Hello, I have gone to a few assessment centres but never got offered a training contract. Every time I receive feedback, it's because "my answers are not in-depth enough". Was wondering if anyone can share your assessment centre experiences and concrete tips on writing tests and presentation exercises. Or even share any group exercise scenarios you have had. Let's help each other out!
Assessment Centre Tips
- Thread starter yanerlim
- Start date
Hi, good thread!
I became a lot better at ACs after lots and lots of attempts. I've said some of this before but thought it might be good if I keep all my advice here. I've added some things too.
Interview - I don't think I've perfected the process but I did get better and less nervous at interviews. After an interview, I used to write down all the questions I was asked whilst it was still fresh in my mind and after a while I had a big list of questions. I wrote down practice answers for all of them and would rehearse my answers during the day. This was really helpful when it came to the interview as a lot of the questions I had already rehearsed (but I tried to make it sound natural in the interview). Also be enthusiastic and try to build a rapport with the interview, so it becomes a little more like a conversation than an interview. My tip here is to: Breathe. You don't want to come across as robotic.
Commercial Awareness - this one took a long time and it's only something I think I got better at with pracitce. I used to get caught out because I only had a very superficial knowledge of business topics.and when they asked a few follow up questions about a business issue that I had mentioned, they could easily see I was waffling and didn't really know it well at all. To improve this, I tried to read through business news and google everything I didn't understand - so things like bonds, how acquisitions work, security etc. I then worked my way up from a very basic level until I started to understand.
Written - PLAN!! Plan your answer. Plan your structure. Plan you time. I used to think I had really good content but then I'd run out of time and it would be poorly structured. I think it's important that you don't just focus on the answer, but focus on whether you are formatting it correctly, applying sub headings and headings, and make sure you stick to time. The recruiter won't know whether you were supposed to write something. They can only see what you've written down.
Group - I'm not the most confident person so I struggled with this. There was advice I read on here that helped me a lot - you don't need to be the loudest person in the room. Find your niche. Become the delegator. Or the person that raises good ideas. Or the person that checks the time. Even if it's small, if you can lean on your strengths, it can help to come out of your shell.
I became a lot better at ACs after lots and lots of attempts. I've said some of this before but thought it might be good if I keep all my advice here. I've added some things too.
Interview - I don't think I've perfected the process but I did get better and less nervous at interviews. After an interview, I used to write down all the questions I was asked whilst it was still fresh in my mind and after a while I had a big list of questions. I wrote down practice answers for all of them and would rehearse my answers during the day. This was really helpful when it came to the interview as a lot of the questions I had already rehearsed (but I tried to make it sound natural in the interview). Also be enthusiastic and try to build a rapport with the interview, so it becomes a little more like a conversation than an interview. My tip here is to: Breathe. You don't want to come across as robotic.
Commercial Awareness - this one took a long time and it's only something I think I got better at with pracitce. I used to get caught out because I only had a very superficial knowledge of business topics.and when they asked a few follow up questions about a business issue that I had mentioned, they could easily see I was waffling and didn't really know it well at all. To improve this, I tried to read through business news and google everything I didn't understand - so things like bonds, how acquisitions work, security etc. I then worked my way up from a very basic level until I started to understand.
Written - PLAN!! Plan your answer. Plan your structure. Plan you time. I used to think I had really good content but then I'd run out of time and it would be poorly structured. I think it's important that you don't just focus on the answer, but focus on whether you are formatting it correctly, applying sub headings and headings, and make sure you stick to time. The recruiter won't know whether you were supposed to write something. They can only see what you've written down.
Group - I'm not the most confident person so I struggled with this. There was advice I read on here that helped me a lot - you don't need to be the loudest person in the room. Find your niche. Become the delegator. Or the person that raises good ideas. Or the person that checks the time. Even if it's small, if you can lean on your strengths, it can help to come out of your shell.
I was hoping to revive this discussion and ask everyone a different kind of question - What are the steps you take to prepare for an assessment centre?
So for example, I usually split it into:
1) draft and practice likely interview questions, consolidating reasons why they should hire me (strengths, why law etc)
2) research firm extensively, consolidating reasons why I really want to work there and don't just want a VS in the bag
3) read up on commercial stories both generally and more specific to the firm's practice areas/clients
What do you think is the most important step?
What was the difference in your preparation between a rejected assessment centre/successful assessment centre?
