Advice re written exercises/ case studies- AC Monday 16th April

[Yee Rou Quah]

Hi Jaysen

I hope you are well.

I was wondering if you may have any advice when it comes to written exercises. I've been told that the written exercise I will do at an AC this Monday is likely to be business-related. For example, candidates are given 4 companies to choose from and then have to compare them and then pick one to advise their client to invest in. It may be that candidates are given a criteria from their client to base their decision on. Obviously this depends on who the client is, etc, and at the end of the day the firm won't care which company you choose as long as you can demonstrate your analytical skills and justify your decision. But I was wondering if you may have any advice on how best to go about analysing businesses? For example would it help if I applied frameworks such as SWOT, and if so which ones should I be aware of?

I've been trying to find case studies to practice but they are severely limited! I think I know how to analyse and justify but I struggle in the context of business case studies. In my last AC I failed on the written exercise and I'd really like to improve this time!

Thank you very much and I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards
Y

 

[Jaysen]

Hi Jaysen

I hope you are well.

I was wondering if you may have any advice when it comes to written exercises. I've been told that the written exercise I will do at an AC this Monday is likely to be business-related. For example, candidates are given 4 companies to choose from and then have to compare them and then pick one to advise their client to invest in. It may be that candidates are given a criteria from their client to base their decision on. Obviously this depends on who the client is, etc, and at the end of the day the firm won't care which company you choose as long as you can demonstrate your analytical skills and justify your decision. But I was wondering if you may have any advice on how best to go about analysing businesses? For example would it help if I applied frameworks such as SWOT, and if so which ones should I be aware of?

I've been trying to find case studies to practice but they are severely limited! I think I know how to analyse and justify but I struggle in the context of business case studies. In my last AC I failed on the written exercise and I'd really like to improve this time!

Thank you very much and I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards
Y

Hey Y,

Good question. You're right, it's much more about your reasoning. It's fine to think about SWOT or other frameworks (e.g. PESTEL) in your answer but I tend to advise applicants to steer away from applying any framework too rigidly. I'm sure they're good in practice, but they can lead to applicants using poor structures or missing out on central points in an exercise like this.

The exercise you suggested is not too dissimilar from the mock case study I'm currently working on, albeit two companies instead of four. I can't guarantee I'll have it finished before your interview, but if I do, I'll let you know and post it here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/index.php?threads/case-study-practice.69/.

A few things to think about when analysing a company:

• Keep it simple. It's very common for applicants to veer off into the deep end of group structures and complex financing arrangements in order to show off their commercial awareness. Most of the time, that's unnecessary. Look at basic themes like financials, management, competitors, the state of the market etc.
• I don't know what documents you'll be given, but you may want to briefly look at a balance sheet and a cash flow statement. Depending on what information you have, you want to determine whether a company is healthy. These are things like how much money a company makes, how much is profit, what are its liabilities and how much debt the company has.
• You may be given analyst or press information. This can be useful for looking at a company's USP, potential risks and its market position. Some of the questions you might ask - how does the market view the company? How are its competitors doing? Where is the industry going? Or internal memos - is the company facing legal action? How serious is it? How is the management team? What do employees think about the company?
• If you're advising a client on what company to invest in, try to put yourself in the client's shoes. What industry are you in? Which countries do you operate in? Why do you want to buy a company? What are your values? A lot of the information about a client's business will be there for a reason, so flag these up and keep them in mind as you answer.

Often applicants don't realise that a significant portion of what makes a good answer is unrelated to content. A few tips on that:

• Answer with conviction. Some applicants like to sit on the fence. This is fine for university-style essay questions but doesn't go down well if you're supposed to be advising a client. If you feel you have insufficient information, you can, and should, offer qualifications to your answer, but don't let that put you off from clearly identifying a company.
• Start with your conclusion. This is also different to normal essays but it's important; a client wants a clear answer right away. They don't want to have to wade through lots of information before they can see what company you have recommended. You can then go into the comparisons. I would only do it the other way if the question strictly says compare then first and then pick one.
• Make notes or highlight as you read. It's likely that you'll be given a lot of information and time is often an issue in these exercises. As you go through, it can help to flag up anything that is relevant to answering the question. You can even extend this further and use different colours to denote the strengths and weaknesses of a company. By the time you finish reading the document, you'll have all the salient points to add to your plan.

Were you able to get any feedback on what was the problem with your last written exercise?

