Hogan Lovells Application 2020/21

[Sekani Wraith]

Hi guys,

I just wanted to clarify something just in case any of you are concerned about the percentile pass park for Hogan like I was. A candidate in this forum gave some useful information after speaking to Hogan but I think they misheard. The candidate said that you have to score in the 80th percentile which I thought was rather high. They have just sent me email, you have to score in the 18th percentile to be considered not 80th.

 

[Staples]

Has anyone else here not heard anything at all yet (post WG)? It’s been a whole month for me!

 

[RB]

Yes, I'd focus this answer on why they should hire you. You can make a few links to Hogan Lovells if you'd like, but I wouldn't use it to answer 'why Hogan Lovells?' as that wouldn't be answering the question.

I wouldn't worry about the fact that none of the other questions have asked 'why Hogan Lovells?' directly, the firm has intentionally focused on competency questions in their application form.

Hi Jaysen,

I'm not sure if you'd have any insight into this or if @Jessica Booker would but I was speaking to the graduate recruitment team at a law fair last week and they said that it is really important that we explain why Hogan Lovells in our application. However, I submitted my application before they said this and I didn't really explain what exactly attracted me to Hogan Lovells. I was wondering if you knew if it would be possible to contact the graduate recruitment team to ask if it would be in any way possible for me to include this now, after receiving this information?

Apologies if this sounds slightly crazy of me to ask but thank you in advance!

 

[Jaysen]

Hi Jaysen,

I'm not sure if you'd have any insight into this or if @Jessica Booker would but I was speaking to the graduate recruitment team at a law fair last week and they said that it is really important that we explain why Hogan Lovells in our application. However, I submitted my application before they said this and I didn't really explain what exactly attracted me to Hogan Lovells. I was wondering if you knew if it would be possible to contact the graduate recruitment team to ask if it would be in any way possible for me to include this now, after receiving this information?

Apologies if this sounds slightly crazy of me to ask but thank you in advance!

If that’s the case, I’m very confused as to why Hogan Lovells haven’t included a question that relates to ‘why this firm?’. I’ve reviewed a large number of HL apps and rarely find candidates have linked to the firm (aside from the last question), let alone answered ‘why Hogan Lovells?’, which is understandable given that there is no clear opportunity to do so.

@Jessica Booker might have more insight as to what to do after hearing this. I’m not sure they’d allow you to amend your application.

 

[RB]

If that’s the case, I’m very confused as to why Hogan Lovells haven’t included a question that relates to ‘why this firm?’. I’ve reviewed a large number of HL apps and rarely find candidates have linked to the firm (aside from the last question), let alone answered ‘why Hogan Lovells?’, which is understandable given that there is no clear opportunity to do so.

@Jessica Booker might have more insight as to what to do after hearing this. I’m not sure they’d allow you to amend your application.

Thanks Jaysen, yeah I'm confused by this approach as it happened with my A&O application as well! When I spoke to A&O's graduate recruitment team, they also said to explicitly mention why A&O in the application despite the fact that they haven't asked this in their application forms!

 

[Manifesting]

Thanks Jaysen, yeah I'm confused by this approach as it happened with my A&O application as well! When I spoke to A&O's graduate recruitment team, they also said to explicitly mention why A&O in the application despite the fact that they haven't asked this in their application forms!

In the same boat too... I submitted an application in which I was overly-cautious to address only the question being asked. Anyway, I will know to make links to the firm for next time!

 

[Jessica Booker]

If that’s the case, I’m very confused as to why Hogan Lovells haven’t included a question that relates to ‘why this firm?’. I’ve reviewed a large number of HL apps and rarely find candidates have linked to the firm (aside from the last question), let alone answered ‘why Hogan Lovells?’, which is understandable given that there is no clear opportunity to do so.

@Jessica Booker might have more insight as to what to do after hearing this. I’m not sure they’d allow you to amend your application.

It’s very weird to not have a question that addresses this particular point but then encourage people to do so, especially with the questions that they ask where it naturally doesn’t fit in.

You might as well contact them and ask - there is no harm in doing so. I’d try to call rather than email. But be prepared for them to say that you can’t resubmit an application.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks Jaysen, yeah I'm confused by this approach as it happened with my A&O application as well! When I spoke to A&O's graduate recruitment team, they also said to explicitly mention why A&O in the application despite the fact that they haven't asked this in their application forms!

This is pretty poor form in my opinion. Maybe it’s a tactic to make it easier to put applications through to the next stage, because you either have to be “in” on this knowledge by having attended an event or by knowing someone at the firm who knows it.

The answers are going to be completely superficial anyway if they are forced into questions where other things are described, and there is little to no way to link certain aspects of “why the firm” to a competency question. I just find it very odd anyway.

 

[Jaysen]

This is pretty poor form in my opinion. Maybe it’s a tactic to make it easier to put applications through to the next stage, because you either have to be “in” on this knowledge by having attended an event or by knowing someone at the firm who knows it.

The answers are going to be completely superficial anyway if they are forced into questions where other things are described, and there is little to no way to link certain aspects of “why the firm” to a competency question. I just find it very odd anyway.

