Telephone interview tips

[Salma]

Hi All,

Hope applications are going well! Anyone able to provide tips/experience of telephone interviews? Especially when HR mention in their email that it will centre around why law and commercial awareness?

Thanks in advance!

 

[jess889]

Do you know if HR will be doing the telephone interview or whether it'll be another organisation? I had mine with an external organisation and it felt very box ticky.

I would say take advantage of the fact that you can have notes with you (but don't read off your notes or it's very obvious). Also try to be in a room where there is a good connection - practice beforehand. My connection ended up being poor and I feel like that largely affected my performance. I couldn't hear them very well and felt like I had to ask them to repeat the question a lot!

 

[Salma]

Do you know if HR will be doing the telephone interview or whether it'll be another organisation? I had mine with an external organisation and it felt very box ticky.

I would say take advantage of the fact that you can have notes with you (but don't read off your notes or it's very obvious). Also try to be in a room where there is a good connection - practice beforehand. My connection ended up being poor and I feel like that largely affected my performance. I couldn't hear them very well and felt like I had to ask them to repeat the question a lot!

Thanks Jess! I think it will be HR, they did not mention anything about an external organisation. I will defo practice before hand. Slightly worried about the commercial awareness questions I wonder how they will slip it in a question - how did they do it for you?

Also thanks for the tips re connection/phone signal

 

[Jaysen]

Hi All,

Hope applications are going well! Anyone able to provide tips/experience of telephone interviews? Especially when HR mention in their email that it will centre around why law and commercial awareness?

Thanks in advance!

Hey Selma, congrats on the telephone interview! Is it this week?

Mine typically went like this:

1. HR would introduce themselves and briefly explain the structure of the telephone interview
2. They'd ask the questions of 'why this firm' and 'why commercial law'
3. They'd ask a few set competency questions 'tell me about a team when you worked in a team' etc.
4. They'd ask one or two commercial awareness questions. I've had that in a specific form "what do you think are the positive and negative consequences of interest rates going up) and a more open form before "tell me about a commercial news story that you've been following recently"
5. They may ask a follow up to your answer to the commercial question
6. They ask if you have any questions and explain the process going forward - when you can expect to hear back etc.

Interesting that HR have specified what it'll focus on. In that case, they may leave the competencies and the why this firm question to the next round. Instead, they're looking to check on your motivation and your commercial knowledge.

I would therefore focus on practising those sections of our interview guide: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/175-training-contract-interview-questions.

So for why law, practice the variations of that question too: Why law (as a subject)? Why commercial law (the profession)? Why not XYZ profession instead? And then perhaps a few questions on your existing work experience, legal or otherwise.

For the commercial question, I would again only expect one or two, but they may ask a couple of follow up questions. If it's HR, it won't be a case study type question (run through due diligence or an M&A transaction or financing etc.) because they're not lawyers and also the type of question doesn't lend itself well to telephone interviews. So they'll either ask a specific one or let you choose. If your application form included a commercial question, it may also be based on that.

If it 's a specific commercial question, it should be pretty basic. Here are some ideas of current topical questions:

• What are your thoughts on the GDPR? (Guide here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/meaning-of-gdpr.83/). Or a question about data regulation more broadly/what has been happening with Facebook/Cambridge Analytica.
• What is the impact of an increase in interest rates? (Guide here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....act-of-interest-rates-on-law-firms-part-1.32/)
• What do you think about Trump's tariffs? Or a trade war between China and the US (Guide here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....pact-of-tariffs-on-business-and-law-firms.44/)
• An open question about Brexit. (I think this is unlikely as it's very broad and done to death, but it's possible).
• A question on Russia/North Korea or a broad question about global political challenges.
• A question on traditional retailers struggling against ecommerce giants like Amazon.
• A question on gender pay reports and/or why diversity is important. (As part of the commercial awareness update here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/commercial-awareness-briefing-part-2/).

That list probably looks very scary, but just try to have a very basic understanding of what's going on for each issue. Just enough so you could form an opinion on it - you wouldn't be expected, by any means, to know about them all in detail.

