General Discussion Thread 2020-21

[Changes]

i have a feeling I know exactly which firm you mean! I hated that interview! The questions were so random and I really don’t see the point in exclusively asking curveball questions And trying to trip someone with every single question. All well and good not being able to over-rehearse the answers, but that was just a bit too much!

Haha, yeah. Especially with only 30 seconds to prepare. The first question was a nightmare. I was surprised to hear I was successful. I guess it tests how well you think on your feet and how you cope with pressure. As well as giving some insight into your personality but that first question I was racking my brain for a time I’d been in that situation and can only assume most others struggled as much as I did.

 

[csyn]

Hey everyone, just wondering if anyone has heard back from stephenson harwood? Has anyone applied to their HK or Dubai VS?

PM'd!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Second the first line. One firm explicitly said their VI was x questions and all competency based. None of them were competency questions by the usual definition. They did also say you couldn’t prepare for the questions, which was accurate.

Competency questions can be non "tell me about a time questions" - basically they are just anything that is assessing a competency (e.g. team working, communication, analytical skills, commercial awareness. So "what do you think of the government's response to Covid-19?" could still be a competency question as such.

Strengths based questions are often looking for the same "competencies" or attribute, it is just that they are asking them in a much more open ended manner. Competency questions tend to be more direct and specific, while strengths based questions tend to be more open to interpretation, so you can literally show off YOUR strengths rather than the competency you are being asked to demonstrate in competency questions.

In my view, a good interview would have a mix of both sets of questions and the idea that an interview is either strengths or competency is a load of HR Marketing spin by business psychologists who need to sell products to employers.

 

[gg999]

Well, it’s difficult to measure. If I were to take longer than an hour during office hours to respond to an email, I’d be out of a job very quickly, but then again what I do is a lot more time sensitive, which is why I wanted to clarify what would be reasonable. It’s not urgent per se, but a bit of clarity would be helpful nonetheless. The email was regarding the summer scheme still being planned to go ahead as planned as things stand, but I was on the spring one, have never been told that we are confirmed to having been moved to the summer, nor would I be able to attend as the dates don’t work for me.

This is seriously unrealistic, you can't be serious can you? Expecting someone to reply to all emails that come in within an hour is extremely unrealistic.

In the grand scheme of things, your query is not that important. Grad rec are probably working extremely hard with sorting important things out and will update you once they have more clarity on the situation. You have to remember alongside replying to emails, they are busy with organising a million other things and dealing with current worried trainee intakes. I would wait patiently or look at their social media to see if there have been any updates made. I do understand this is a worrying and uncertain time but everyone is in the same boat.

If you just named the firm in question, someone may already know the answer and that would have maybe saved you time waiting for a answer from gred rec (not sure why people on this forum don't do this anyway, especially since a lot of people are anonymous on this platform and the questions asked generally wouldn't impact vacation scheme/training contract interviews/offers.)

 

[AH9891]

This is seriously unrealistic, you can't be serious can you? Expecting someone to reply to all emails that come in within an hour is extremely unrealistic.

In the grand scheme of things, your query is not that important. Grad rec are probably working extremely hard with sorting important things out and will update you once they have more clarity on the situation. You have to remember alongside replying to emails, they are busy with organising a million other things and dealing with current worried trainee intakes. I would wait patiently or look at their social media to see if there have been any updates made. I do understand this is a worrying and uncertain time but everyone is in the same boat.

If you just named the firm in question, someone may already know the answer and that would have maybe saved you time waiting for a answer from gred rec (not sure why people on this forum don't do this anyway, especially since a lot of people are anonymous on this platform and the questions asked generally wouldn't impact vacation scheme/training contract interviews/offers.)

If you had read my whole post you would have seen that my question was specifically about how many days one should wait. At no point did I suggest that anyone should respond within an hour, I merely said that I’m expected to, so would like some input as to what is normal. So instead of attacking me, maybe read the whole thing first!

 

[ZH]

Hi all - I haven't posted here on a while but since social distancing or the few weeks after we stayed at home, the forum seems to have some tensions - I hope we are all staying healthy and patient, positive and calm. It gets difficult and its easier said than done but we can choose kindness over anger and understanding over ignorance Let's keep this forum as positive as it always has been!!

 

[gg999]

If you had read my whole post you would have seen that my question was specifically about how many days one should wait. At no point did I suggest that anyone should respond within an hour, I merely said that I’m expected to, so would like some input as to what is normal. So instead of attacking me, maybe read the whole thing first!

Just wanted to add, sorry if my post came across as attacking you that was not my intention. I agree with the above post, lets keep everything friendly, positive and lets draw a line under it.

 

[Alice G]

I’ve said this in a previous post in the forums but please, please, may we all try to be kind and understanding and respectful of one another. We have no idea what the other people in these forums might be going through or how comments might genuinely hurt or upset them.

