Ropes & Gray: What do Private Equity Lawyers Actually Do? — Wed 14 Jan 2026, 5–6pm (UK), Zoom
Register →
TCLA Premium: Now half price (£30/month). Applications, interviews, commercial awareness + 700+ examples.
Join →

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jaysen" data-source="post: 974" data-attributes="member: 1">When was your Stephenson Harwood interview? February 2018 What was it for? Vacation SchemePlease describe the interview process at Stephenson Harwood.For the vacation scheme, the process is extremely simple, since there's only one interview with a member of the HR. They do not place as much emphasis on their 'placement scheme' as other firms, so this may explain it.The firm was truly fantastic - I loved the offices and the atmosphere. They have been working hard to improve their image and I think they are doing a great job.What advice would you give to future applicants for the Stephenson Harwood interview?-First round interview: as above, this is the only assessment, meaning it is the only chance candidates have to impress the firm. I was told the interview would last around 40-45 minutes but ended up lasting an hour, so I guess they are flexible if the discussion allows it. By and large, the first 30 minutes ended up being occupied by competency-based questions - these were random and varied. For example, I was asked about a time an idea I put forward was challenged, and what steps I took to defend my position/compromise where necessary. Another example was when I found a new approach to a problem, and how that approach added to solving said problem more easily. As you can see, they try the more difficult/advanced competency based questions, because they do specify more than other firms, at least in my experience, usually do.-The remaining time was spent on a background 'check', namely a discussion of past experiences, my contributions, why I had picked them up, what I would like to do in the future and so on. The member of the recruitment team asked me what skills I had developed through these experiences and how they were 'transferable', namely how I could apply them to a legal career. She clearly diverged this into a different type of competency questions. On top of this, she touched on the answers I had given in the application form, so do brush up on these.-I must say, nonetheless, that I felt the interview was very individually-driven. She asked these questions on the basis of my answers and the general feel she had taken from my application form. I heard others had very different interview experiences so do prepare as widely as possible, you only have one interview to prepare for here.-I was unsuccessful because, according to the feedback, my answers to the competency questions were not as thorough and did not fully answer what was being asked. If there is anything to get out of this, is to be as thorough as possible and stop talking only when you feel you have given a well-structured, persuasive and complete answer.</blockquote>

Verification: Our company is called, "The Corporate ___ Academy". What is the missing word here?

Top Bottom

Search

Search

Reply to thread