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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Chris Brown" data-source="post: 209713" data-attributes="member: 35674">I can understand why you feel that the partner interview can be slightly discriminatory. There is definitely an element of luck involved. There is also still a lot of bias and prejudice against people that are visibly ethnic minority or poc, and people that come from socially mobile backgrounds. Even at application stage, as [USER=28830]@aphelion[/USER] has explained, there are so many different ways bias and prejudice could affect our chances of success. Seeing as though you got past the application stage and got AC invites for Hogan Lovells and Freshfields, it is safe to say that the firms’ saw a lot of potential in you. We do not get to control who we get in interviews, which is why I think you believe it comes down to luck. 🥲 Ultimately however, most of the ‘luck’ comes from us. How well we prepare for these interviews is what makes the difference between a successful interview and an unsuccessful interview. I can’t speak on every firm, but I believe there are many firms out there that ensure the partner interview is as fair and objective as possible (e.g., Willkie), whose partner interview is fully CV-blind. The only thing(s) the partner(s) know in advance of the interview is our name and whether we studied a law or non-law degree. The stage before it (written exercise), is also CV-blind. The associates that mark them do not know who they belong to, which ensures that the best talent get to interview. 🙂 At the point we reach the interview, the ball is entirely in our court. The direction of the partner interview is in our control, based on the answers we give. I have seen your question (above) on what people skills are. To give some examples, you need effective communication (the ability to speak clearly and concisely) and a willingness and ability to showcase your personality (a sense of humour, charisma and enthusiasm). These are crucial qualities that every aspiring trainee associate needs. The legal profession is a client facing, people-driven industry. If someone lacks the ‘people skills’, it is likely they will not have a successful interview. 🥲 There is an element of accountability that does need to be taken. It is not right to assume there was definitive bias, prejudice or discrimination in the interview, which was the sole deciding factor in the partner choosing not to proceed with your application post interview. Partners are assessing a range of things, such as our motivation for a career in (city) law, their firm, a particular practice area or industry sector, our range of competencies and our commercial awareness. If any of these things are deemed to need further improvement, the partner can and will decide to not make an offer. That is not necessarily the same as the partner deciding to not make an offer because the interviewee had an accent, was a poc or went to a state school (obvious discrimination). 🫤 Ultimately, there needs to be a balance between being competent and being a person with character. It can be hard to work out what that balance should look like, but that is where preparation comes into play. I am positive you can and will succeed in your applications, with a bit more targeted preparation! Best of luck in the rest of your applications. If you have any questions about interview preparation, you can always ask on the forum or PM people, who will be happy to help! 🙂</blockquote>

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

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