Hogan Lovells Application 2020/21

whisperingrock

Legendary Member
Forum Winner
  • Sep 12, 2020
    226
    567
    Hi everyone,

    I feel like the Hogan Lovells application is one of the longest I’ve ever had to do which is why I’ve put it off for so long. I don’t know if I’ll have a chance now since it’s so late but I will still be giving it a shot.

    Does anyone know how to approach the last question that states: ‘please detail any further info that you would like us to consider when reviewing your application in light of the many others we receive what makes you stand out from the crowd?’

    I feel like all the other questions draw upon what makes us stand out, does anyone know what they’re looking for here? There isn’t a word count for it either.

    Write about your USP. What makes you special? Why should you get hired over every other applicant? You can flesh out an example you used in another question but just make sure you really really dig into why you are better than the other 1000 people who are applying for the same spot.
     

    Aida

    New Member
    Sep 3, 2020
    4
    6
    Hi,

    I was just wondering how long did it take for the WG to be sent to everyone else? I submitted my application on the morning of 27 December and I haven't received it yet but I assumed this might be because of the holiday period. How much longer do we think I should wait before emailing to ask? Thank you!
     

    whisperingrock

    Legendary Member
    Forum Winner
  • Sep 12, 2020
    226
    567
    Hi,

    I was just wondering how long did it take for the WG to be sent to everyone else? I submitted my application on the morning of 27 December and I haven't received it yet but I assumed this might be because of the holiday period. How much longer do we think I should wait before emailing to ask? Thank you!
    The entire grad rec team has been on leave since last Friday and will be until the 4th at least.
     
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    Bethany

    Star Member
    Dec 30, 2020
    30
    24
    Hi guys,

    Filling out the application for HL and confused with the university grade section. It asks what grade you’ve got, but then there is a separate box asking if this was predicted or gained?

    I’m not sure about anyone else, but I'm pretty sure I never had predicted grades at uni.

    Can anyone advise?
     

    Bethany

    Star Member
    Dec 30, 2020
    30
    24
    Hi guys,

    Filling out the application for HL and confused with the university grade section. It asks what grade you’ve got, but then there is a separate box asking if this was predicted or gained?

    I’m not sure about anyone else, but I'm pretty sure I never had predicted grades at uni.

    Can anyone advise?
    Please ignore this I had a moment of madness. I know what to put ha
     

    AlRJ

    Esteemed Member
    Jun 23, 2019
    88
    145
    This question is just a complicated rephrasing of "tell us about a time you had to manage conflicting obligations". Think of a time something suddenly came up and your entire schedule got thrown out the window and you had to scramble to do everything properly in the short time you had. Write it in STAR format.

    I just got the TC offer from HL off the winter vac scheme, and my example for this question was related to some work experience Id done. The client wanted part of the work done sooner, so something I thought I could do at the end of the week needed to be done that day, and this rippled through my timing for everything else on my to do list. I wrote about how I managed my time, delegated some of my tasks to people who had greater capacity for the work, and tried to manage expectations with my supervisor.

    Super congrats on your offer! :)
     
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    Jacob Miller

    Legendary Member
    Future Trainee
    Forum Team
  • Feb 15, 2020
    896
    2,394
    Hi everyone, very new to this and wondered if someone might be able to help. Massively stressed about submitting my application for Hogan Lovells (hence my delay).

    I am struggling with the second question ‘we set our standards high, and we trust our people to hold themselves accountable for meeting other peoples expectations. Describe a time when you had to drop everything and really “raise your game” in order to keep a promise you had made to someone else. How did you manage both this and your other commitments?’

    If anyone has any guidance it would be greatly appreciated! I have already answered this, but feel I’m probably on the wrong track.
    Hi Bethany,

    As others have mentioned, this question is testing you across a few skillsets to see whether you have key attributes. In this question, the key attributes being pinpointed are mainly time management, prioritising skills, and work ethic. It's also, though, testing how you would react to something unforeseen- i.e., how well you react to a change of plan and what you do to manage that.

    First of all, if we remove the 'Grad Rec' speak, this question is asking you:
    "Tell us about a time where something unforeseen interrupted your existing plans/ schedule. How did you manage the situation and what did you do to try and ensure that all your commitments were met?"

    Typically, the major points which you need to hit are:
    - you communicated the issue to the relevant people, e.g.:
    "After assessing my capacity and realising that I would struggle to complete everything for the given deadlines, I consulted both seniors who had appointed me work to inform them that, as well as what they had given me, I also had workload for another senior. I asked whether either set of work was flexible with respect to its deadline."
    - you sought to clarify whether it was possible to delegate (and subsequently delegated where possible)
    "I asked around my colleagues to assess their capacity, I then sought clarification from my senior whether it was suitable for me to delegate certain components of the task" (The reason I mention this second part is that, sometimes, especially in a law firm, certain people may be prevented from working on certain tasks with certain clients, e.g. due to conflicts of interest).
    - You carried out a further assessment of your workload, analysing what tasks would take you the longest/ shortest amount of time, what was the most imminent, whether you had any peripheral commitments whose deadlines were flexible or were less urgent to streamline your workload as much as possible.
    - You worked additional hours for the busy period to ensure that all the work was completed on time to a high standard.