But do pick one or two topics that you do know in detail, especially for the question "tell me about a recent news story?". This can be any commercial issue that interests you, however big or small, and it doesn't need to be from the topics listed above.

Finally, a few tips for the telephone interview:

• If you're normally a quick talker, try to answer slowly and clearly. This is especially important for a telephone interview as they don't get the benefit of seeing you and your gestures in person, and there's limited time to ask follow up questions if you were unclear in your answers. It's also likely they'll be writing notes to check you're hitting some of the boxes.
• Don't be afraid to pause on difficult questions. This can feel a bit more awkward in telephone interviews, but don't worry, take your time to collect your thoughts if you need to. You can say something like 'can I just have a few seconds to think about this'.
• As Jess said, make use of notes if you need to. I would suggest brief bullet points that remind you what to talk about rather than scripting the answers - that'll make sure you can adapt it to different questions.
• Prepare a question to ask, just make sure it's appropriate to HR (don't be asking about the rise in M&A).
• Spend time forming a good answer to the questions you know you'll definitely going to get. They've given you advance notice so pick 2-3 clear reasons and practice saying your answers out loud - some students will stumble here so it's your chance to do well.

Finally, good luck - they tend to go by very quickly and it'll be over before you know it!

 

[Salma]

Hey Selma, congrats on the telephone interview! Is it this week?

Mine typically went like this:

1. HR would introduce themselves and briefly explain the structure of the telephone interview
2. They'd ask the questions of 'why this firm' and 'why commercial law'
3. They'd ask a few set competency questions 'tell me about a team when you worked in a team' etc.
4. They'd ask one or two commercial awareness questions. I've had that in a specific form "what do you think are the positive and negative consequences of interest rates going up) and a more open form before "tell me about a commercial news story that you've been following recently"
5. They may ask a follow up to your answer to the commercial question
6. They ask if you have any questions and explain the process going forward - when you can expect to hear back etc.

Interesting that HR have specified what it'll focus on. In that case, they may leave the competencies and the why this firm question to the next round. Instead, they're looking to check on your motivation and your commercial knowledge.

I would therefore focus on practising those sections of our interview guide: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/175-training-contract-interview-questions.

So for why law, practice the variations of that question too: Why law (as a subject)? Why commercial law (the profession)? Why not XYZ profession instead? And then perhaps a few questions on your existing work experience, legal or otherwise.

For the commercial question, I would again only expect one or two, but they may ask a couple of follow up questions. If it's HR, it won't be a case study type question (run through due diligence or an M&A transaction or financing etc.) because they're not lawyers and also the type of question doesn't lend itself well to telephone interviews. So they'll either ask a specific one or let you choose. If your application form included a commercial question, it may also be based on that.

If it 's a specific commercial question, it should be pretty basic. Here are some ideas of current topical questions:

• What are your thoughts on the GDPR? (Guide here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/meaning-of-gdpr.83/). Or a question about data regulation more broadly/what has been happening with Facebook/Cambridge Analytica.
• What is the impact of an increase in interest rates? (Guide here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....act-of-interest-rates-on-law-firms-part-1.32/)
• What do you think about Trump's tariffs? Or a trade war between China and the US (Guide here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....pact-of-tariffs-on-business-and-law-firms.44/)
• An open question about Brexit. (I think this is unlikely as it's very broad and done to death, but it's possible).
• A question on Russia/North Korea or a broad question about global political challenges.
• A question on traditional retailers struggling against ecommerce giants like Amazon.
• A question on gender pay reports and/or why diversity is important. (As part of the commercial awareness update here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/commercial-awareness-briefing-part-2/).

That list probably looks very scary, but just try to have a very basic understanding of what's going on for each issue. Just enough so you could form an opinion on it - you wouldn't be expected, by any means, to know about them all in detail.

But do pick one or two topics that you do know in detail, especially for the question "tell me about a recent news story?". This can be any commercial issue that interests you, however big or small, and it doesn't need to be from the topics listed above.

