Clyde & Co VI

[zidoeslaw]

Hi everyone!

I have a strength-based Virtual Interview with Clyde & Co coming up soon but I have no idea what strenth-based questions are and I'm trying my best to prepare.

Could someone give me good examples or perhaps good resources?

Thank you!

 

[George Maxwell]

Hi @zidoeslaw,

Congratulations on getting to the interview stage! That's a huge achievement.

So I was unfamiliar with what "strength-based interviews" meant too. I do not think any of the firms that I interviewed with used this terminology when I was applying. After a quick google search, I found this lawcareers.net article. I think that some strength-based questions are what I would call competency questions (i.e., tell me about a time...). They also seem to be scenario-based (i.e., what would you do in X situation). Finally they can be simple and direct: "what is your biggest strength/weakness?" or "how would your friends describe you?".

I will tag other members of the team to see if they can shed any further light on this.

@AvniD @James Carrabino @Jessica Booker @WillkieGemma

 

[zidoeslaw]

Hi @zidoeslaw,

Congratulations on getting to the interview stage! That's a huge achievement.

So I was unfamiliar with what "strength-based interviews" meant too. I do not think any of the firms that I interviewed with used this terminology when I was applying. After a quick google search, I found this lawcareers.net article. I think that some strength-based questions are what I would call competency questions (i.e., tell me about a time...). They also seem to be scenario-based (i.e., what would you do in X situation). Finally they can be simple and direct: "what is your biggest strength/weakness?" or "how would your friends describe you?".

I will tag other members of the team to see if they can shed any further light on this.

@AvniD @James Carrabino @Jessica Booker @WillkieGemma

Thanks George! That's very helpful, I'll have a look

 

[AvniD]

Hi everyone!

I have a strength-based Virtual Interview with Clyde & Co coming up soon but I have no idea what strenth-based questions are and I'm trying my best to prepare.

Could someone give me good examples or perhaps good resources?

Thank you!

Congratulations- such great news! I think @George Maxwell has done a great job at breaking down what strength-based interviews are. I would highly recommend checking out TCLA's question bank to practice with- I used these myself while I was making applications and genuinely found them so helpful.

When answering strength-based questions, make sure that you state your strength/result, how you got to developing/achieving it, what your biggest challenges were and how you overcame them. This will help with producing rounded, structured answers that you can add more detail to as appropriate

Let us know if we can help in any other way! All the best!

 

[zidoeslaw]

Congratulations- such great news! I think @George Maxwell has done a great job at breaking down what strength-based interviews are. I would highly recommend checking out TCLA's question bank to practice with- I used these myself while I was making applications and genuinely found them so helpful.

When answering strength-based questions, make sure that you state your strength/result, how you got to developing/achieving it, what your biggest challenges were and how you overcame them. This will help with producing rounded, structured answers that you can add more detail to as appropriate

Let us know if we can help in any other way! All the best!

Thank you so much for the link! I will definitely have a look at it! I am preparing answers before I do it on Monday, and I am struggling a bit with the question "what's your biggest weakness". My current idea is to state a weakness, but how I make sure to tackle it ! I still have to pick which weakness though :')

 

[George Maxwell]

Congratulations- such great news! I think @George Maxwell has done a great job at breaking down what strength-based interviews are. I would highly recommend checking out TCLA's question bank to practice with- I used these myself while I was making applications and genuinely found them so helpful.

When answering strength-based questions, make sure that you state your strength/result, how you got to developing/achieving it, what your biggest challenges were and how you overcame them. This will help with producing rounded, structured answers that you can add more detail to as appropriate

Let us know if we can help in any other way! All the best!

Thank you so much for the link! I will definitely have a look at it! I am preparing answers before I do it on Monday, and I am struggling a bit with the question "what's your biggest weakness". My current idea is to state a weakness, but how I make sure to tackle it ! I still have to pick which weakness though :')

Thanks @AvniD. Your point about linking it back to yourself and 'rounding off' the answer is very important too. Giving your answers a clear structure (e.g., the STAR technique) will make them much easier to follow for your interviewers (and for you too!).

@zidoeslaw, apologies if this answer is coming too late(!), however, my advice is to give an actual weakness (albeit one which demonstrates something positive), rather than one which is just extremely negative (i.e., I am hopeless at X attribute which is essential to being a commercial lawyer). I was actually picked up in one of my interviews for giving a "false" weakness, i.e., one which isn't really a weakness (it may have been being a perfectionist but I forget exactly what it was!). I think a lot of interviewers appreciate that it takes bravery to show vulnerability in an interview.