So for example, I usually split it into:
1) draft and practice likely interview questions, consolidating reasons why they should hire me (strengths, why law etc)
2) research firm extensively, consolidating reasons why I really want to work there and don't just want a VS in the bag
3) read up on commercial stories both generally and more specific to the firm's practice areas/clients
What do you think is the most important step?
What was the difference in your preparation between a rejected assessment centre/successful assessment centre?
- Feb 17, 2018
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Yes I did the interview. I also have recent feedback from students who did the interview. Will post in here tonight.
"Mid October and received invite to interview this week" I was asking on behalf of a friend. Roughly took 2/3 weeks!
- Feb 17, 2018
- 4,695
- 8,577
From a student who have a Jones Day interview a little under two weeks ago:
"My interview with Jones day was with two partners and lasted about 40 minutes. They were very friendly and really let you lead the conversation to where you wanted it to go. Nothing really came up that I wasn’t expecting, but they did grill me on what I said. I would suggest getting a friend to mock interview you and push everything you say so that you are prepared to defend yourself.
They really pushed me on my “Why Jones Day?” answer. I made sure that I could talk about a logical path that I took before I decided on Jones Day – began with international presence, high profile M&A work and then discussed their culture – each time discussing similar firms and why I preferred Jones Day.
They also really pushed me on why commercial law and they asked for a business news story that I found interesting. For this point I would say use something genuinely recent that you have genuinely found interesting – they might not believe you if it is too technical and it is unlikely to spur on an interesting conversation. You can link almost anything to a law firm – it doesn’t have to be too obvious.
They also asked me which departments would be involved in a typical transaction, why I choose to do much work experience that wasn't legal, what would be the negatives of working at the firm, where I saw myself in 10 years, what my working style was, an example of when I had gone beyond what was expected of me, and which kind of work appealed to me most. If you can, I would prep 2/3 commercial topics that you find interesting and try to bring them up. They were really keen to hear about what I found interesting and seemed impressed when I brought them into my answers for the more typical questions."
From personal experience, it's quite a nice interview. I had the impression they genuinely wanted to know more about me. Just be careful not to let your guard down too much during the trainee chat.
- Feb 17, 2018
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- 8,577
I think Jones Day partners are generally given the autonomy to take the interview in the direction they want. At least that was my impression.
Yes, I was left with this impression too. They did not follow any script at all. I also got the what other firms have you applied to question, but I didn't go into why I preferred JD. I just explained my application strategy in detail.
Reading up on the commercial stories for me because I struggle with that the most. I also try to go through technical commercial stuff on investopedia although I can easily get quite lost in there.
My preparation usually involves creating a large document with a list of possible interview questions and trying to practice them one by one. I'll also try to find out if there's anything about the interview online (TSR) is usually my first place to look and I'll try to focus on those areas. I'll then try to read the business news at least a week before the interview (usually ends up being the last three days) and make notes.
Thank you! Sounds quite similar to how I prepare those parts too!
I especially agree about Investopedia. My solution to that is to read and revise Christopher Stoakes' Commercial Awareness book. It has so many buzzwords and he paints a good picture when explaining how they all feed into one another. I highly recommend.
Where are you vacation scheming?
Thank you! Sounds quite similar to how I prepare those parts too!
I especially agree about Investopedia. My solution to that is to read and revise Christopher Stoakes' Commercial Awareness book. It has so many buzzwords and he paints a good picture when explaining how they all feed into one another. I highly recommend.
Where are you vacation scheming?
I only have his All you Need to Know about the City book. Would you recommend the Commercial Awareness book too?
None so far (sadly
) for this round! I've decided to focus on Spring/Summer vacation scheme applications now, hopefully with a bit more luck!I only have his All you Need to Know about the City book. Would you recommend the Commercial Awareness book too?
None so far (sadly
You can do this Jess
The sad face in her post really got to me ...Its like one of those things where you can feel the sadness ...tough world man !!
I think that one is also good. I specifically mentioned Commercial Awareness because it looks at finance/business from a purely business perspective, so seems a little easier to understand and relevant to us at the stage that we're at.I only have his All you Need to Know about the City book. Would you recommend the Commercial Awareness book too?
None so far (sadly
Ah ok! I saw your vac scheme badge and thought maybe you had one for this cycle. Good luck with your apps. I'm looking to focus on summer now myself
I would have to say it is the eyes in the emoji haha
