Interview skills

[EZ_D]

Does anyone have any ideas on ways of improving interview skills? Any help is much appreciated. Thank you (I have applied to overseas, instead of London, offices. They are unable to provide feedback even though applicants have reached the final assessment stages)

 

[Jaysen]

Yep, there's a lot I can say here.

Is there a particular area you feel you struggle with?

 

[v123]

There is an ACE session held by BPP on March 6th I'm attending in Holborn. It's supposed to help with assessment centers AND interviews. You should check that out and then you can get live feedback on your answers (you can find it on Eventbrite)

Also not sure if you're a graduate or in uni etc still but most campuses have a good careers service where you can tell them the subject of your interview, role play and get feedback!! Aspiring Solicitors also holds some good events for this!

 

[v123]

I'm also an international student and usually, I say I came to London because its a global leader in finance and has international links (international career is something I really value)

 

[v123]

Also- do you have legal experience?

 

[Jaysen]

Thank you so much for your kind reply. I am struggling the most with the type of interview where I have to answer interviewer's questions regarding myself (mostly 'Can you tell me more about your internship experience at X firm?'+ 'why did you choose to study in London but not your home country?') I am unsure what interviewers are looking for in this type of question. Thanks a lot in advance

It depends on the question really.

You can boil most questions down to:

• Motivation for commercial law (you need this drive to keep you working long hours)
• Motivation for the firm (do you actually want to be at our firm or are you happy to take any training contract? Will you stay at our firm)
• Competencies (these vary based on the firm but generally: are you a competent candidate who will fit well within our firm?)
• Commercial awareness (technically, this comes under competencies, but most firms place such a big focus on this one so I'd put it separate)

The question "tell me more about your internship experience at X firm?" is just looking for the highlights of what you did, just like in a CV. Try to sell the most interesting aspects of your experience. This comes under the competencies bullet point above.

The question "why London and not your home country?" is a question international students get a lot. It's a crucial question to test your motivation for commercial law and for the firm. They want to know whether you'll be around for the long run in London.

In all these cases, a good structure can really turn an answer from OK to great. Generally speaking, just think about raising 2-4 points and develop each point with specific detail.