It is important to remember that your interviewers are not perfect and will have weaknesses too!

I really hope that the interview goes ok. Let us know

 

[WillkieGemma]

Congratulations- such great news! I think @George Maxwell has done a great job at breaking down what strength-based interviews are. I would highly recommend checking out TCLA's question bank to practice with- I used these myself while I was making applications and genuinely found them so helpful.

When answering strength-based questions, make sure that you state your strength/result, how you got to developing/achieving it, what your biggest challenges were and how you overcame them. This will help with producing rounded, structured answers that you can add more detail to as appropriate

Let us know if we can help in any other way! All the best!

I agree with @AvniD - @George Maxwell has done a great job explaining !

 

[Alison C]

Hi everyone!

I have a strength-based Virtual Interview with Clyde & Co coming up soon but I have no idea what strenth-based questions are and I'm trying my best to prepare.

Could someone give me good examples or perhaps good resources?

Thank you!

This is in my 'list of useful links' :
Bright Network 40-50 mins – STRENGTHS https://www.brightnetwork.co.uk/academy/module/learning-about-strengths/

 

[anon123456789]

For strengths-based assessment questions, do you think we need to link these strengths back to the firm at the end of each one?

 

[AvniD]

For strengths-based assessment questions, do you think we need to link these strengths back to the firm at the end of each one?

It wouldn't make sense to do that in my mind unless there was some obvious correlation there. What have you felt about this while answering strengths-based questions? Do your answers feel incomplete unless you link them back to the firm?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

For strengths-based assessment questions, do you think we need to link these strengths back to the firm at the end of each one?

If the firm is asking you to evidence your abilities/experiences of a specific strength, then no, there is no need to do this. If they are asking you about your personal strengths (eg leaving it to you to identify the specific strengths you personally have and not telling you which strengths to evidence), then you could link it back to the firm but if you do keep it really brief/succinct. The question is about you, not about the firm and therefore the focus has to be on your experiences.

 

[anon123456789]

It wouldn't make sense to do that in my mind unless there was some obvious correlation there. What have you felt about this while answering strengths-based questions? Do your answers feel incomplete unless you link them back to the firm?

Thank you! This is a really good point, I just find that the 'relate your answers back to the firm' is always something that is emphasised but I often feel like it is awkward to do so in strengths-based questions.

 

[anon123456789]

If the firm is asking you to evidence your abilities/experiences of a specific strength, then no, there is no need to do this. If they are asking you about your personal strengths (eg leaving it to you to identify the specific strengths you personally have and not telling you which strengths to evidence), then you could link it back to the firm but if you do keep it really brief/succinct. The question is about you, not about the firm and therefore the focus has to be on your experiences.

That's really helpful, thank you Jessica

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

That's really helpful, thank you Jessica

The thing I try to stress is that trying to relate the strength to the firm is likely to just be telling something the firm already knows, and therefore how beneficial is this.

 

[AvniD]

Thank you! This is a really good point, I just find that the 'relate your answers back to the firm' is always something that is emphasised but I often feel like it is awkward to do so in strengths-based questions.

I'd say go with your gut on this- If you feel awkward doing it I'm sure it's for a reason! You are an individual with a life and personality beyond training contract applications and not every strength of yours is going to be related to this process or the firms you apply to. Like @Jessica Booker said there are ways to link your strengths to the firm, but making sure it's concise, relevant and fits in well with the rest of your answer is important.

 

[anon123456789]

I'd say go with your gut on this- If you feel awkward doing it I'm sure it's for a reason! You are an individual with a life and personality beyond training contract applications and not every strength of yours is going to be related to this process or the firms you apply to. Like @Jessica Booker said there are ways to link your strengths to the firm, but making sure it's concise, relevant and fits in well with the rest of your answer is important.

It's so reassuring to hear that, thank you! I think its so easy to stress about these things in applications season

 

[AvniD]

It's so reassuring to hear that, thank you! I think its so easy to stress about these things in applications season

You are not alone! I think as aspiring lawyers, one of our best traits is our attention to detail but the drawback of this is that we can obsess over details to the point where it stresses us out. If you feel this is happening again (and understandably so- this process can be very stressful!), please do reach out and share your thoughts here so that we can support you You've got this!