Any tips for completing a SJT? Would appreciate any advice as the feedback is never looking good!
Hi! These are my personal two cents, but I’ve gotten pretty good feedback on SJTs so far, and I hope they help. I find that SJTS can often seem a little convoluted, so please just pick and take what works for you. 💕
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Have a clear idea of what traits the law firm wants. Typically, this will be things like resilience, motivation, collaboration, adaptability, personal responsibility etc etc, but the firm websites will often list their desired characteristics. If you keep them in mind, you’ll be able to identify which traits each question is testing for.
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Always read the question/situation carefully, because it’ll give you hints on what to prioritize. For example, let’s say the situation states that you’re swamped, there’s an important deadline coming up soon, and you’re given an opportunity to take on more challenging work. It’s not necessarily good to take that opportunity (unless the option makes it clear that you can get everything done to good quality), because that shows initiative but
at the expense of prioritization/commitment/work ethic. This is especially important when two traits conflict (eg leadership vs collaboration).
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If there are two similarly worded options, pick the one that has the best result for the firm. For example, let’s say you’re debating between a) “You’d like to work in a team because you enjoy working with people” and b) “You’d like to work in a team because you think combining everyone’s expertise would get an ideal result”. The better choice would be b, because it shows you’re the ultimate team player. Or something.
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Know what your role is. If it says you’re a trainee, don’t be afraid to notify the higher ups when something goes wrong. Say you’re happy to do menial tasks if required (although you’re always eager to branch out).
Best of luck! 💖
