Shearman & Sterling Winter Vacation Scheme - November 2021

What was the full recruitment process?         

1. Application

2. Interview

3. Vacation scheme 

Which aspect does this report cover?

Vacation scheme interview

Where did the assessment centre take place?            

Zoom

What did the assessment centre involve?      

Interview: questions about my experience and motivation, the role of a lawyer, and a current affairs story (~60 minutes with a senior associate and member of graduate recruitment).

Interview                

My interview kicked off with my interviewers introducing themselves and talking about their careers and roles (this was relaxed, although there were some technical issues). They also briefly mentioned the fact that I knew someone at the firm, but this was a mere passing comment and didn’t factor into my interview experience.

Motivation questions

I was then asked questions designed to test my motivation for pursuing a career in commercial law, and for wanting to work at Shearman & Sterling in particular, including:

• Why law?
• Why commercial law specifically?
• Why Shearman & Sterling? (They seemed to place a fair bit of emphasis on this in the interview, so for this firm in particular I think it is so important to have this very well prepared.)
• What other firms have you applied to?

I mentioned in my application that I had written an article on cryptocurrencies, and it turned out that the senior associate worked in this area, so I was also asked: “tell us what you know about cryptocurrencies”.

Current affairs questions

Next, I was asked to talk to the interviewers about a current business news story. I had prepared to talk about COP26, so this is what we discussed. They wanted to know about the implications for businesses, including why I felt the story was relevant from a commercial standpoint.

Expect follow-up questions based on what you say, so don’t mention anything in relation to which your knowledge and understanding is shallow. For example, I briefly mentioned the fact that people were protesting outside COP26, and this led to my interviewers then questioning me about my thoughts on Insulate Britain (another protest going on at the time).

Additional questions

• What skills do you think a commercial solicitor needs?
• If you could recommend one book, one song and one movie, what would they be?

Fairly uniquely, the interview did not involve any kind of case study, presentation, psychometric test or group exercise.

What was the outcome?                                                  

The firm emailed me two weeks after the interview to tell me I had been unsuccessful.

Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?                                                       

Prepare the basic motivation questions in detail (why law, why Shearman & Sterling etc.), as there was ample focus on these. Also make sure you have a current news story prepared, and have considered the business context and commercial implications stemming from it (this includes researching the wider topic/context). I would recommend choosing something not too well known; I wrote about COP26, which was prominent at the time and perhaps too mainstream to give me the chance to form any ‘unique’ viewpoints. In addition, make sure you choose a story that genuinely interests you, as your enthusiasm will then hopefully come across.