Hey everyone, I thought it would be good to share my experience with S&C's interview seeing as I've received a few messages as well as the fact that when I was looking it up, there seemed to be very scant information here compared to many of the other firms! I've found the information and community here great, and thought it would be nice to make a contribution on my end!
Structure: 1 x 15 min Grad Rec interview. 2 x 30min Partner interview 1 x 30min Associate interview
First off, the interview (at least for me), and anecdotally from what I've heard is very casual. Somewhat surprisingly though graduate recruitment, rather than the interviewing partners asked me about my motivations for applying, and based on my experiences so far the grad rec actually has quite a few substantive questions to get through, so it's important to be on your guard from the outset.
As for the partner interviews, they are extremely casual (as I mentioned in response to an earlier thread). I had studied the history of the firm from the 19th century to the present, as well as individual deals in each practice area - but the partners were actually more interested in just finding out about me, from the context of my CV. So the interview is very much CV focused and free form. I was asked things ranging from why I didn't become a Physicist based on my high school subjects to why I didn't want to be a barrister based on my moot experience/academic results. I was also asked more general questions about what I enjoyed doing in my free time and why.
The best technique then I would say is to just understand your CV inside out. Nobody I know who interviewed at S&C was asked any technical questions (What is a M&A, IPO etc..), so make of that what you will. Would still recommend the preparation that you would ordinarily do for other technical based firms just in case anything pops up though.
Some people have also asked me about getting an interview - anecdotally, people say that there is a huge Oxbridge bias, I genuinely doubt that - it's not the school that matters so much as the grades, but make no mistake - the firm is very much interested in strong academic performance, so definitely don't skimp on the studying if you're interested in this firm! In fact, I had a friend with strong academics who was told in the interview that unlike other candidates which would ordinarily be asked question X, he would not be asked question X because of his excellent results. Moreover, most of his interview consisted of the partners talking about their experience in the firm rather than him being asked questions. (Again, make of that what you will.)
Hope this was insightful, and for those interviewing now or in the future, best of luck!
Structure: 1 x 15 min Grad Rec interview. 2 x 30min Partner interview 1 x 30min Associate interview
First off, the interview (at least for me), and anecdotally from what I've heard is very casual. Somewhat surprisingly though graduate recruitment, rather than the interviewing partners asked me about my motivations for applying, and based on my experiences so far the grad rec actually has quite a few substantive questions to get through, so it's important to be on your guard from the outset.
As for the partner interviews, they are extremely casual (as I mentioned in response to an earlier thread). I had studied the history of the firm from the 19th century to the present, as well as individual deals in each practice area - but the partners were actually more interested in just finding out about me, from the context of my CV. So the interview is very much CV focused and free form. I was asked things ranging from why I didn't become a Physicist based on my high school subjects to why I didn't want to be a barrister based on my moot experience/academic results. I was also asked more general questions about what I enjoyed doing in my free time and why.
The best technique then I would say is to just understand your CV inside out. Nobody I know who interviewed at S&C was asked any technical questions (What is a M&A, IPO etc..), so make of that what you will. Would still recommend the preparation that you would ordinarily do for other technical based firms just in case anything pops up though.
Some people have also asked me about getting an interview - anecdotally, people say that there is a huge Oxbridge bias, I genuinely doubt that - it's not the school that matters so much as the grades, but make no mistake - the firm is very much interested in strong academic performance, so definitely don't skimp on the studying if you're interested in this firm! In fact, I had a friend with strong academics who was told in the interview that unlike other candidates which would ordinarily be asked question X, he would not be asked question X because of his excellent results. Moreover, most of his interview consisted of the partners talking about their experience in the firm rather than him being asked questions. (Again, make of that what you will.)
Hope this was insightful, and for those interviewing now or in the future, best of luck!
