Ask 3 future trainees (Magic & Silver Circle, International Elite) ANYTHING! *New TCLA Team Members*

[Naomi U]

@Naomi U @Jacob Miller
Thanks again for your response. Last question on this- do you think talking about diversity and inclusion is appropriate here (I’ve mentioned it in my other applications when answering why the firm) or do you think I should prioritise the word count on firms practise areas/strategies instead given that I also have to answer the skills I have within this question.
Thanks,

Hi @Tarnjeet

I agree with Jacob here. I too am very interested in D&I initiatives but I think that has more to do with the firm's general working culture. In a limited response I agree that focusing more on practice area strength and strategies is more useful. However, if you find you have the word count or there is something of particular relevance to you then it is definitely worth a mention. I think the issue with D&I and culture based points is that you don't want to waste the word limit saying something that may be seen as too generic.

Hope this helps!

 

[Naomi U]

hi guys, i wondered how long you think an interview answer should be for 'why do you want to work here?' I have written 5 reasons, all with quite long explanations and i'm worried its a bit much / will take too long to speak about everything. Also - if i've already answered the question on my app form, should i repeat the points i've already made in slightly more detail? Thanks!

Hi @Lawgirl123

I don't think there is a set length however I would usually plan 3 key points which can be expanded on. I think it's important to strike a balance in an interview between covering your points but not listing or speaking too much. This will help things flow more naturally.

As for repeating, I don't see anything wrong with this because I'm sure naturally you would have the same points. Just make sure that you are expanding on the points you mentioned. The way I see it an interview is simply a chance to give more detail to your written application.

Hope this helps!

 

[Holly]

Hey guys!

Does anyone have any tips for the following SJT question:

Yesterday, you told your supervisor that you would be free today. Your supervisor lets you know that you should help him with an urgent project but you had taken on some work for an associate earlier on in the day. There are six other trainees who are available. What would you do?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hey guys!

Does anyone have any tips for the following SJT question:

Yesterday, you told your supervisor that you would be free today. Your supervisor lets you know that you should help him with an urgent project but you had taken on some work for an associate earlier on in the day. There are six other trainees who are available. What would you do?

You can only answer a question like this if you know what the options are.

 

[Naomi U]

Hi guys! I was wondering if you might have any tips on how to speak more conversationally in interviews? To prevent myself from waffling, I've been rehearsing my answers quite a number of times but I've begun to sound a little robotic and less natural (based on the practice interviews I've been doing with my friends). Any advice would be extremely helpful!

Hi @IntrepidL

I also felt this way when preparing for my interviews!
To be fair, I think naturally when you practice with anyone you know, it will feel slightly unnatural because you are trying to be professional. However I still think this is honestly the best thing you can do in addition to recording yourself speak and and watching it back as this will help you spot any unconscious mannerisms.

I think the thing with interviews is they will always vary, some may feel less nerve-racking and more natural than others. With this in mind I think the most important thing you can do is focus on becoming comfortable with the your answers.
This way, regardless of any anxiety you feel on the day ( which is absolutely normal), you can feel confident in what you are saying.

Hope this helps & best of luck

 

[IntrepidL]

Hi @IntrepidL

I also felt this way when preparing for my interviews!
To be fair, I think naturally when you practice with anyone you know, it will feel slightly unnatural because you are trying to be professional. However I still think this is honestly the best thing you can do in addition to recording yourself speak and watching it back as this will help you spot any unconscious mannerisms.

I think the thing with interviews is they will always vary, some may feel less nerve-racking and more natural than others. With this in mind I think the most important thing you can do is focus on becoming comfortable with your answers.
This way, regardless of any anxiety you feel on the day ( which is absolutely normal), you can feel confident in what you are saying.

Hope this helps & best of luck

Thank you @Jacob and @Naomi U. I've been recording my answers several times and I think the stress of trying to sound less formulaic has made me look less confident when I watched back some of my recordings. I'm not used to speaking for very long (several minutes at a time non-stop) in a conversation so it's a little uncomfortable to sound 'conversational'.

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hey guys!

Does anyone have any tips for the following SJT question:

Yesterday, you told your supervisor that you would be free today. Your supervisor lets you know that you should help him with an urgent project but you had taken on some work for an associate earlier on in the day. There are six other trainees who are available. What would you do?

Personally, when I'm approaching a question like this either in an interview or SJT scenario, I'm bearing the following in mind as key issues:

- communicate: explain to the supervisor that you've taken on X workload and your capacity level, ask him whether he would still like you to go ahead with this
- manage time: assess your diary, see what parts of each task will take the longest and look at what is due when, see if you can move your diary around to accommodate any additional work by moving peripheral commitments to other times
- delegate: there are six other trainees available, so delegate certain parts of either or both tasks to them to ensure everything is completed on time. Check with the appropriate seniors that this is suitable incase there are restrictions on who can see the work that you're unaware of
- work extra: nobody is desperate to be in the office longer than they have to be, but I always felt this question was an opportunity to display work ethic and pull extra hours of necessary to complete the task.