 

[Yee Rou Quah]

Hey Y,

Good question. You're right, it's much more about your reasoning. It's fine to think about SWOT or other frameworks (e.g. PESTEL) in your answer but I tend to advise applicants to steer away from applying any framework too rigidly. I'm sure they're good in practice, but they can lead to applicants using poor structures or missing out on central points in an exercise like this.

The exercise you suggested is not too dissimilar from the mock case study I'm currently working on, albeit two companies instead of four. I can't guarantee I'll have it finished before your interview, but if I do, I'll let you know and post it here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/index.php?threads/case-study-practice.69/.

A few things to think about when analysing a company:

• Keep it simple. It's very common for applicants to veer off into the deep end of group structures and complex financing arrangements in order to show off their commercial awareness. Most of the time, that's unnecessary. Look at basic themes like financials, management, competitors, the state of the market etc.
• I don't know what documents you'll be given, but you may want to briefly look at a balance sheet and a cash flow statement. Depending on what information you have, you want to determine whether a company is healthy. These are things like how much money a company makes, how much is profit, what are its liabilities and how much debt the company has.
• You may be given analyst or press information. This can be useful for looking at a company's USP, potential risks and its market position. Some of the questions you might ask - how does the market view the company? How are its competitors doing? Where is the industry going? Or internal memos - is the company facing legal action? How serious is it? How is the management team? What do employees think about the company?
• If you're advising a client on what company to invest in, try to put yourself in the client's shoes. What industry are you in? Which countries do you operate in? Why do you want to buy a company? What are your values? A lot of the information about a client's business will be there for a reason, so flag these up and keep them in mind as you answer.

Often applicants don't realise that a significant portion of what makes a good answer is unrelated to content. A few tips on that:

• Answer with conviction. Some applicants like to sit on the fence. This is fine for university-style essay questions but doesn't go down well if you're supposed to be advising a client. If you feel you have insufficient information, you can, and should, offer qualifications to your answer, but don't let that put you off from clearly identifying a company.
• Start with your conclusion. This is also different to normal essays but it's important; a client wants a clear answer right away. They don't want to have to wade through lots of information before they can see what company you have recommended. You can then go into the comparisons. I would only do it the other way if the question strictly says compare then first and then pick one.
• Make notes or highlight as you read. It's likely that you'll be given a lot of information and time is often an issue in these exercises. As you go through, it can help to flag up anything that is relevant to answering the question. You can even extend this further and use different colours to denote the strengths and weaknesses of a company. By the time you finish reading the document, you'll have all the salient points to add to your plan.

Were you able to get any feedback on what was the problem with your last written exercise?

Thank you so much, Jaysen.

Yes I did receive feedback, it was quite difficult to hear but I was grateful that they were honest with me. I had around over an hour to write a report similar to what I've described to you: to advise a client (a corporation) on which company to invest in, and then I had to talk a Partner through my answers and she had questions for me.

I was told my answers were too vague, I wasn't precise, and in terms of my body language I was told that I wasn't making enough eye contact, I looked like I didn't want to be there. I was told that I didn't know how to 'connect the dots', and I also didn't know the answers to their technical questions (which may seem standard to you, but they were questions such as what is in a lease/ what's in a SPA/ how do PE firms exit). It was quite a nightmare, and my first time getting that far, but I am of course still glad I got to go through it because now I know better.

Can I ask you another question? This upcoming AC on Monday, I was initially told a few weeks ago that it would 'include a written exercise and a group presentation'. I am doing the VS now and a few days ago I got the chance to meet the current trainees. They told me that for their written exercise they had to write a report that is business-related, and that the group presentation is unrelated to the written exercise. I've just been sent an email from HR today saying the structure of the day will 'involve two main elements' which are 'an online assessment testing verbal reasoning and group presentation', but the AC is scheduled for 3 hours...

From your experience, what would you make of this? If you were in my shoes, would you now focus your prep on practising verbal reasoning tests or would you continue practising written exercises? Or both? I also assume there will be a second-stage interview? As there has only been 1 interview so far from the first-stage AC...

I welcome your thoughts. Thank you in advance as always!

 

[Jaysen]

Thank you so much, Jaysen.

Yes I did receive feedback, it was quite difficult to hear but I was grateful that they were honest with me. I had around over an hour to write a report similar to what I've described to you: to advise a client (a corporation) on which company to invest in, and then I had to talk a Partner through my answers and she had questions for me.

I was told my answers were too vague, I wasn't precise, and in terms of my body language I was told that I wasn't making enough eye contact, I looked like I didn't want to be there. I was told that I didn't know how to 'connect the dots', and I also didn't know the answers to their technical questions (which may seem standard to you, but they were questions such as what is in a lease/ what's in a SPA/ how do PE firms exit). It was quite a nightmare, and my first time getting that far, but I am of course still glad I got to go through it because now I know better.

