Allen & Overy Application Questions

[Jasleen]

Hi there,

One of the questions on the A&O application asks to describe a challenging situation you have faced/what made it challenging and what you learnt in the process.

Would it be ok to discuss a topic other than an academic challenge because the question does not actually specify whether or not this should be an academic challenge I have faced?

 

[Adam Gilchrist]

Yes, definitely fine. My standard go-to story for that question is the time both my managers at a bar were ill, so I had to step in as a manager for NYE (the hardest night for any bar manager), and it's never yet been received badly, going by HR responses. If they don't specify directly what sort of focus they want in this sort of question, anything is fine. The clue is that these questions are called competency questions - they are looking for an indication of your character, your abilities. Your character shows not just in your academic life.

What matters with all these questions is that you link it back to the firm, and most importantly, keep in mind what sorts of things they are interested in hearing/seeing you demonstrate. For this sort of question, they might want to see things such as if you can work under pressure, if you can be adaptable, how you deal with an unexpected problem, how you learn from failure, and so on.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi there,

One of the questions on the A&O application asks to describe a challenging situation you have faced/what made it challenging and what you learnt in the process.

Would it be ok to discuss a topic other than an academic challenge because the question does not actually specify whether or not this should be an academic challenge I have faced?

probably best to avoid academics anyway - too many people use them and it can come across like “isn’t this a challenge everyone has faced”.

 

[Lawgrad98]

Yes, definitely fine. My standard go-to story for that question is the time both my managers at a bar were ill, so I had to step in as a manager for NYE (the hardest night for any bar manager), and it's never yet been received badly, going by HR responses. If they don't specify directly what sort of focus they want in this sort of question, anything is fine. The clue is that these questions are called competency questions - they are looking for an indication of your character, your abilities. Your character shows not just in your academic life.

What matters with all these questions is that you link it back to the firm, and most importantly, keep in mind what sorts of things they are interested in hearing/seeing you demonstrate. For this sort of question, they might want to see things such as if you can work under pressure, if you can be adaptable, how you deal with an unexpected problem, how you learn from failure, and so on.

I'm a bit confused as to why it is important to link our answer back to the firm if we are not asked to do so in the question?

 

[Adam Gilchrist]

I'm a bit confused as to why it is important to link our answer back to the firm if we are not asked to do so in the question?

Why do you think law firms ask you these sorts of competency/general questions? After all, they obviously don't care in the slightest about your story of being under pressure because you lost your coursework, or of how you managed a bar on your own or whatever.

The story per se is irrelevant. What they want to see are your character traits. They want to see how you cope under pressure - because that's a situation you will definitely be facing if you work for them. They want to see how you deal with an unexpected challenge - because again, that's something you are likely to encounter. The story itself you are telling is not particularly relevant. What matters is that you structure your story in a way that clearly shows you have the values they are looking for in their question - planning, lateral thinking, coping under pressure, and so on.

When I say link back to the firm, I don't mean namedrop the firm. I mean have a look on the firm website, their promotional material, what they say at law fairs and so on. You'll notice a lot of firms have a series of buzzwords they clearly put a lot of importance on in their employees. Linklaters call it their Agile Mindset Framework, each firm does it differently. Address some of those points/targets subtly in your answer.

Without this and some form of the STAR technique, people often just tell rambling stories in competency answers, which don't do well, as they often don't address the points that the firm is looking for.

 

[Lawgrad98]

Why do you think law firms ask you these sorts of competency/general questions? After all, they obviously don't care in the slightest about your story of being under pressure because you lost your coursework, or of how you managed a bar on your own or whatever.

The story per se is irrelevant. What they want to see are your character traits. They want to see how you cope under pressure - because that's a situation you will definitely be facing if you work for them. They want to see how you deal with an unexpected challenge - because again, that's something you are likely to encounter. The story itself you are telling is not particularly relevant. What matters is that you structure your story in a way that clearly shows you have the values they are looking for in their question - planning, lateral thinking, coping under pressure, and so on.

When I say link back to the firm, I don't mean namedrop the firm. I mean have a look on the firm website, their promotional material, what they say at law fairs and so on. You'll notice a lot of firms have a series of buzzwords they clearly put a lot of importance on in their employees. Linklaters call it their Agile Mindset Framework, each firm does it differently. Address some of those points/targets subtly in your answer.

Without this and some form of the STAR technique, people often just tell rambling stories in competency answers, which don't do well, as they often don't address the points that the firm is looking for.

Thanks! Really helpful stuff

 

[H.N.]

Thanks! Really helpful stuff

The A&O equivalent of the Linklaters mindset as mentioned above would be their 4 agilities- worth looking into as they’ll help to craft your application and will inform your answers on the SJT

 

[Anniella]

Hi everyone do any of you remember the word count length of the work experience section of the VS application? Thanks in advance!

 

[S30]

Hi everyone do any of you remember the word count length of the work experience section of the VS application? Thanks in advance!

Hi - there was no word count last year for the work experience section for vacation scheme applications!

But I wrote between 150-200 words for each work experience.

 

[ScrappyDoo]

Does anyone know the questions from last year? Will it be different this year or the same. Will you be able to know @Jessica Booker

 

[Jessica Booker]

Does anyone know the questions from last year? Will it be different this year or the same. Will you be able to know @Jessica Booker

Unfortunately I can't confirm whether the application questions will be different or not. It might be worthwhile contacting the form directly.