Please state the month/year you interviewed at the firm.
February 2020
Please specify what the interview was for.
Summer Vacation Scheme 2020
Please give an overview of the day with approximate timings.
9:00 arrival at the office, followed by an online exercise and written exercise, then an hour-long HR interview and an hour-long Partner/Associate interview. There were breaks throughout. The day was wrapped up at about 14:30 after an office tour and lunch.
Please provide a summary of each assessment on the day with approximate timings.
After arriving, we got laptops and started working on a case study – with fresh pastries, tea, coffee, and biscuits provided throughout.
Case study (online exercise):
1) Contractual interpretation (answering multiple-choice questions about a non-disclosure agreement)
2) Situational judgement (deciding which of the listed solutions is the best and worst response to a scenario – "what would you most/least likely do if...")
3) E-mail sorting exercise (deciding what category a particular e-mail falls within, namely: do, delegate, defer, delete)
Case study (written exercise):
We received an M&A scenario to read through. Linklaters was advising the buyer, who received a [redacted] from the seller ([redacted]).
The task was to identify three key issues to present at a client meeting, together with a list of bullet points setting out other considerations that might be relevant.
Interview with HR (one interviewer)
During the break, we received news about the case study, which required us to draft a [redacted] response at a short notice.
Interview with an Associate and Managing Associate
Office tour with a trainee and lunch with a few more trainees
Please list any interview questions you were asked.
HR Interview:
- Why Linklaters?
- Why commercial law?
- When were you a part of a high-performing team?
- When did you deal with a difficult team-mate?
- When did you lead a low-performing team?
- Who is an inspirational leader in the public eye?
- What are the qualities of a good leader?
- What are your core values?
- When have your core values been challenged?
- When did you have to deal with a difficult situation?
- When did you manage a complex situation with many responsibilities?
- How do you manage stress?
- Describe a stressful situation you faced.
- What is your biggest achievement?
- What is your biggest mistake?
Partner/associate interview:
The interview started with a discussion of the three key issues I identified and the other bullet-pointed issues.
Then, we discussed the [redacted] scenario received shortly before (who to talk to, how to proceed, how can Linklaters help, ...).
We talked about my motivation for applying.
I had time to ask questions.
What is your best advice for each aspect of the assessment on the day? Please break this down for each assessment. This can include advice for preparation, as well as tips for the day.
1) Know yourself. Know exactly what you are bringing to the table and what makes you special. Write down 2-3 of your best qualities and make sure that you walk away that day having shared all of them with your interviewers.
2) Know the firm. Linklaters has an agile mindset framework against which the applicants are assessed. In tackling scenario-based questions and deciding which of your qualities to highlight, keep the framework in mind. Further, write down 2-3 qualities which attract you to Linklaters– for me, these were the quality and type of work (I talked about specific deals, the environment team, the focus on renewable energy...), innovation (I talked about Nakhoda, Re:Link, PIE teams, ...) and culture (I talked about the interactions I had with specific people, the lockstep renumeration model, career coaching for women,...).
3) Stay calm when an unknown question pops up. During the interview, I requested to come back to a question that was particularly tough – and that's ok. You will never be able to prepare for everything. That being said, you should anticipate common questions (the fact that you are reading this shows that you have been looking for helpful resources – well done!) and answer them for yourself (or better yet, someone else) out loud.
Were you successful?
Yes
