2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[hlos14]

had anyone got any advice/guidance having done the WBD VI? would really appreciate anything anyone can tell me!

 

[Daniel Boden]

They could have been two very different assessments.

As Grad Rec/HR, we used to do exit interviews but these weren’t a formal assessment. They were for us to get feedback on the scheme itself and also work out how likely the individual was to accept the scheme if we were to offer.

Interviews with partners were also done, but were the formal assessment. So it might be terminology that is different between firms. An exit interview is basically an HR process, usually applied to all employees. While a TC interview would be a formal assessment.

Yeah I think that's spot on tbh, the Weil one seemed much more formal as you say because I think it was designed that way whereas the Gibson Dunn one probably wasn't a formal assessment looking back but was still useful regardless

 

[Hele25]

had anyone got any advice/guidance having done the WBD VI? would really appreciate anything anyone can tell me!

I’ve just done it and the only thing I can say is to reiterate what others have said.

All the answers are very personal and individual to YOU.

I will say just try and be comfortable, and be yourself.
Practice to where you feel you can speak free and clearly and go for it
Good luck!

 

[Daniel Boden]

tbh I might be wrong but the impression I get from speaking to people is that if you have excellent feedback from the scheme your interview is really relaxed because they essentially know they’re going to take you, if not then it’ll be more comprehensive as they’re trying to get more positives and trying to find more reasons to hire you, but again I could be wrong and obviously it will differ in different firms etc

Potentially, but in the Weil case it was mainly because I hadn't been asked that many technical questions during my AC to get onto the scheme whereas the other candidates had so they hadn't measured my understanding/assessed me on my understanding of PE which I think is why mine was a bit more rigorous

 

[aaron_atde]

Anyone heard back from Shoosmiths post VI?

 

[User13789]

I’ve just done it and the only thing I can say is to reiterate what others have said.

All the answers are very personal and individual to YOU.

I will say just try and be comfortable, and be yourself.
Practice to where you feel you can speak free and clearly and go for it
Good luck!

How many questions are there/how long is it?

 

[hlos14]

I’ve just done it and the only thing I can say is to reiterate what others have said.

All the answers are very personal and individual to YOU.

I will say just try and be comfortable, and be yourself.
Practice to where you feel you can speak free and clearly and go for it
Good luck!

thank you so much! good luck with the next steps!!

 

[Jessrw]

You have an unlimited time to decide if you want to re-record your answer I think - I didn’t see a time anywhere but as soon as you press the re-record button you have 5 seconds before the recording begins

Can you re-film all of them or do you only get to do that for one q?

 

[Guilherme Carvalho]

Can you re-film all of them or do you only get to do that for one q?

You can re-film them all one time each

 

[Guilherme Carvalho]

How many questions are there/how long is it?

There are 3 questions, you get 30 seconds to prepare and 1.5 minutes time to answer. You can then re record your answers once for each question if you want to.

 

[User13789]

There are 3 questions, you get 30 seconds to prepare and 1.5 minutes time to answer. You can then re record your answers once for each question if you want to.

Thank you so much

 

[User13789]

There are 3 questions, you get 30 seconds to prepare and 1.5 minutes time to answer. You can then re record your answers once for each question if you want to.

Are the questions generic or specific to wbd?

 

[Jessrw]

You can re-film them all one time each

Thanks! How much time do you get to decide if you want to refilm?

 

[Wls1507]

Has anyone done the Irwin Mitchell VI recently and have any tips? Mines due Tuesday and I’m really worried I’m underprepared!!

 

[EBS]

Are the questions generic or specific to wbd?

Very generic! They want to see your personality, so it's very personal to you. Just do it! Good luck!

 

[LeilaScott]

Does anyone have any advice on applying for Direct TCs/Law stuff while revising for finals? I have about 2 months left before my final exams (which count for 100% of my grade unfortunately lol) and really want to get TC apps sorted before its too late - any advice on time blocking/ how to structure would be helpful! I think I could do an app in 4 hrs but I've never done that before as I've not been time-pressured to do so in one sitting... Ive put this one the Direct TC forum as well but thought I might try my luck here as it is a bit more active!

 

[acceleratedlaw]

hi guys, i was doing a VI and in the last question, there was no sound in my answer. i have emailed the recruitment team but i wonder if this isn't going to look great, especially given that we had 3 tries for each question and my mic decided to stop working in the last try (lucky me!)

 

[Jessica Booker]

hi guys, i was doing a VI and in the last question, there was no sound in my answer. i have emailed the recruitment team but i wonder if this isn't going to look great, especially given that we had 3 tries for each question and my mic decided to stop working in the last try (lucky me!)

Technology issues happen. They’ll either ignore that question or get you to retake it interview. It won’t make you look bad.

 

[StudentOfLaw21]

hi guys, i was doing a VI and in the last question, there was no sound in my answer. i have emailed the recruitment team but i wonder if this isn't going to look great, especially given that we had 3 tries for each question and my mic decided to stop working in the last try (lucky me!)

One of my WBD VI did not save at all! I have equally emailed recruitment and hoping that they will permit us to re-do it.

 

[Lily721]

To me, it sounds like you're maybe overcomplicating things a bit here. I would encourage you to really break it down, don't worry too much about the STAR element at first.

Before you can really plan an answer, you really need to think of an instance in your life when you've actually seen/ understood/ worked towards something with a bigger picture than, necessarily, just what you did in the abstract. This could be any example, from work or life in general - think outside the box here, I find questions like this a great opportunity to use personal examples and show human qualities rather than just being a 'commercial robot'. Mind mapping could be a great solution here - you could either build out (i.e., start with what you did and figure how it fitted a bigger picture), or build inwards (think about the bigger picture, and how what you did contributed to it).

Once you've had a think about that, the STAR/ CAR method is just a way of structuring your response - the real key is to focus on your actions and your contribution to the overall result while maintaining perspective on the fact that you were one part of the overall bigger picture. I go through a bunch of STAR/ CAR examples in my interview article which may help

Thank you Jacob!