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Aspiring Lawyers - Interviews & Vacation Schemes
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James's Weekly Interview Insights
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<blockquote data-quote="James Carrabino" data-source="post: 112258" data-attributes="member: 16764"><p><strong><u>Week 2 - Commercial Interviews</u></strong></p><p></p><p>As someone who entered the Vacation Scheme and Training Contract application process without a vast amount of prior commercial knowledge, I could have really benefitted from someone telling me how to make up for lost time and develop my commercial awareness in the most efficient way possible. </p><p></p><p>In this post I offer my advice about what to focus on and how to excel in these interviews, short of reading dozens of books and trying to learn everything about commerce and the City in the space of a few months. To start with, I would recommend <a href="https://www.finimize.com/wp/signup/insider/" target="_blank">signing up</a> to read the free Finimize daily brief and staying up to date with TCLA's <a href="https://thecorporatelawacademy.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=46661f8fd74854dd3e16a20f9&id=a0132087cd" target="_blank">newsletter</a>! Consider paying for a membership to <a href="https://www.watsonsdaily.com/" target="_blank">Watson's Daily </a>which is meant to be excellent. If you have a specific firm in mind that you are interviewing for, then keep abreast of new developments for that firm by entering the firm's name as a <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/alerts" target="_blank">Google Alert</a> to your Google Account.</p><p></p><p>Now, these resources are all excellent starting points but they won't fully make up for years of engagement with business news and commercial developments, so how do you approach commercial interviews if you feel that you are not particularly commercially aware?</p><p></p><p>First of all, work out <strong>what kind of commercial interview</strong> you need to prepare for as there are different kinds of commercial interviews. Commercial interviews can take the form of a <strong>commercial case study</strong>, analysis of a <strong>commercial article</strong>, or simply an interview revolving at least partly around <strong>your commercial awareness and current business news stories.</strong></p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">For a <strong>commercial case study</strong>, [USER=5063]@Jacob Miller[/USER]'s <a href="https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/definitive-guide-to-law-firm-case-studies-monday-article-series.3232/" target="_blank">definitive guide</a> to law firm case studies is truly excellent! I remember reading it the day before my first AC and making notes on all the possible issues that could arise, using his table for inspiration. <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I separated my list into legal, commercial and reputational issues and included the following bullet points amongst other things:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stakeholder interests</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Methods of financing</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Due diligence</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Risks of litigation</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Warranties + indemnities</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Possible synergies</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Employment issues</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Competition/antitrust regulations</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tax implications</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Client's competitors</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Future client relationships</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I would go into a case study interview with these in my mind and essentially check off those that were not relevant to the case study at hand. The beauty of this was that to an extent I did not even need to be good at thinking on my feet or worry about relying on my commercial instinct, because I could prepare well for the kinds of things I wanted to mention in advance, even without knowing the scenario of the case study. Thank you [USER=5063]@Jacob Miller[/USER]!</li> </ul></li> </ul><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">For an interview where you have to <strong>analyse a commercial article, </strong>you have to rely on your own analytical abilities to a large extent, but as far as commercial knowledge is required, I believe that this can be prepared here too. The eleven bullet points listed above are a good starting point for <u>big picture implications </u>to be thinking about when reading the article, as these are things that you are likely to get asked about by your interviewers. You can also help focus your analysis by following a very clear structure when you respond to (in writing, presentation or Q&A) the article after reading it. My suggested structure for questions you should be asking yourself is as follows:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What are the key facts of the article?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What are the main issues arising for the various parties discussed in the article?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What are the big picture implications for the market being discussed in the article?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How would the issues raised in the article relate to law firms?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How would the issues in the article be of interest to the law firm you are interviewing with, and which practice areas would take a particular interest in these issues?</li> </ul></li> </ul><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">For an interview more generally related to <strong>your commercial awareness and current business news</strong>, you can prepare yourself well but there is always a reasonable chance of the interviewer grilling you on a point you know little about. This means that such interviews involve a small element of faking it till you make it 🤣 What do I mean by this? Well, there will possibly be those moments when you have to act as if you are calm and composed but when you actually have no idea what you were just asked! Often, it will not hurt if you ask for further clarification on the question or simply state that you are unsure of the answer, before explaining how you might approach the question if you knew more about the topic. In one of my successful vac scheme interviews, I must have said 'I don't know' at least five times, before talking about the kinds of things that I thought could be relevant to the question (without really knowing whether they were relevant or not)! I had a three-step process below for preparing for such interviews:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Prepare a couple of business news stories that genuinely interest you and that you can discuss cogently. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Prepare to be able to talk about a certain area of business or law that is of particular interest to you, especially if you are going to claim it as a key interest of yours.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Focus on keeping up to date with commercial news and developments relating to any firm that you are interviewing for. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ask a friend to give you a mock interview in which they ask you about a topic you know nothing about (it does not even need to be related to commercial law). Rehearse what you would say and do in this scenario so that you will able to remain composed in the interview itself, and prepare which questions you would ask your interviewers in return so as to pinpoint what exactly they want from you as a response.