Can I ask you another question? This upcoming AC on Monday, I was initially told a few weeks ago that it would 'include a written exercise and a group presentation'. I am doing the VS now and a few days ago I got the chance to meet the current trainees. They told me that for their written exercise they had to write a report that is business-related, and that the group presentation is unrelated to the written exercise. I've just been sent an email from HR today saying the structure of the day will 'involve two main elements' which are 'an online assessment testing verbal reasoning and group presentation', but the AC is scheduled for 3 hours...

From your experience, what would you make of this? If you were in my shoes, would you now focus your prep on practising verbal reasoning tests or would you continue practising written exercises? Or both? I also assume there will be a second-stage interview? As there has only been 1 interview so far from the first-stage AC...

I welcome your thoughts. Thank you in advance as always!

That's some very blunt feedback, well done for taking it on the chin, I know it can be hard to hear. Those are particularly difficult questions for an interview, I think it's an issue that part of the assessment comes down to your knowledge of technical terms, I'm not convinced that tells you much about the potential of a student. That's a big part of why the guides on here go into a lot of technical detail; I used to struggle with it when I first started interviewing. I hope that if we cover more on here, less of you will get caught out by these kinds of questions but it's definitely a work in progress.

Hmm, that is unclear. It's odd that they didn't mention the written exercise in the latest email. I don't know if they're suggesting the written exercise is the same thing as the online assessment, but that would be unusual. I would presume that the last hour will be for an interview, but then they haven't mentioned that. If possible, I would suggest you send an email to HR to confirm. That way you don't have to worry about preparing for something that doesn't come up.

I think it depends on what you struggle with and the extent to which you can practice. I was fine with verbal reasoning tests so it's not something I would have spent further time on. I would be much more likely to spend my time preparing for the final interview as often that holds more weight. That means summarising what you did during the week, assessing what went well/could be improved and refining your answers to typical interview questions.

Best of luck on the rest of your vac scheme and let me know if they get back to you on the final AC.

 

[Yee Rou Quah]

That's some very blunt feedback, well done for taking it on the chin, I know it can be hard to hear. Those are particularly difficult questions for an interview, I think it's an issue that part of the assessment comes down to your knowledge of technical terms, I'm not convinced that tells you much about the potential of a student. That's a big part of why the guides on here go into a lot of technical detail; I used to struggle with it when I first started interviewing. I hope that if we cover more on here, less of you will get caught out by these kinds of questions but it's definitely a work in progress.

Hmm, that is unclear. It's odd that they didn't mention the written exercise in the latest email. I don't know if they're suggesting the written exercise is the same thing as the online assessment, but that would be unusual. I would presume that the last hour will be for an interview, but then they haven't mentioned that. If possible, I would suggest you send an email to HR to confirm. That way you don't have to worry about preparing for something that doesn't come up.

I think it depends on what you struggle with and the extent to which you can practice. I was fine with verbal reasoning tests so it's not something I would have spent further time on. I would be much more likely to spend my time preparing for the final interview as often that holds more weight. That means summarising what you did during the week, assessing what went well/could be improved and refining your answers to typical interview questions.

Best of luck on the rest of your vac scheme and let me know if they get back to you on the final AC.

Thanks Jaysen! Sorry, one last question: do you have any advice re group presentations where you're given materials on the spot and have to prepare there and then?

 

[Jaysen]

Thanks Jaysen! Sorry, one last question: do you have any advice re group presentations where you're given materials on the spot and have to prepare there and then?

Is there a particular part that you're looking for advice on?

Recruiters are looking at a few things. Most importantly, how do you act in a group? Most applicants can discuss examples of when they've worked in a team but it's hard to know what an applicant is actually like in that dynamic unless they're in one. Much of your future as a solicitor will be working in groups and it's less about point-scoring and more about your ability to interact with others. That said, don't let that lead you the other way, you can only get graded if you speak up and sometimes it will be necessary to defend your point of view.

You'll get credit for moving the group towards a goal. That could be managing time, encouraging your group to get back on track or canvassing perspectives from quieter members of the group. You also want to think (but not overthink) about the way you communicate. Do you raise clear points? Consider non-verbal cues here too, such as eye contact and posture.

Some part of your performance will be based on the content of what you say. Typically, it's a business scenario, so they'll be looking for your commercial awareness. That could take many different forms, from bringing in outside knowledge - if relevant, to identifying a risk factor in the document that you've been given.