 

[AH9891]

If you read my actual post you would have seen that my question was specifically about how many days one should wait. At no point did I suggest that anyone should respond within an hour, I merely said that I’m expected to, so would like some input as to what is normal. So instead of attacking me, maybe read the whole thing first!

I wasn't attacking you relax. Just because you are expected to respond in one hour doesn't mean the rest of the working world is. Stop taking your frustration out on me. My message wasn't just in response to that one but the few you posted.

Stop being so childish and learn how to handle criticism in a respectful and adult manner.

This is a forum and the whole purpose of it is that people can ask questions if they are not entirely sure what the right thing to do is. What’s the point of a forum if instead of an answer some people just twist your words and send condescending messages? Responses like this literally defeat the whole purpose of a forum. So maybe we could at least try to be kind to each other, the situation is difficult enough as it is

 

[Alice G]

This is a forum and the whole purpose of it is that people can ask questions if they are not entirely sure what the right thing to do is. What’s the point of a forum if instead of an answer some people just twist your words and send condescending messages? Responses like this literally defeat the whole purpose of a forum. So maybe we could at least try to be kind to each other, the situation is difficult enough as it is

I appreciate what you are saying here and we have always maintained that there is no such thing as a silly question or anything like that in the forums and you are absolutely well within your right to ask whatever you would like to.
I think your original question has been answered and some insight has been gleaned.
I really want to make clear that every question asked in these forums is valid and if someone has been mistaken or is perhaps under the wrong impression we will try to guide and redirect in a respectful way.

 

[thecorporatelawyer]

Anyone know if we should prepare for questions on AI tech, Brexit or the US trade War for the Baker McKenzie video interview?

 

[thecorporatelawyer]

Is it advisable to look at your notes in the 30 seconds you are given to prepare for an interview question or does this come off as unprofessional? From what I know the camera is on you the whole time

 

[Alice G]

Is it advisable to look at your notes in the 30 seconds you are given to prepare for an interview question or does this come off as unprofessional? From what I know the camera is on you the whole time

I’ve only ever done two VIs but pretty confident the camera is not recording you during your prep time. I could well be wrong and perhaps this varies but I’m pretty sure that was my experience (though both VIs were a cycle ago)

 

[Changes]

Is it advisable to look at your notes in the 30 seconds you are given to prepare for an interview question or does this come off as unprofessional? From what I know the camera is on you the whole time

I didn’t look at any notes for BM VI but have for others and been successful. Their questions didn’t really require me to look at my notes.

Almost certain the camera isn’t recording you in between questions.

 

[Changes]

Anyone know if we should prepare for questions on AI tech, Brexit or the US trade War for the Baker McKenzie video interview?

I prepared for all of those, only had one commercial question in the end though.

 

[Velikilawyer123]

Sometimes people use the terminology incorrectly (even recruiters!) so it can be confusing...

A competency question is pulling on your past experiences to demonstrate you have the skill needed to do the job. The questions will typically start with something like “tell me about a time you have done X” “how have you done/learnt/developed Y”

Strengths based questions are supposed to be forward thinking to see how you would respond in the job. They are often scenario based questions asking you to think about how you will deal with particular situations you may face in the job or how you may react to those situations. You will typically be asked questions about how you may feel/what you may enjoy.

Sometimes companies will actually merge both of these approaches. Eg: “How would you deal with a situation where as a trainee you had been given multiple work loads by different colleagues you know you won’t be able to complete by the deadlines” and then being asked “have you had a similar situation in the past, where you have had to juggle multiple commitments? How did you manage it and how did you feel”

Thanks Jessica, that really clarifies the situation nicely!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Is it advisable to look at your notes in the 30 seconds you are given to prepare for an interview question or does this come off as unprofessional? From what I know the camera is on you the whole time

Glancing at notes is fine - relying on them less so, especially if you are reading them like they are a script/speech

Definitely not being recorded between questions or during preparation time unless it tells you that you are. But even that’s highly unlikely - would just take up too much time for the recruiter.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Sorry if my tone seems condescending at times - I am a little too blunt/direct but have found it usually the easiest way to deal with responding in forums as it becomes far less likely my posts will be interpreted in different ways.

 

[Charles]

any tip for virtual assesmment centre (with written exercise and partner interview)

@Alice G you once asked for a suggestion of topics you could cover, please if it's not too late can you write an article about online assessment centres. I understand this may involve a lot of work because it is novel and as such I appreciate your efforts. You're truly a Legend

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Alice G you once asked for a suggestion of topics you could cover, please if it's not too late can you write an article about online assessment centres. I understand this may involve a lot of work because it is novel and as such I appreciate your efforts. You're truly a Legend

I might be better suited to deliver this unless Alice has experience with online assessments.

I will speak to @Jaysen about this and will come back to you.