Finally, a few tips for the telephone interview:

• If you're normally a quick talker, try to answer slowly and clearly. This is especially important for a telephone interview as they don't get the benefit of seeing you and your gestures in person, and there's limited time to ask follow up questions if you were unclear in your answers. It's also likely they'll be writing notes to check you're hitting some of the boxes.
• Don't be afraid to pause on difficult questions. This can feel a bit more awkward in telephone interviews, but don't worry, take your time to collect your thoughts if you need to. You can say something like 'can I just have a few seconds to think about this'.
• As Jess said, make use of notes if you need to. I would suggest brief bullet points that remind you what to talk about rather than scripting the answers - that'll make sure you can adapt it to different questions.
• Prepare a question to ask, just make sure it's appropriate to HR (don't be asking about the rise in M&A).
• Spend time forming a good answer to the questions you know you'll definitely going to get. They've given you advance notice so pick 2-3 clear reasons and practice saying your answers out loud - some students will stumble here so it's your chance to do well.

Finally, good luck - they tend to go by very quickly and it'll be over before you know it!

WOW! thanks jaysen! so many helpful tips! I will try and take everything on board

p.s. it is on Thursday, they gave me three days notice, how nice!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jaysen]

WOW! thanks jaysen! so many helpful tips! I will try and take everything on board

p.s. it is on Thursday, they gave me three days notice, how nice!!!!!!!!!!!

No problem, let us know how it goes.

Wow, three days isn't much time at all, especially if you already had plans for the week!

 

[Salma]

No problem, let us know how it goes.

Wow, three days isn't much time at all, especially if you already had plans for the week!

And three exams to prepare for

 

[Jai C.]

All the best for it ! I hope it went really good !

 

[Nicole]

Hi All,

Hope applications are going well! Anyone able to provide tips/experience of telephone interviews? Especially when HR mention in their email that it will centre around why law and commercial awareness?

Thanks in advance!

Hey Selma, really sorry I missed your message before!

Yes I had the Pinsent Masons telephone interview

It was a while back but I do remember it being short. Pinsent Masons a big focus on motivation. To prepare, I would really think about your answer for why you chose to study law and then why you then chose commercial law instead of academia or criminal law etc. Make sure you're clear on the differences and you can back it up with any evidence. They will probably follow up on your answers and try to tease out what aspects you find interesting.

I think they did ask one or two competency questions but they were brief and simple ones - like tell me about a time you worked in a team. They also brought up a few things from my application.

The commercial question was about what are the challenges facing law firms at the moment and we had a brief discussion on that.

In terms of tips, I would echo everything said above. I think I spoke a bit too quietly on the phone at times (I was nervous!) so I would try to be clear and project your voice if you can. I would make sure you review your application before the interview and if you get stuck, don't be worried about starting again or asking the interviewer to repeat the question - they understand telephone interviews can be nervewracking!

Best of luck!!

 

[jess889]

Thanks Jess! I think it will be HR, they did not mention anything about an external organisation. I will defo practice before hand. Slightly worried about the commercial awareness questions I wonder how they will slip it in a question - how did they do it for you?

Also thanks for the tips re connection/phone signal

At the end they asked me about a commercial news story that interested me! For that one I definitely used my notes

 

[Salma]

Hey Selma, really sorry I missed your message before!

Yes I had the Pinsent Masons telephone interview

It was a while back but I do remember it being short. Pinsent Masons a big focus on motivation. To prepare, I would really think about your answer for why you chose to study law and then why you then chose commercial law instead of academia or criminal law etc. Make sure you're clear on the differences and you can back it up with any evidence. They will probably follow up on your answers and try to tease out what aspects you find interesting.

I think they did ask one or two competency questions but they were brief and simple ones - like tell me about a time you worked in a team. They also brought up a few things from my application.

The commercial question was about what are the challenges facing law firms at the moment and we had a brief discussion on that.

In terms of tips, I would echo everything said above. I think I spoke a bit too quietly on the phone at times (I was nervous!) so I would try to be clear and project your voice if you can. I would make sure you review your application before the interview and if you get stuck, don't be worried about starting again or asking the interviewer to repeat the question - they understand telephone interviews can be nervewracking!

Best of luck!!

Thanks Nicole! You da best