Hey
@letmeintolaw,
This is awesome news congratulations! Do let me know if you would like any advice ahead of your interview. I never interviewed with Orrick, but have plenty of interviewing experience with US firms.
Fingers are crossed for you🤞
Hey
@davina99,
I think I would follow Jess's approach on this. I would interpret this question as asking primarily about work done by the firm on behalf of a client in one of their specialist sectors.
A
suggested structure for this question
might be:
1. Identify and (briefly) describe the deal/work. In one sentence describe why you have picked it/it stood out to you.
2. Contextualise the work (i.e., has the sector more broadly been significantly impacted by inflation/supply chain issues?) (Briefly) explain why this work is important.
3. Unpack the reason(s) why this particularly interested you and link back to yourself where appropriate.
4. Link back to wider themes and your ambitions as a future trainee (if not already covered in 3).
How are you thinking about structuring your answer so far?
Hey
@Amanpreet,
Great question and congratulations for your paralegal role! I know how competitive these are, so well done!
I think it would be appropriate to write something like "Incoming X Paralegal at Dentons" in your work experience section (replacing X with the relevant practice area you are starting with).
Others may disagree though and this is, to some extent, personal preference!
Let me know if I can help with anything else
Hey
@WiseOwl,
Again this is a fantastic question. From my experience (I did three exit interviews), I would do the following:
1. Ask graduate recruitment/other future trainees at the firm/previous vacation schemers what the interview is likely to consist of.
2. Reflect on your vacation scheme. I would really encourage you to think about what the scheme taught you going forward and what you would do differently if you were to do the scheme again. For example, what work did you do? What did you enjoy most? What did you least enjoy? How did you develop during your scheme? What did you learn? Biggest mistake? How were you proactive? Why did you standout?
3. Treat it like a normal interview. For example, make sure that you have been keeping an eye on recent commercial events (even during the scheme). Think how this might impact the firm, which practice areas would likely be engaged. Use a SWOT analysis.
The above will depend on
1. to some extent, but broadly speaking in my experience, I was always glad to have prepared thoroughly (even if some of my preparation wasn't directly relevant to the interview in the end).
I found exit interviews were largely about the partners learning about my motivations, my ability to reflect on the experience, in addition to my willingness to develop and improve for next time. Often they were described as 'chats', although I always found that they tested me like a normal interview. I did not find my exit interviews as stressful as general application interviews though. They generally were less than an hour, and felt more relaxed (although I would be wary about being too casual, as ultimately they will form part of your assessment!).
I hope that helps! I am very happy to answer any follow-up questions that you might have 🚀