General Discussion Thread 2020-21

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thirdtimelucky

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Junior Lawyer
  • Nov 12, 2019
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    What counts as “legal” work experience? And how, as a non-law student, would you get any without a GDL/Vac Scheme?

    For the record I’m currently working as a Court clerk in family law so I don’t know if that really counts?
     

    Jessica Booker

    Legendary Member
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    Graduate Recruitment
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    Forum Team
    Aug 1, 2019
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    What counts as “legal” work experience? And how, as a non-law student, would you get any without a GDL/Vac Scheme?

    For the record I’m currently working as a Court clerk in family law so I don’t know if that really counts?

    That counts as legal work experience.
     
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    Remily

    New Member
    Apr 7, 2020
    4
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    Hey guys, I got a vac scheme interview with HSF! Does anyone know good resources to use to prepare for the on for the scenario based part of the interview. Have looked at TCLA interview experiences which has been v v useful. They are doing two scenario based interviews for winter vac this year

    Heya, congrats on the interview! I've got the same one and just as stumped I'll be honest, it's my first AC. Where did you find the interview experiences?

    Hey congrats on your ACs! I did the AC for last spring and got a TC. More than happy to answer any questions
     

    LegalNim

    Legendary Member
    Nov 14, 2019
    303
    816
    Anyone else still waiting to hear back from HFW? I'd pretty much given up all hope but I'm pretty sure someone posted the other day they'd received a rejection - and I'm still waiting to hear. I heard back from a firm earlier this week offering me an AC for a TC application I submitted last cycle so I thought maybe there's still a chance with HFW?
     

    orange32

    Star Member
    Aug 12, 2020
    39
    104
    Just did Ashurst's digital assessment (Emotify), which asks you to identify emotions based on pictures of people's emotional reactions. I scored fine on the test but does anyone else think that these tests have discriminatory implications? First and foremost for those who have a disability eg autism, Asperger's etc (and for those who might have a milder/undiagnosed version of such disabilities which they don't have medical proof of or aren't able to report to Ashurst directly about it.)

    Secondly because emotional recognition is very much tied with our cultures, perhaps putting some cultural/ethnic groups at a disadvantage. I'm particularly concerned about the part of the test where they act you to identify what someone's reaction would be in a particular day to day situation - people of different ethical, cultural and community backgrounds simply might react differently, placing people from these groups in a disadvantage when asked to determine how an 'average' or 'standard' (this would require further investigation... but presumably white/middle class/etc) person would react??
     

    Jessica Booker

    Legendary Member
    TCLA Moderator
    Gold Member
    Graduate Recruitment
    Premium Member
    Forum Team
    Aug 1, 2019
    14,666
    20,360
    Just did Ashurst's digital assessment (Emotify), which asks you to identify emotions based on pictures of people's emotional reactions. I scored fine on the test but does anyone else think that these tests have discriminatory implications? First and foremost for those who have a disability eg autism, Asperger's etc (and for those who might have a milder/undiagnosed version of such disabilities which they don't have medical proof of or aren't able to report to Ashurst directly about it.)

    Secondly because emotional recognition is very much tied with our cultures, perhaps putting some cultural/ethnic groups at a disadvantage. I'm particularly concerned about the part of the test where they act you to identify what someone's reaction would be in a particular day to day situation - people of different ethical, cultural and community backgrounds simply might react differently, placing people from these groups in a disadvantage when asked to determine how an 'average' or 'standard' (this would require further investigation... but presumably white/middle class/etc) person would react??

    Anyone with autism or Aspergers should be asking for a reasonable adjustment to the recruitment process. As someone who is more than likely on a spectrum for a form of autism, I understand that this doesn’t help anyone who has it mildly enough to not need reasonable adjustments. However, if that is the case then you are unlikely to be so negatively impacted by the test that it would cause an issue in the first place. Slightly different if you are undiagnosed, but to be honest that is a problem with any assessment you could have in a recruitment process, with a range of conditions and disabilities.

    Such assessments are validated to check for cultural biases/adverse impact and will have been adapted to ensure there isn’t any. Questions/scenarios will have been scrapped/adapted if it is clear that there is any form of adverse impact (gender will also be an issue as well as culture/ethnicity). They will have also checked whether there is adverse impact on things like age too.
     
    Last edited:

    M1999

    Legendary Member
    Nov 28, 2019
    518
    1,183
    Just did Ashurst's digital assessment (Emotify), which asks you to identify emotions based on pictures of people's emotional reactions. I scored fine on the test but does anyone else think that these tests have discriminatory implications? First and foremost for those who have a disability eg autism, Asperger's etc (and for those who might have a milder/undiagnosed version of such disabilities which they don't have medical proof of or aren't able to report to Ashurst directly about it.)

    Secondly because emotional recognition is very much tied with our cultures, perhaps putting some cultural/ethnic groups at a disadvantage. I'm particularly concerned about the part of the test where they act you to identify what someone's reaction would be in a particular day to day situation - people of different ethical, cultural and community backgrounds simply might react differently, placing people from these groups in a disadvantage when asked to determine how an 'average' or 'standard' (this would require further investigation... but presumably white/middle class/etc) person would react??
    Although it was fun to do, it was a weird test for a recruitment process. I don’t get how being good at games makes you a good candidate tbh!
     
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    DrowninginSQE

    Legendary Member
    Sep 23, 2020
    129
    220
    Just did Ashurst's digital assessment (Emotify), which asks you to identify emotions based on pictures of people's emotional reactions. I scored fine on the test but does anyone else think that these tests have discriminatory implications? First and foremost for those who have a disability eg autism, Asperger's etc (and for those who might have a milder/undiagnosed version of such disabilities which they don't have medical proof of or aren't able to report to Ashurst directly about it.)

    Secondly because emotional recognition is very much tied with our cultures, perhaps putting some cultural/ethnic groups at a disadvantage. I'm particularly concerned about the part of the test where they act you to identify what someone's reaction would be in a particular day to day situation - people of different ethical, cultural and community backgrounds simply might react differently, placing people from these groups in a disadvantage when asked to determine how an 'average' or 'standard' (this would require further investigation... but presumably white/middle class/etc) person would react??

    In terms of the first point, if you tell Ashurst that you have a neurodiverse condition they are more lenient towards your score and place more emphasis on the application. Same for the games section if you have a physical disability.
     
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