 

[Holly]

Personally, when I'm approaching a question like this either in an interview or SJT scenario, I'm bearing the following in mind as key issues:

- communicate: explain to the supervisor that you've taken on X workload and your capacity level, ask him whether he would still like you to go ahead with this
- manage time: assess your diary, see what parts of each task will take the longest and look at what is due when, see if you can move your diary around to accommodate any additional work by moving peripheral commitments to other times
- delegate: there are six other trainees available, so delegate certain parts of either or both tasks to them to ensure everything is completed on time. Check with the appropriate seniors that this is suitable incase there are restrictions on who can see the work that you're unaware of
- work extra: nobody is desperate to be in the office longer than they have to be, but I always felt this question was an opportunity to display work ethic and pull extra hours of necessary to complete the task.

This is really helpful, thank you so much!

 

[Lawgirl123]

To me, a more 'what can you bring to the role' would encourage me to break down groups of skills which relate to each of the key competencies the firm looks for (if it specifies them- if it doesn't, just the sort of competencies expected from a trainee in general). From there, I would go through and exemplify a time I've displayed each of those skills without necessarily doing a full STAR as it would begin to really drag on at that point.

Thank you very much, you've been most helpful!

 

[Naomi U]

Thank you @Jacob and @Naomi U. I've been recording my answers several times and I think the stress of trying to sound less formulaic has made me look less confident when I watched back some of my recordings. I'm not used to speaking for very long (several minutes at a time non-stop) in a conversation so it's a little uncomfortable to sound 'conversational'.

I completely understand! However, as much as recordings are useful, it's important to remember it doesn't mimic a real interview as you won't ever just be speaking on end unless you are giving a presentation. Even then, it's likely your interviewer will ask follow up questions and pick up on things you mention.

I think my biggest advice and the thing that helped me in interviews was to mentally pace myself as I have a tendency to waffle and speak very fast when I get nervous. When you are asked a question, don't feel like you must respond at the very next second.

To help pass this time ( because of course you can't just sit staring at them ) you can start your answers by saying something like: I think I am interested in X firm for 2 key reasons. My first is xyz .... This will help you feel and look more in control as it gives you time to gather your thoughts.

Don't worry too much for now about sounding conversational as you can't really pre-empt this, it depends if your interviewer is also conversational!

So my take-away is to practice being controlled and measured.

I'm sure everything will be fine- best of luck

 

[IntrepidL]

Thank you! @Naomi U

 

[IntrepidL]

Hi guys, I was wondering if you might know of any useful resources to understand how legal technology operates in practice? I am really interested in learning more. While I know it facilitates more 'cost-efficient services', I am not sure how contract review and everything works, and how firms are developing this technology. I have been sifting through a lot of information on the internet but there are also a lot of repetitive 'buzzwords' that I don't really understand. Would really love to hear your thoughts on this, thank you so much.

 

[Lawgirl123]

Hey guys, I was wondering if you could offer any advice on how to approach the interview question 'tell us about a news story that you've been following and explain why it interests you'? Do you think it is best to follow a specific story e.g. a company takeover or something a bit wider e.g. the state of airline industry? Also how would you go about structuring a good response to this? Thanks for all your insight

 

[Naomi U]

Hi @Lawgirl123

I don't think there is a specific answer to this question as I think what interviewers are looking for here is your reason why. I think I would advise following a few stories/deals that you are particularly interested in. When you are researching these stories/deals ask yourself:

What market/ industry was this achieved in, and what are the current trends e.g. is this an emerging market, a declining market?

Was this the first deal of this kind and why? When was the last/similar deal completed and what were the reasons for the time lag?

Was this deal particularly more complex and why? (Consider cultural, financial, environmental, tax and competition implications)

I think if you approach your preparation for this question from this angle, this will really help to tailor your answer!

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

[Lawgirl123]

Hi @Lawgirl123

I don't think there is a specific answer to this question as I think what interviewers are looking for here is your reason why. I think I would advise following a few stories/deals that you are particularly interested in. When you are researching these stories/deals ask yourself:

What market/ industry was this achieved in, and what are the current trends e.g. is this an emerging market, a declining market?

Was this the first deal of this kind and why? When was the last/similar deal completed and what were the reasons for the time lag?

Was this deal particularly more complex and why? (Consider cultural, financial, environmental, tax and competition implications)

I think if you approach your preparation for this question from this angle, this will really help to tailor your answer!

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Thank you so much for you advice, really helpful!!!

