Hill Dickinson 2020/2021

m.aspiring.lawyer

Star Member
Feb 24, 2021
31
28
hey guys, had my VI this morning and I am curious what other people who have applied for the business services stream said for who the firm's main competitors are? I think I messed up this answer and was hoping for a bit of reassurance - thanks in advance :)
 

Gs4

Star Member
Feb 18, 2021
31
31
Has anyone that applied for Manchester Health stream heard anything? Haven’t got a rejection or anything saying about getting through to the written exercise yet unfortunately!
Hey! I applied for Manchester Health and still haven't heard back. I emailed grad recruitment, as I was told we would hear back in the week of the 8th of March. This is what they said:

'Following interviews, we have advised that candidates should hear back from us regarding the outcome before the end of March.
Apologies if you have been advised otherwise.

We will be sure to update you in due course.'

Hopefully we will hear some good news soon!
 
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Lancasterlaww

Active Member
Mar 12, 2021
10
8
hey guys, had my VI this morning and I am curious what other people who have applied for the business services stream said for who the firm's main competitors are? I think I messed up this answer and was hoping for a bit of reassurance - thanks in advance :)
Hi, I am applying for the business services stream in Liverpool, so I talked about Brabners, and DLA Piper's Liverpool office. I managed to get to the next stage, so I assume I couldn't have messed it up too badly :)
 

Andrew M

Legendary Member
Forum Winner
Jan 7, 2020
516
2,029
hey guys, had my VI this morning and I am curious what other people who have applied for the business services stream said for who the firm's main competitors are? I think I messed up this answer and was hoping for a bit of reassurance - thanks in advance :)
To some extent it depends on which office you applied to, since I think that the practice areas do vary between the different offices. Which firms did you say, out of curiousity?
 

Num

Distinguished Member
Feb 24, 2021
53
35
hey guys, had my VI this morning and I am curious what other people who have applied for the business services stream said for who the firm's main competitors are? I think I messed up this answer and was hoping for a bit of reassurance - thanks in advance :)
I'm going to be brutally honest, this question threw me. I didn't know if I should name actual firms (like DLA etc) or what as I haven't come across it (stupid I know as its one of the main questions!). But Instead of specifically naming I just swerved it towards international / commercial firms and then went straight into what makes them different/unique/stand out......and I got through to the next round which was a shock as I thought I messed that question, so I guess I wasn't too shabby 😅
 
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m.aspiring.lawyer

Star Member
Feb 24, 2021
31
28
I'm going to be brutally honest, this question threw me. I didn't know if I should name actual firms (like DLA etc) or what as I haven't come across it (stupid I know as its one of the main questions!). But Instead of specifically naming I just swerved it towards international / commercial firms and then went straight into what makes them different/unique/stand out......and I got through to the next round which was a shock as I thought I messed that question, so I guess I wasn't too shabby 😅
Me too! I hadn't prepared for it at all but that sounds good, hopefully my justifications saved me 🤞
 
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m.aspiring.lawyer

Star Member
Feb 24, 2021
31
28
To some extent it depends on which office you applied to, since I think that the practice areas do vary between the different offices. Which firms did you say, out of curiousity?
Hey! So I instinctively wanted to mention Clyde & Co and Stephenson Harwood but I thought they were more relevant to shipping and insurance and I know HD sold their insurance division to Keoghs a few years ago. So I ended up saying DWF and somewhere else (I honestly cannot remember though I have just blanked it out completely because I think it was so bad - it's a blur) explaining it also has strong regional bases in the north-west but that HD is more international etc and they are also quite corporate. I really hope I salvaged what I said, gutted if I've messed that up as the other questions went well but I suppose if anything its a learning experience!
 

Leightoncass

Distinguished Member
Mar 23, 2021
66
30
Hey! So I instinctively wanted to mention Clyde & Co and Stephenson Harwood but I thought they were more relevant to shipping and insurance and I know HD sold their insurance division to Keoghs a few years ago. So I ended up saying DWF and somewhere else (I honestly cannot remember though I have just blanked it out completely because I think it was so bad - it's a blur) explaining it also has strong regional bases in the north-west but that HD is more international etc and they are also quite corporate. I really hope I salvaged what I said, gutted if I've messed that up as the other questions went well but I suppose if anything its a learning experience!
Hi! Can I ask which training contract you applied for? Business right? Did you get any sector specific questions? Or commercial awareness ones? I know this will sound dumb but I never understand what type of questions get asked when people say 'commercial awareness'.
 

Andrew M

Legendary Member
Forum Winner
Jan 7, 2020
516
2,029
Hey! So I instinctively wanted to mention Clyde & Co and Stephenson Harwood but I thought they were more relevant to shipping and insurance and I know HD sold their insurance division to Keoghs a few years ago. So I ended up saying DWF and somewhere else (I honestly cannot remember though I have just blanked it out completely because I think it was so bad - it's a blur) explaining it also has strong regional bases in the north-west but that HD is more international etc and they are also quite corporate. I really hope I salvaged what I said, gutted if I've messed that up as the other questions went well but I suppose if anything its a learning experience!
Well it sounds like you had reasons for the firms you mentioned, which is good. :)
 
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m.aspiring.lawyer

Star Member
Feb 24, 2021
31
28
Hi! Can I ask which training contract you applied for? Business right? Did you get any sector specific questions? Or commercial awareness ones? I know this will sound dumb but I never understand what type of questions get asked when people say 'commercial awareness'.
Hello! Yeah, it was business services, I wouldn't say any of the questions were business services sector-specific explicitly but all of them gave you the opportunity to showcase your interest in business services and had a commercial spin on them. I would say two of the three were "commercial awareness" style questions. Good luck with your interview if you haven't done it yet!
 

Andrew M

Legendary Member
Forum Winner
Jan 7, 2020
516
2,029
Hi thank you! What exactly do you mean by commercial awareness? Does that mean commenting on recent events/challenges in that sector?
I would say that commercial awareness is more than just having some knowledge of events in that sector. Realistically, they aren't going to expect applicants to know a sector inside out. Commercial awareness is ultimately a skill - being able to analyse a trend/development/story/scenario and identify the commercial implications.

If that's not something that comes easy to you then it's not a big problem because it's something you can practice and get better at. But it is something you need to be proactive with.
 

northernlawstud

Star Member
Jan 27, 2021
48
58
I've got my VI for London Health tomorrow, has anyone got any tips? This is the furthest I've got from all my applications and really don't want to mess it up 😩 Will it be like competition questions/commercial awareness or will it be about the role itself? Like do the questions differ depending on which route you've applied for? Thanks guys 🤝
 

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