- Feb 17, 2018
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When was your Jones Day interview?
January 2017
What was it for?
Vacation scheme
Please describe the interview process at Jones Day.
Online application with a very short cover letter followed by an interview with two partners.
Admittedly, this might have been my worst interview experience, but it was also my first so that might explain it. It felt cold and distanced, and the trainee that gave me a tour was clearly not having it - it felt forced and unwelcoming.
What advice would you give to future applicants for the Jones Day interview?
Jones Day is known for its one-hour competency-based interviews. There were two partners who would ask a whole range of competency questions and just a couple commercial ones towards the end.
Specifically, Jones Day is apparently looking for 'friendly trainees' to be good company to partners on business trips rather than a 'robot' trainee who's only expected to do their work (how far this is true throughout the actual training contract I am not sure). Hence, the first thing they will be looking for is an approachable and talkative (but not overly so) trainee. It's all about the right balance, and given how many candidates they invite to interview the competition to show this will be very fierce. Accordingly, make sure to show them you can hold a conversation without being awkward!
Their training contract, moreover, is unique in that they do not have seats, but allow trainees to do what they like (within reason) and are expected to go looking for their own tasks. Naturally, a great deal of the interview will focus on this aspect - in my case, I was asked whether I had done something which required me to focus on two different aspects simultaneously, something in which I had to show initiative and drive, when I overcame a challenge and the like. I believe the best way to prepare for this is to download a list of competency questions from well-known sites such as chambersstudent and try answering them. Do NOT learn them by heart, just use them to structure and get a feeling of a questions.
The final commercial question varies enormously, as partners each deal with different practice areas. I was asked how Jones Day might be involved in a M&A deal (which I found very generic), as well as what I would invest £10m in - clearly meant to catch people off-guard. From what I gathered, this was less so to test your knowledge and more so to see how you'd react to an unforeseen question, as might happen throughout your training contract with clients and/or partners.
Generally, as cliche as this is, my advice would be to truly be yourself - if you pretend to be someone you're not you will not enjoy this particular firm and its training structure. So, be yourself, be respectful, and answer any questions honestly, politely and above all with enthusiasm.
January 2017
What was it for?
Vacation scheme
Please describe the interview process at Jones Day.
Online application with a very short cover letter followed by an interview with two partners.
Admittedly, this might have been my worst interview experience, but it was also my first so that might explain it. It felt cold and distanced, and the trainee that gave me a tour was clearly not having it - it felt forced and unwelcoming.
What advice would you give to future applicants for the Jones Day interview?
Jones Day is known for its one-hour competency-based interviews. There were two partners who would ask a whole range of competency questions and just a couple commercial ones towards the end.
Specifically, Jones Day is apparently looking for 'friendly trainees' to be good company to partners on business trips rather than a 'robot' trainee who's only expected to do their work (how far this is true throughout the actual training contract I am not sure). Hence, the first thing they will be looking for is an approachable and talkative (but not overly so) trainee. It's all about the right balance, and given how many candidates they invite to interview the competition to show this will be very fierce. Accordingly, make sure to show them you can hold a conversation without being awkward!
Their training contract, moreover, is unique in that they do not have seats, but allow trainees to do what they like (within reason) and are expected to go looking for their own tasks. Naturally, a great deal of the interview will focus on this aspect - in my case, I was asked whether I had done something which required me to focus on two different aspects simultaneously, something in which I had to show initiative and drive, when I overcame a challenge and the like. I believe the best way to prepare for this is to download a list of competency questions from well-known sites such as chambersstudent and try answering them. Do NOT learn them by heart, just use them to structure and get a feeling of a questions.
The final commercial question varies enormously, as partners each deal with different practice areas. I was asked how Jones Day might be involved in a M&A deal (which I found very generic), as well as what I would invest £10m in - clearly meant to catch people off-guard. From what I gathered, this was less so to test your knowledge and more so to see how you'd react to an unforeseen question, as might happen throughout your training contract with clients and/or partners.
Generally, as cliche as this is, my advice would be to truly be yourself - if you pretend to be someone you're not you will not enjoy this particular firm and its training structure. So, be yourself, be respectful, and answer any questions honestly, politely and above all with enthusiasm.