</li> </ul></li> </ul><p></p><p>Finally, it is worth brushing up on some commercial terminology, either by going over common terms with friends or by using an online commercial law glossary like <a href="https://advancedlanguageinstitute.com/commercial-law-glossary/" target="_blank">this one</a>, although these can be a bit dense with the amount of terminology they include.</p><p></p><p>Overall, a week of preparation can get your commercial awareness ~85% there, in my opinion. There were one or two occasions where I realised that months of business study could have helped, but on the whole I got myself in the right shape for commercial interviews by following the tips I have provided above.</p><p></p><p>I hope that this post gives some useful pointers about how to approach commercial interviews if you do not feel like the most commercial person in the world! Please let me know if you have any further questions about any of this 😊</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James Carrabino, post: 112258, member: 16764"] [B][U]Week 2 - Commercial Interviews[/U][/B] As someone who entered the Vacation Scheme and Training Contract application process without a vast amount of prior commercial knowledge, I could have really benefitted from someone telling me how to make up for lost time and develop my commercial awareness in the most efficient way possible. In this post I offer my advice about what to focus on and how to excel in these interviews, short of reading dozens of books and trying to learn everything about commerce and the City in the space of a few months. To start with, I would recommend [URL='https://www.finimize.com/wp/signup/insider/']signing up[/URL] to read the free Finimize daily brief and staying up to date with TCLA's [URL='https://thecorporatelawacademy.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=46661f8fd74854dd3e16a20f9&id=a0132087cd']newsletter[/URL]! Consider paying for a membership to [URL='https://www.watsonsdaily.com/']Watson's Daily [/URL]which is meant to be excellent. If you have a specific firm in mind that you are interviewing for, then keep abreast of new developments for that firm by entering the firm's name as a [URL='https://www.google.co.uk/alerts']Google Alert[/URL] to your Google Account. Now, these resources are all excellent starting points but they won't fully make up for years of engagement with business news and commercial developments, so how do you approach commercial interviews if you feel that you are not particularly commercially aware? First of all, work out [B]what kind of commercial interview[/B] you need to prepare for as there are different kinds of commercial interviews. Commercial interviews can take the form of a [B]commercial case study[/B], analysis of a [B]commercial article[/B], or simply an interview revolving at least partly around [B]your commercial awareness and current business news stories.[/B] [LIST] [*]For a [B]commercial case study[/B], [USER=5063]@Jacob Miller[/USER]'s [URL='https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/threads/definitive-guide-to-law-firm-case-studies-monday-article-series.3232/']definitive guide[/URL] to law firm case studies is truly excellent! I remember reading it the day before my first AC and making notes on all the possible issues that could arise, using his table for inspiration. [LIST] [*]I separated my list into legal, commercial and reputational issues and included the following bullet points amongst other things: [LIST] [*]Stakeholder interests [*]Methods of financing [*]Due diligence [*]Risks of litigation [*]Warranties + indemnities [*]Possible synergies [*]Employment issues [*]Competition/antitrust regulations [*]Tax implications [*]Client's competitors [*]Future client relationships [/LIST] [*]I would go into a case study interview with these in my mind and essentially check off those that were not relevant to the case study at hand. The beauty of this was that to an extent I did not even need to be good at thinking on my feet or worry about relying on my commercial instinct, because I could prepare well for the kinds of things I wanted to mention in advance, even without knowing the scenario of the case study. Thank you [USER=5063]@Jacob Miller[/USER]! [/LIST] [/LIST] [LIST] [*]For an interview where you have to [B]analyse a commercial article, [/B]you have to rely on your own analytical abilities to a large extent, but as far as commercial knowledge is required, I believe that this can be prepared here too. The eleven bullet points listed above are a good starting point for [U]big picture implications [/U]to be thinking about when reading the article, as these are things that you are likely to get asked about by your interviewers. You can also help focus your analysis by following a very clear structure when you respond to (in writing, presentation or Q&A) the article after reading it. My suggested structure for questions you should be asking yourself is as follows: [LIST] [*]What are the key facts of the article? [*]What are the main issues arising for the various parties discussed in the article? [*]What are the big picture implications for the market being discussed in the article? [*]How would the issues raised in the article relate to law firms? [*]How would the issues in the article be of interest to the law firm you are interviewing with, and which practice areas would take a particular interest in these issues? [/LIST] [/LIST] [LIST] [*]For an interview more generally related to [B]your commercial awareness and current business news[/B], you can prepare yourself well but there is always a reasonable chance of the interviewer grilling you on a point you know little about. This means that such interviews involve a small element of faking it till you make it 🤣 What do I mean by this? Well, there will possibly be those moments when you have to act as if you are calm and composed but when you actually have no idea what you were just asked! Often, it will not hurt if you ask for further clarification on the question or simply state that you are unsure of the answer, before explaining how you might approach the question if you knew more about the topic. In one of my successful vac scheme interviews, I must have said 'I don't know' at least five times, before talking about the kinds of things that I thought could be relevant to the question (without really knowing whether they were relevant or not)! I had a three-step process below for preparing for such interviews: [LIST] [*]Prepare a couple of business news stories that genuinely interest you and that you can discuss cogently. [*]Prepare to be able to talk about a certain area of business or law that is of particular interest to you, especially if you are going to claim it as a key interest of yours. [*]Focus on keeping up to date with commercial news and developments relating to any firm that you are interviewing for. [*]Ask a friend to give you a mock interview in which they ask you about a topic you know nothing about (it does not even need to be related to commercial law). Rehearse what you would say and do in this scenario so that you will able to remain composed in the interview itself, and prepare which questions you would ask your interviewers in return so as to pinpoint what exactly they want from you as a response. [/LIST] [/LIST] Finally, it is worth brushing up on some commercial terminology, either by going over common terms with friends or by using an online commercial law glossary like [URL='https://advancedlanguageinstitute.com/commercial-law-glossary/']this one[/URL], although these can be a bit dense with the amount of terminology they include. Overall, a week of preparation can get your commercial awareness ~85% there, in my opinion. There were one or two occasions where I realised that months of business study could have helped, but on the whole I got myself in the right shape for commercial interviews by following the tips I have provided above. I hope that this post gives some useful pointers about how to approach commercial interviews if you do not feel like the most commercial person in the world! Please let me know if you have any further questions about any of this 😊 [/QUOTE]
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