    The STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Response/ Result) format is what I tended to stick to for questions such as these.

    Hopefully this helps, very best of luck with your app!
     
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    manifestingaTC

    Esteemed Member
  • Nov 5, 2020
    75
    127
    Hey, has anyone who applied to the Hogan Lovells summer vac scheme heard back yet? I completed my WG about 5 weeks ago and have heard nothing, which I'm guessing isn't the best sign.

    Hi, I completed my WG a few weeks back and haven't heard yet either. I think they are a bit backlogged this year because even the HL BasE application outcomes came back 2 weeks later than grad rec said - or I hope so at least !
     

    Bethany

    Star Member
    Dec 30, 2020
    30
    24
    Hi Jacob,

    Thank you so much for this advice, your detailed example and explanation really helped me with my application. It also helped me realise that I knew what I was talking about, as what I had already written demonstrated this. Clearly, the confidence boost was much needed!

    I submitted yesterday (a little late I know) but fingers crossed!
     

    Jacob Miller

    Legendary Member
    Future Trainee
    Forum Team
  • Feb 15, 2020
    896
    2,394
    Hi Jacob,

    Thank you so much for this advice, your detailed example and explanation really helped me with my application. It also helped me realise that I knew what I was talking about, as what I had already written demonstrated this. Clearly, the confidence boost was much needed!

    I submitted yesterday (a little late I know) but fingers crossed!
    Hi Bethany,

    So glad I could help- very best of luck with your application! One of my mentors before I secured my TC was a Partner from the firm, he was great and taught me a huge amount.
     
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    Bethany

    Star Member
    Dec 30, 2020
    30
    24
    Hi Bethany,

    So glad I could help- very best of luck with your application! One of my mentors before I secured my TC was a Partner from the firm, he was great and taught me a huge amount.
    Thank you! Thats amazing.
    I actually received the email for the WG test today so if you have any advice on that? I’ve never taken one before.
     

    bethbristol

    Legendary Member
    Future Trainee
    Oct 30, 2019
    134
    443
    Hi Everyone,

    Just received an email from Hogan Lovells for the Watson Glaser test and wondered if anyone had any advice or could suggest some useful tools to help?
    This would be my first time taking the test, so I have little idea about it.

    All help will be hugely appreciated :)

    Hi Bethany (great name!). I am a future trainee at the firm, and I found the WGT very similar to most others out there. I believe that Clifford Chance has a practice one on their site that you can use - @Jessica Booker has posted some good resources at various points around the TCLA forum (so may be worth having a quick look). I found these that she had posted:

    Watson Glaser:
    Other recommendations would be to check whether your university has access to any practice tests (even if you have graduated they may still allow you to use their careers service) or look at the how2become critical thinking book which you can find on Amazon which describes the various sections of the test. I would definitely try and do a few practice tests as these are the best way to learn how to do the test - in my opinion. Good luck!

    Edit:

    Some websites do have paid-for subscriptions to tests. I honestly think that this is not necessary, and they are usually very expensive - I just wanted to put this in as I know that when I was doing WGT I almost caved in, but I definitely didn't need to!
     

    Bethany

    Star Member
    Dec 30, 2020
    30
    24
    Hi Bethany (great name!). I am a future trainee at the firm, and I found the WGT very similar to most others out there. I believe that Clifford Chance has a practice one on their site that you can use - @Jessica Booker has posted some good resources at various points around the TCLA forum (so may be worth having a quick look). I found these that she had posted:

    Watson Glaser:
    Other recommendations would be to check whether your university has access to any practice tests (even if you have graduated they may still allow you to use their careers service) or look at the how2become critical thinking book which you can find on Amazon which describes the various sections of the test. I would definitely try and do a few practice tests as these are the best way to learn how to do the test - in my opinion. Good luck!

    Edit:

    Some websites do have paid-for subscriptions to tests. I honestly think that this is not necessary, and they are usually very expensive - I just wanted to put this in as I know that when I was doing WGT I almost caved in, but I definitely didn't need to!
    Hey (Haha you too - I am also from
    Bristol, what a coincidence).

    Firstly, congratulations!! You must be so happy, HL is the best. Secondly, thank you so much for all of this information. I actually used the Clifford Chance test this morning after posting. Thank you for posting the resources, I will also have a look through some of the threads :).

    That is a great shout re University, I will definitely enquire about that. I did notice that a few websites charged for the tests and I almost caved myself this morning so this comment has definitely saved me some money.
     

    Jessica Booker

    Legendary Member
    TCLA Moderator
    Gold Member
    Graduate Recruitment
    Premium Member
    Forum Team
    Aug 1, 2019
    14,659
    20,354
    Hey (Haha you too - I am also from
    Bristol, what a coincidence).

    Firstly, congratulations!! You must be so happy, HL is the best. Secondly, thank you so much for all of this information. I actually used the Clifford Chance test this morning after posting. Thank you for posting the resources, I will also have a look through some of the threads :).

    That is a great shout re University, I will definitely enquire about that. I did notice that a few websites charged for the tests and I almost caved myself this morning so this comment has definitely saved me some money.

    If you study at Bristol uni, I am pretty sure they have dedicate resources in their careers service. I did some work for their careers service a few years ago and used to provide access to similar resources.
     
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