- Aug 26, 2020
- 202
- 106
Please state the month/year you interviewed at the firm.
May 2021
Please specify what the interview was for.
Summer Vacation Scheme 2021
Please give an overview of the day with approximate timings.
10.00 – 10.30 - Introductions and instructions, including MS Teams overview
10.30 – 10.50 - Ice-breaker
11.00 – 12.00 - Speed Interviews 1
2.00 – 12.45 - Break (offline)
12.45 – 13.00 - Welcome back and instructions
13.00 – 13.30 - Insight Exercise/Trainee Q&A
13.40 – 14.10 - Insight Exercise/Trainee Q&A 14.10 – 14.30 - Break (offline) 14.30 – 16.15 - Group Exercise 16.15 - End of the day
Please provide a summary of each assessment on the day with approximate timings.
Speed interviews - 5 minute interviews with 8 different assessors. Each assessor asks one question and then the candidate has 5 minutes to think answer the question. After the 5 minutes, you will be moved to a different online breakout room with another assessor.
Insight Exercise - 10 minutes to read through an opinion piece. Candidates then have a 20 minute discussion about the opinion piece with 2 assessors.
Group Exercise - Standard negotiation exercise. Candidates are split into two teams of 4 and given a set of two briefs each. One brief has a set of facts common to both parties while the other brief will have facts relating to your client that are confidential and unknown to the other side. 30 minutes of initial reading and preparation in a separate break out room, followed by 30 mins of negotiation in the main room. Candidates can then decide if they would like to break for 15 mins or continue with the negotiation until the time runs out.
What is your best advice for each aspect of the assessment on the day? Please break this down for each assessment. This can include advice for preparation, as well as tips for the day.
Pre-Assessment Centre preparation: I attended the briefing hosted by the HR department that gave us an idea of what the structure of the day is like and found out that the questions tend to be strengths based. Accordingly, I read up on the values of the firm and how my experiences can match those values. I also researched strengths-based questions and practiced answering them. Read up on general topics of commercial awareness.
Speed interviews advice: Keep calm and do not get distracted by having to change rooms every five minutes. Very important to build rapport with every assessor so smile, say a quick good morning. Make sure to listen to the question carefully and take 30 seconds - 1 minute to think about your answer or sketch a plan on a piece of paper (this is allowed). Make sure that your response answers each part of the question. Adopt a structured approach to your answers and always give real life examples from your own experiences.
Insight exercise advice: Spend 5 minutes to carefully read through the article to ensure that you don't miss any important information. Spend the rest of the time taking apart and analyzing the article:
1. Who are the key parties?
2. What is the key development/idea/event that the author is writing about?
3. Strengths/weaknesses of the author's views?
4. PESTLE analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental implications, as applicable) 5. Long term/short term impacts?
5. What do you think about the author's views?
Group exercise: Again, make sure that you have carefully read through both briefs so that you have all the information presented. As a team, try and split up different points of the negotiation i.e. John may take lead on matter x, Lucy takes lead on matter y etc. and then back up and support your team mates while negotiating. Don't get flustered/emotional if you think the other side is not being rational or unable to see your point of view. When someone from the other side speaks, make it a point to repeat back to them what you have heard so as to double check. When presenting your argument, say "I see that you are coming at it from x point of view and that this is important to you for y HOWEVER, ......" as this shows that you are actively listening to arguments presented by the opposition.
Were you successful?
Waiting to hear back
May 2021
Please specify what the interview was for.
Summer Vacation Scheme 2021
Please give an overview of the day with approximate timings.
10.00 – 10.30 - Introductions and instructions, including MS Teams overview
10.30 – 10.50 - Ice-breaker
11.00 – 12.00 - Speed Interviews 1
2.00 – 12.45 - Break (offline)
12.45 – 13.00 - Welcome back and instructions
13.00 – 13.30 - Insight Exercise/Trainee Q&A
13.40 – 14.10 - Insight Exercise/Trainee Q&A 14.10 – 14.30 - Break (offline) 14.30 – 16.15 - Group Exercise 16.15 - End of the day
Please provide a summary of each assessment on the day with approximate timings.
Speed interviews - 5 minute interviews with 8 different assessors. Each assessor asks one question and then the candidate has 5 minutes to think answer the question. After the 5 minutes, you will be moved to a different online breakout room with another assessor.
Insight Exercise - 10 minutes to read through an opinion piece. Candidates then have a 20 minute discussion about the opinion piece with 2 assessors.
Group Exercise - Standard negotiation exercise. Candidates are split into two teams of 4 and given a set of two briefs each. One brief has a set of facts common to both parties while the other brief will have facts relating to your client that are confidential and unknown to the other side. 30 minutes of initial reading and preparation in a separate break out room, followed by 30 mins of negotiation in the main room. Candidates can then decide if they would like to break for 15 mins or continue with the negotiation until the time runs out.
What is your best advice for each aspect of the assessment on the day? Please break this down for each assessment. This can include advice for preparation, as well as tips for the day.
Pre-Assessment Centre preparation: I attended the briefing hosted by the HR department that gave us an idea of what the structure of the day is like and found out that the questions tend to be strengths based. Accordingly, I read up on the values of the firm and how my experiences can match those values. I also researched strengths-based questions and practiced answering them. Read up on general topics of commercial awareness.
Speed interviews advice: Keep calm and do not get distracted by having to change rooms every five minutes. Very important to build rapport with every assessor so smile, say a quick good morning. Make sure to listen to the question carefully and take 30 seconds - 1 minute to think about your answer or sketch a plan on a piece of paper (this is allowed). Make sure that your response answers each part of the question. Adopt a structured approach to your answers and always give real life examples from your own experiences.
Insight exercise advice: Spend 5 minutes to carefully read through the article to ensure that you don't miss any important information. Spend the rest of the time taking apart and analyzing the article:
1. Who are the key parties?
2. What is the key development/idea/event that the author is writing about?
3. Strengths/weaknesses of the author's views?
4. PESTLE analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental implications, as applicable) 5. Long term/short term impacts?
5. What do you think about the author's views?
Group exercise: Again, make sure that you have carefully read through both briefs so that you have all the information presented. As a team, try and split up different points of the negotiation i.e. John may take lead on matter x, Lucy takes lead on matter y etc. and then back up and support your team mates while negotiating. Don't get flustered/emotional if you think the other side is not being rational or unable to see your point of view. When someone from the other side speaks, make it a point to repeat back to them what you have heard so as to double check. When presenting your argument, say "I see that you are coming at it from x point of view and that this is important to you for y HOWEVER, ......" as this shows that you are actively listening to arguments presented by the opposition.
Were you successful?
Waiting to hear back
