- Feb 17, 2018
- 4,695
- 8,575
A big thank you to this candidate for sharing their experience.
I was interviewed for a summer vacation scheme at Clyde & Co and thought the experience was as enjoyable as it could be in a virtual environment. I was informed beforehand that there would be an interview, a discussion exercise, a group exercise and a written assessment; this was all to be done on the TopScore Platform. At the end of the assessment there was also an informal Q&A session with other trainees.
The process started at 9:15am and ended around 2:00pm, so it would be good to be prepared for quite a long day. First, there was an introduction by a member of graduate recruitment who gave myself and the other candidates an outline of what the day would entail. We all also gave a short introduction about ourselves to each other.
Interview
My interview was with a partner at the firm and a member of HR and it lasted for around an hour. I was asked standard questions such as why Clyde & Co, why commercial law and I also had to discuss a business story that I had been following and link it back to the firm. The other questions were mostly competency based, so it was quite important to provide examples from different areas such as university, extra-curricular activities and work experiences. I was also asked questions such as ‘When have you had to solve a problem?’ and ‘When have you had to work with a difficult person?' and a situational judgement question. I’d advise having as many examples for competences as possible as this will give you plenty to talk about.
Written Exercise/Discussion
The written exercise lasted for an hour and it was followed by the discussion exercise which lasted for around 15 minutes. For the written exercise I had to advise a company who wanted to expand their business into [redacted]. I was told that this company had to decide between two options for expanding their business and I was given different documents that contained information about the industry and the [redacted] as well as information about the costs for both options. I thought the time went by quite quickly so it was important to get your answer written down as quickly as possible. I would also advise using headings to format your answer and only focus on the most important information as there was quite a lot! Afterwards, I had to present my findings to two other associates who questioned my decision and also provided me with new information that I had to consider. I think that was the hardest part of the AC but I think I managed to give reasoned justifications for my decision when I was questioned about it.
Group Exercise
This was the last part that was being assessed and this also lasted for about an hour, we had two associates watching us with their screens turn off. I was in a group with three other people and we had to decide which of the projects that we were presented with should be brought up in a Board Meeting based on certain criteria. It was pretty straightforward and I think that the advice on the TCLA about group exercises was quite helpful.
I found out that I got the vacation scheme about two weeks after my AC via phone call. My main advice is to keep up to date about the sectors that the firm works in and also to be very engaged throughout the day because I did find it quite exhausting. Everyone that I spoke to was really lovely and friendly and even when I was being interviewed, it felt very conversational.
I was interviewed for a summer vacation scheme at Clyde & Co and thought the experience was as enjoyable as it could be in a virtual environment. I was informed beforehand that there would be an interview, a discussion exercise, a group exercise and a written assessment; this was all to be done on the TopScore Platform. At the end of the assessment there was also an informal Q&A session with other trainees.
The process started at 9:15am and ended around 2:00pm, so it would be good to be prepared for quite a long day. First, there was an introduction by a member of graduate recruitment who gave myself and the other candidates an outline of what the day would entail. We all also gave a short introduction about ourselves to each other.
Interview
My interview was with a partner at the firm and a member of HR and it lasted for around an hour. I was asked standard questions such as why Clyde & Co, why commercial law and I also had to discuss a business story that I had been following and link it back to the firm. The other questions were mostly competency based, so it was quite important to provide examples from different areas such as university, extra-curricular activities and work experiences. I was also asked questions such as ‘When have you had to solve a problem?’ and ‘When have you had to work with a difficult person?' and a situational judgement question. I’d advise having as many examples for competences as possible as this will give you plenty to talk about.
Written Exercise/Discussion
The written exercise lasted for an hour and it was followed by the discussion exercise which lasted for around 15 minutes. For the written exercise I had to advise a company who wanted to expand their business into [redacted]. I was told that this company had to decide between two options for expanding their business and I was given different documents that contained information about the industry and the [redacted] as well as information about the costs for both options. I thought the time went by quite quickly so it was important to get your answer written down as quickly as possible. I would also advise using headings to format your answer and only focus on the most important information as there was quite a lot! Afterwards, I had to present my findings to two other associates who questioned my decision and also provided me with new information that I had to consider. I think that was the hardest part of the AC but I think I managed to give reasoned justifications for my decision when I was questioned about it.
Group Exercise
This was the last part that was being assessed and this also lasted for about an hour, we had two associates watching us with their screens turn off. I was in a group with three other people and we had to decide which of the projects that we were presented with should be brought up in a Board Meeting based on certain criteria. It was pretty straightforward and I think that the advice on the TCLA about group exercises was quite helpful.
I found out that I got the vacation scheme about two weeks after my AC via phone call. My main advice is to keep up to date about the sectors that the firm works in and also to be very engaged throughout the day because I did find it quite exhausting. Everyone that I spoke to was really lovely and friendly and even when I was being interviewed, it felt very conversational.
