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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Andrei Radu" data-source="post: 199306" data-attributes="member: 36777">Hi [USER=24616]@FutureTrainee100[/USER] and first of all huge congratulations, this is a huge achievement! Also, I am very glad to hear we were able to help <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />!For your question about how to approach the competency interview, I do not think you should let your strategy be affected by the answers you gave in the graduate recruitment interview. The partner are unlikely to know/keep in mind what you have responded, and regardless there is no expectation for you to have different why law/why firm motivations. If anything, coming up with radically different answers might be a sign of dishonesty/insincerity. The only adjustment regarding this interview should be to account for the fact that you will be speaking with experts in their fields who have very detailed technical knowledge of their practice but also of the firm and the legal market in general. As such, you might expect more scrutiny and follow up questions on your motivations and knowledge of the firm/commercial law. Thus, as you are preparing I would advise you to try to anticipate what you might be questioned further on and find answers to that. Moreover, you might want to actively try to showcase your nuanced understanding more than in a graduate recruitment interview. For instance, when discussing the firm's strengths in different practice areas you could analyze that in the context of its competitors, thus demonstrating an increased depth of research.  As for your question about advice for the written exercise part, I have quoted bellow some posts I made discussing general written exercise tips and some specific to an article-based written exercise. Besides these, in regards to showing commercial awareness, I would have two further tips:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When considering a commercial factor, always try to link it to the bottom line: is this likely to increase/decrease revenues and/or is this likely to increase/decrease costs and expenses? If so, by how much? This should be helpful in terms of showcasing understanding of how businesses work and should also help with coming up with an argument in favor of one view or another if that is required of you. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Try to actively think of ways the weigh given to a given commercial factor is impacted by current events/trends: is inflation coming down relevant in any way? Is AI innovation? Or perhaps the recent elections? It is likely that for one factor or another, at least something in terms of recent news will be relevant, so if this is the case definitely try to mention it. This is once again particularly useful for helping you to formulate an argument in situations where you need tiebreakers. </li> </ul></blockquote>

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