Agreed, there is definitely no clear opportunity to do this in the A&O application. I'm keen to know if they phrased this more as an option, rather than something that adds much value to an application. Otherwise, it seems to be silly to disadvantage the candidates who chose to answer the questions as they are phrased.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Agreed, there is definitely no clear opportunity to do this in the A&O application. I'm keen to know if they phrased this more as an option, rather than something that adds much value to an application. Otherwise, it seems to be silly to disadvantage the candidates who chose to answer the questions as they are phrased.

Their questions are around resilience and adaptability. To me it seems really odd to then go “I’ll be able to bring this resilience/adaptability into Capital Markets which is a practice area I am particularly interested in” which is really the only way you could weave it in. If you were applying to the firm for more cultural reasons, there is even less way for it to be weaved in “I am adaptable and hope I can bring that adaptability to the firm through the firm’s mentoring programmes”

 

[Jaysen]

Their questions are around resilience and adaptability. To me it seems really odd to then go “I’ll be able to bring this resilience/adaptability into Capital Markets which is a practice area I am particularly interested in” which is really the only way you could weave it in. If you were applying to the firm for more cultural reasons, there is even less way for it to be weaved in “I am adaptable and hope I can bring that adaptability to the firm through the firm’s mentoring programmes”

Not sure if they'll get back to me, but I'll see if we can get some clarification on this!

 

[Staples]

Just jumping in to say I had the exact same experience – I applied to HL and was somewhat surprised by the lack of “why HL” questions, then happened to attend a HL event after applying and they said they wanted to see why HL in the app form, which was really perplexing!

 

[Jessica Booker]

The HL isn’t so bad as you could put it in the “further information” section. However, this is then potentially at the cost of providing some interesting insights about you as a candidate.

I don’t understand why they don’t just ask a question about it if it is important though.

 

[RB]

Just to add as well just in case other candidates have yet to submit their application. Grad rec have said that for the question below they don’t want you to talk much about the team dynamic and what you found enjoyable but instead what your role was in the team.

1. We are a global firm that works together with mutual respect and collegiality. Describe a time when you have enjoyed collaborating with people from different cultures and backgrounds or with different personalities. What made the experience so enjoyable? (Max. 250 words)

Not sure if I’m the only one who also found this slightly odd but I explained why the experience was enjoyable because that was the question...

 

[gg999]

Just to add as well just in case other candidates have yet to submit their application. Grad rec have said that for the question below they don’t want you to talk much about the team dynamic and what you found enjoyable but instead what your role was in the team.

1. We are a global firm that works together with mutual respect and collegiality. Describe a time when you have enjoyed collaborating with people from different cultures and backgrounds or with different personalities. What made the experience so enjoyable? (Max. 250 words)

Not sure if I’m the only one who also found this slightly odd but I explained why the experience was enjoyable because that was the question...

Not an odd question at all. In every sort of question, they want to know about what you did and how this made you feel. They do not care about the team and what everyone else did.

The question is perfectly valid in my opinion, especially because the firm is very international and places a great emphasis on this. I answered the question and linked it back to HL in my last sentence.

 

[RB]

Not an odd question at all. In every sort of question, they want to know about what you did and how this made you feel. They do not care about the team and what everyone else did.

The question is perfectly valid in my opinion, especially because the firm is very international and places a great emphasis on this. I answered the question and linked it back to HL in my last sentence.

I do understand that however they explicitly said that candidates focused too much on what they enjoyed about the role rather than what they did. I just don’t quite understand why they’d ask in the question what made it so enjoyable because it made me assume that the focus of the question was what made it enjoyable. Maybe that was just my interpretation of it though!

 

[Jessica Booker]

I do understand that however they explicitly said that candidates focused too much on what they enjoyed about the role rather than what they did. I just don’t quite understand why they’d ask in the question what made it so enjoyable because it made me assume that the focus of the question was what made it enjoyable. Maybe that was just my interpretation of it though!

“Describe a time” makes it very suitable to a STAR format, of which showing your actions (rather than just the team’s) is vital.

I suspect they have had too many answers where the candidate is too focused on the team dynamic/their enjoyment, rather than what they did. To me a good answer to this question would have balance - leading with your actions/impact, and then explaining what you got out of it/what you enjoyed.

 

[LLawR]

Has anyone heard back from HL yet?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Just wanted to update everyone. I am fortunate to know Jen, the Graduate Recruitment Manager at Hogan Lovells and wanted to get her views on the point about linking your answers back to the firm.

Jen was pretty clear in saying it wasn't needed. Jen's advice was to keep the wording to answering the question. She did mention if it was done, the extra information section would be the best place to do it, but that even then it wasn't necessary to do so.

 

[R1a01]

Hi guys,

I just wanted to clarify something just in case any of you are concerned about the percentile pass park for Hogan like I was. A candidate in this forum gave some useful information after speaking to Hogan but I think they misheard. The candidate said that you have to score in the 80th percentile which I thought was rather high. They have just sent me email, you have to score in the 18th percentile to be considered not 80th.

Hi, thanks for the information! I was just wondering whether graduate recruitment let you know that this was the percentile?