Hey
@gracelaw_,
Congratulations on the scheme once again! When is your scheme?
On my vacation scheme I was not actually formally interviewed at all. There was a final exit Partner 'chat' (which we were
told was not assessed), and in all fairness the Partner that spoke with me was absolutely lovely. He basically asked about the best bits of my time at the firm and what I had enjoyed/not enjoyed doing etc.
One slightly scary thing that did happen was the head of the group that I was sat in (in both seats) gave me an impromptu call to check-in (which
did feel a bit like an interview). Although again I think that this may just have been more of a check-in
rather than an interview.
Broadly speaking my tips specifically for HSF would be:
- Be organised with your time. Both my supervisors on my scheme said they wanted me to demonstrate good time management and the ability to handle different work streams. To do this, make sure that you ask the questions included in my post (linked below) whenever you are given a task. HSF (in my experience) is not a firm where working extra late as a vacation schemer will be admired. I was really encouraged to employ sustainable working habits.
- Proactively reach out to people that are working in practice areas that interest you. This is not something that will get you extra credit, but it will give you a better 'feel' of the firm and the sorts of opportunities that would be available to you if you trained there. My experience of the firm was that people were particularly willing to put aside time to speak to vacation schemers, so make the most of the opportunity!
- Have a high attention to detail. This really matters at HSF. Spelling errors are viewed as careless and will count against you (in your assessed tasks, for example). Related to this point (and this might sound obvious) is that the tasks you are given are not necessarily split neatly into assessed and non-assessed tasks. I think that my supervisors were able to choose the best/most representative piece of work that I produced during my seat with them, so treat anything and everything that you do for your supervisor like it is assessed. This could include verbal summaries too, for example.
- Show that you are open-minded. Often people go to HSF for its disputes work. However, this overlooks the fact that HSF is one of the few firms which gives its trainees the opportunity to experience top work in both contentious and non-contentious practice areas. It is great to demonstrate enthusiasm about HSF's full offering rather than a wish to do a particular sort of work. That being said, it is absolutely fine to show interest in a particular area (just as long as this is coupled with an open mind about other practice areas too!).
Here are some links to (some of) the best content on the forum. I hope this will be helpful reading ahead of your vacation scheme:
Please do reach out if you need anything else Grace! That goes for anyone else wanting thoughts on this topic (or anything else!)
So I think this depends on the firm actually
@FS.
For example, at Slaughters, I would think that it was a topic where having a point of view that you can confidently defend would be entirely appropriate. One of the things that I would change about my general interview approach looking back would be to be more ambitious with the opinions I put forward. I think it is risky to appear too hesitant on contentious topics (sometimes) so I don't think that this approach is
always the best option.
Hey
@hungry_for_TC,
I know that you have received a reply to this already, but I just wanted to thank you for being so willing to help the community. These interview accounts are invaluable for the community (and in my opinion open up the recruitment process to those who do not have a pre-existing network to draw on!).
I am so pleased that you have had success this cycle 🚲 too!
@WannabeSolicitor24 @James Carrabino ?
@James Carrabino I would be really interested to hear your thoughts on this!
For those that do not know, James was a prolific application reviewer for the team earlier in the year so he has some fantastic advice to share.
If you have not already, I would really recommend taking a look through
this thread (where he reveals common application pitfalls) which is based off his application review role at TCLA!
Hey
@21wajsz,
I am sorry to hear that you have had such a stressful experience. I fully empathise. Similar things happened to me when I was applying! All I would say is that GR would not have emailed you so that you supply it if they didn't want to read it!
Please do let me know how it goes 💪
Hey
@S87,
How did the chat go?
For what it's worth, my advice for this would be to speak to them like they are a human being (rather than a living answer bank. I have had people reach out to me about my experiences in the past (obviously I am
not an associate (yet 😉)), but the conversations which I feel that both I (and the person I am speaking to) get the most out of are those which are more natural.
A great way to do this is to treat it as an opportunity to learn about the other person's experiences and see where it goes from there (e.g., why did they choose law? Why the firm? What do they enjoy about the job? Is there anything they would do differently?).
Hey
@M991,
Adding to what Jess already said on this, this actually happened to me when I was applying too so I do not think it is hugely unusual. That being said, well done though! The firm obviously really liked you and recognised that you have potential! 🚀
)
