Jones Day Vacation Scheme Interview 2018

[Jaysen]

Jones Day Interview 2018

When was your Jones Day interview?

November 2018

What was it for?

Winter vacation scheme

Please describe the interview process at Jones Day.

Interview by two partners. Very informal and laid back, focussed on your application and your experiences with some competency questions.

What advice would you give to future applicants for the Jones Day interview?

Know your application really well. I suggest looking at it in detail and think of the questions they might come up with. Just because it is less formal than an AC, do not make the mistake of being too casual - but do let your personality shine!

 

[Jaysen]

Jones Day Interview 2018

When was your Jones Day interview?

Not given - assuming Nov 2018.

What was it for?

Spring vacation scheme

Please describe the interview process at Jones Day.

It was a surprisingly informal interview, more like a conversation between myself, the partner and a member of the graduate recruitment team. They were interested in the modules that I had chosen, the extracurricular activities that I was part of. There was one commercial question at the end, but they did not push me to answer any technical questions - they seemed genuinely interested in how I felt about the issue and allowed me to direct most of the interview in a way that I felt comfortable with.

What advice would you give to future applicants for the Jones Day interview?

There is not as much need to prep in terms of commercial awareness as the interview is more competency based. I would learn your CV inside out, and be prepared to answer any questions to do with the subjects you are currently studying.

 

[Jaysen]

Anonymous:

My interview with Jones day was with two partners and lasted about 40 minutes. They were very friendly and really let you lead the conversation to where you wanted it to go. Nothing really came up that I wasn’t expecting, but they did grill me on what I said. I would suggest getting a friend to mock interview you and push everything you say so that you are prepared to defend yourself.

They really pushed me on my “Why Jones Day?” answer. I made sure that I could talk about a logical path that I took before I decided on Jones Day – began with international presence, high profile M&A work and then discussed their culture – each time discussing similar firms and why I preferred Jones Day.

They also really pushed me on why commercial law and they asked for a business news story that I found interesting. For this point I would say use something genuinely recent that you have genuinely found interesting – they might not believe you if it is too technical and it is unlikely to spur on an interesting conversation. You can link almost anything to a law firm – it doesn’t have to be too obvious.

They also asked me which departments would be involved in a typical transaction, why I choose to do much work experience that wasn't legal, what would be the negatives of working at the firm, where I saw myself in 10 years, what my working style was, an example of when I had gone beyond what was expected of me, and which kind of work appealed to me most. If you can, I would prep 2/3 commercial topics that you find interesting and try to bring them up. They were really keen to hear about what I found interesting and seemed impressed when I brought them into my answers for the more typical questions.

 

[Catherine]

Interview in Feb 2019

As the other responses have said, I would know your application form - questions and w/e - well as they based most questions off this. They asked me what other careers I might have considered and bought up a w/e I had done about 5 years ago. As I have some barrister w/e I got pushed on why commercial law over bar, and they made me expand on this.

I was also asked which other firms I had applied to and why, and then why Jones Day. Make sure you have some in-depth reasons as they are looking for people who actually know the firm well and why they want to work there. So think about why the culture and non-rotational seat system appeals/would suit you.

They asked me to bring up a commercial/business news story, and then asked me quite a few questions based on what I said. They also asked me some more unusual questions such as 'how would your friends describe you - good and bad'. I struggled a bit on this as hadn't prepared.
Also asked what my weakness was, and then pushed me quite a bit on that (probably because I picked a bit of a bad one/slightly complicated to explain).
They also asked me about a situational style question - basically just that you had too many things on at one time and what would you do - the answer they are really looking for is that you communicate with the partners openly about what you have time for.

They didn't really make many notes throughout, they really focus on what you are saying. Make sure you have a few good questions prepared for the end that show you have done some research.
At the end a trainee showed me her office and sorted out my expenses, had time to ask her a few questions.

I received a rejection about 2 weeks after the interview. However, I pretty much decided after the interview that the firm probably wasn't quite the right fit for me. Also, they don't give any feedback - which I think is pretty bad!