White & Case Vacation Scheme Interview 2018

[Jaysen]

White & Case Interview 2018

When was your White & Case interview?

(mid) November 2018

What was it for?

Vacation Scheme

Please describe the interview process at White & Case.

The interview was very relaxed. I was picked up from reception by a member of HR and taken into a room to be interviewed with that HR member alongside a Senior Associate.

The interview started with some basic questions about myself (why law, why my choice in university) before drifting into some competency questions. These were fairly straightforward and nothing out of the ordinary. The member of HR conducted this part.

The interview then moved into questions surrounding my application, at which point the senior associate took over. Based on my responses, I was probed further. Was particularly telling was that the parts of my application that were picked up on were very specific e.g. asking about a specific report I had conducted whilst on work experience. None of the questions I was expecting about my application came up.

At the end, I had the opportunity to ask some questions. Following this, a trainee took myself and another interviewee for an office tour.

I felt relaxed throughout the interview, and I enjoyed the lack of rigid and obvious questions - it was much more conversational.

What advice would you give to future applicants for the White & Case interview?

It is imperative that you know your application inside out - the smaller details will get picked up on. I would also recommend having a broad set of experiences to draw on when answering competency questions.

Be able to back up everything you say. Expect to qualify your opinions and to be probed on your answers - it's not an interrogation, and doesn't feel like one, but is an opportunity for you to show off what you know.

If you have other law firms on your application, be sure to be able to justify why White & Case compared to those other firms.

 

[TheCustardPants]

White & Case Interview 2018

When was your White & Case interview?

(mid) November 2018

What was it for?

Vacation Scheme

Please describe the interview process at White & Case.

The interview was very relaxed. I was picked up from reception by a member of HR and taken into a room to be interviewed with that HR member alongside a Senior Associate.

The interview started with some basic questions about myself (why law, why my choice in university) before drifting into some competency questions. These were fairly straightforward and nothing out of the ordinary. The member of HR conducted this part.

The interview then moved into questions surrounding my application, at which point the senior associate took over. Based on my responses, I was probed further. Was particularly telling was that the parts of my application that were picked up on were very specific e.g. asking about a specific report I had conducted whilst on work experience. None of the questions I was expecting about my application came up.

At the end, I had the opportunity to ask some questions. Following this, a trainee took myself and another interviewee for an office tour.

I felt relaxed throughout the interview, and I enjoyed the lack of rigid and obvious questions - it was much more conversational.

What advice would you give to future applicants for the White & Case interview?

It is imperative that you know your application inside out - the smaller details will get picked up on. I would also recommend having a broad set of experiences to draw on when answering competency questions.

Be able to back up everything you say. Expect to qualify your opinions and to be probed on your answers - it's not an interrogation, and doesn't feel like one, but is an opportunity for you to show off what you know.

If you have other law firms on your application, be sure to be able to justify why White & Case compared to those other firms.

Is there any information on the level/amount of commercial questions they asked?

 

[Jaysen]

Is there any information on the level/amount of commercial questions they asked?

I'm afraid not - that's all I've received.

 

[Salma]

Is there any information on the level/amount of commercial questions they asked?

Judging by what they explained on the open day. They will simply ask you what have you been following in the press and following your answer, the interviewer will ask you follow up questions.

I hope this helps!

 

[Salma]

Also just FYI White and Case also mentioned that they’re operating a CV blind recruitment cycle this year. So the interviewer will not know where you studied, your grades or anything else. It will give you a real chance to shine and sell yourself.

 

[tylergab]

My interview was extremely similar, it's not commercial based at all! The interview is very you focused and the only time I spoke about anything commercial was because I drew on wider examples that linked towards my why law answer (especially if you're talking about your interest in business and the way they strategize you could give a recent example, and then link it to why you're interested in this within a legal framework). Also in my why them answer, in talking about their international strategy, I think naturally you can draw on what this means commercially.

It's very relaxed and they give you time to really sell yourself, my interview ran over because we genuinely were having a conversation!

Also after the interview, you have an opportunity to ask a trainee a few questions. My advice would be don't approach them straightaway with "I have 2 questions for you" (obviously have some planned) but just use the time to network normally and get to know them because you will probably gain more than just getting one question answered. I started with asking the trainee more conversational questions about her and we quickly realized we had a lot in common and ended up going to the W&C canteen to have a coffee for an hour so we could continue our conversation and have since stayed in touch. Whereas I know other people just asked one or two questions and then that was it.

Overall I think know your application inside out because the interview format isn't 'surprise questions' but more picking at your application and going into more detail about things they find interesting you have mentioned.

 

[Jaysen]

White & Case Interview 2019

When was your White & Case interview?

February 2019

What was it for?

Summer Vacation Scheme

Please describe the interview process at White & Case.

It's a 30 minute interview with grad rec and a senior associate. It is completely based on your application in addition to standard motivational questions. I only had 1 competency question which was on team work. There were no commercial questions except for on the deal I wrote about in my application form. As a whole, this experience was quite manageable - the interviewers are really friendly and put you at ease.

What advice would you give to future applicants for the White & Case interview?

You should know your application inside out, motivations of certain activities, details of deals you mentioned

 

[Demna87]

Hi all,

I know this thread hasn't been active in a while but I was wondering if anyone knows if these interview experiences are from when White & Case operated a CV blind policy or is this new for this year?

This cycle they have stated that the interviewers "will not have a copy of your application form in front of them". With the previous interview experiences being so application focused does this mean interviews this year will be completely different?

I would be grateful for any info that anyone may have