clock
- Inability to draw conclusion and make recommendation in first sentence
- Full of excuses
- Moody
- Principal motivation is $
- Writes in “legalese”