For speaking, it can be anywhere from reading a BD-related passage on their website out loud (I did a few of these and passed) to doing a client pitch after reading a commercial-related excerpt. Make sure to brush up on your simplified Chinese comprehension skills - I can do both traditional and simplified but am more comfortable with the latter. If you're a Cantonese speaker, also make sure you brush up on phonetics (i.e., Bo/po/mo/fo) and verbal fluency which I know a lot of native Cantonese speakers struggle with as the dialects are quite different.I applied to Linklater's China-London TC and was invited to an interview to test my mandarin skills, but I don't really know what to expect or how to prepare. Has anyone else attended this, or anything similar? I'm unsure whether it is an actual language test, or a normal HR/competency interview conducted in mandarin.
Any insight would be appreciated! (@Jessica Booker not sure if you have any knowledge on how these international TC interviews operate?). Thanks!
Make sure to practice a good self-intro + discuss your experiences in relation to the trainee solicitor role - the challenge is translating the technical aspects (i.e., "issuance" or "contract review" to Chinese).
Writing is likely a translation test with an English passage -> Chinese and a Chinese passage -> English. If it's a large MC firm, you'll translate a 1-page piece of news from the Financial Times or the New York Times. Brush up on specific vocabulary (i.e., private equity) - I initially struggled with that but overcame that hump after revising for my next test where I had to write a short excerpt advising shareholder protection to a hypothetical client in CN.
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