 

[Lauren]

Hi,

I am currently a paralegal at a magic circle firm and have an AC the week after next with a non-magic circle firm for a summer internship.

At the interview, are they likely to push me on motivations for not wanting to pursue a training contract within the firm I work for?

I am struggling for what to say against that, I don't want to seem critical of my employer and I really enjoy my work there.

Would I steer the conversation instead to what stands out to me about the firm I would like to intern at?

 

[Naomi U]

Hi,

I am currently a paralegal at a magic circle firm and have an AC the week after next with a non-magic circle firm for a summer internship.

At the interview, are they likely to push me on motivations for not wanting to pursue a training contract within the firm I work for?

I am struggling for what to say against that, I don't want to seem critical of my employer and I really enjoy my work there.

Would I steer the conversation instead to what stands out to me about the firm I would like to intern at?

Hi @Lauren

I think its fair to pre-empt the question however there is nothing wrong with saying although you enjoy your current employer, you have greater interests in the new firm then expanding on why. If you lead your response in this way, I don't think you will come across critical at all.

Best of luck

 

[Dheepa]

@Naomi U @Jacob Miller
Thanks again for your response. Last question on this- do you think talking about diversity and inclusion is appropriate here (I’ve mentioned it in my other applications when answering why the firm) or do you think I should prioritise the word count on firms practise areas/strategies instead given that I also have to answer the skills I have within this question.
Thanks,

Hi, while I completely agree with everything that Jacob and Naomi have said (especially considering specifically what the OC questions are asking) I for one always mentioned the culture of firms in many of my apps and cover letters. However I do think there is a right way to do it. My culture points always involved really going into detail on the insight I have gained from talking to representatives of the firms at events or mentioning pro bono or diversity initiatives that were important to me. Especially for the latter, I often tied any statistics/networks the firm had into any initiatives I had organised that reflected my own commitment. This way you are not only demonstrating another tangible link between yourself and why that firm is the right fit, but it's an added opportunity to showcase any additional extra-curriculars you took part in.

Personally, diversity was such a huge non-negotiable factor for me when applying to firms that I didn't feel like there was anything forced about what I was saying. I also think that if the firm that you are applying to really emphasises these things whether at their events or through the recruitment brochures then they will have no problem with candidates using that information in their applications. Just to re-iterate, the key difference to making sure it's not a generic statement is making those tangible links to yourself and really demonstrating why those aspects of their culture is important to you.

Hope that gives you some more insight!

 

[Dheepa]

Hi,

I am currently a paralegal at a magic circle firm and have an AC the week after next with a non-magic circle firm for a summer internship.

At the interview, are they likely to push me on motivations for not wanting to pursue a training contract within the firm I work for?

I am struggling for what to say against that, I don't want to seem critical of my employer and I really enjoy my work there.

Would I steer the conversation instead to what stands out to me about the firm I would like to intern at?

Hi Lauren,

For questions like this I'd recommend being as honest as possible.

Personally I'd frame my answer by listing the key things you do like (in terms of the work etc.) and then linking that to the similar things you can find at the firm that you are doing the AC. I'd also mention any key types of work or expertise that the firm you're interviewing at has that the firm you work with doesn't necessarily provide you with exposure to.

If there are certain things that you don't necessarily enjoy as much about your current employer, you can always mention these as well perhaps by framing it as "From working with this firm, I realise that these are aspects (maybe the training style, etc.) I enjoy less and this motivated to apply to your firm because I know that you (list the things that differentiates them)"

I've always been very open at ACs about the fact that the firm I did a VS at and failed to convert was not the "right fit". By no means did this involve criticising them but my interviewers always appreciated the honesty and the level of thought that went into reflecting on both what I did and did not enjoy.

Hope that helps!

 

[Dheepa]

Hello! Thank you all very much for this thread

I was just wondering how you'd approach the interview question: what are your long-term career ambitions?

I think there are quite obvious things like becoming a qualified solicitor at the firm, working on client matters etc. but I was wondering how specific you should be with these answers (e.g. should I mention the type of seats I think I would like to try out) as I am open-minded about trying out different seats but at the same time I'm afraid of sounding too generic/vague.

Thank you again!! This thread has been really helpful!

Hi Nina,

Just to add to everything that Jacob and Naomi have already said, you can think of this question more broadly beyond just mentioning practice areas you're interested in. Are there any networks and initiatives the firm has that you're particularly passionate about and would like to take the lead on in 5 years time? Do you maybe speak an additional language which means you'd like to get involved in more work arising from regions that use that language? I tend to think that this is the kind of question that gets asked because firms want to know what drives and motivates you, so being as personal an authentic as possible (and not just limiting yourself to what you think firms want to hear) will come across really well!

Hope that helps