Travers Smith direct TC assessment centre - December 2024
What was the full recruitment process?
1. Application: CV and cover letter
2. Live video interview: one hour with a grad recruiter and senior counsel
3. Assessment centre
4. Final interview: one hour with two partners
Which aspect does this report cover?
Assessment centre
Where did the assessment centre take place?
The firm's London office
What did the assessment centre involve?
1. Pre-AC writing task: 1,000-word essay question (I was given multiple options to choose from).
2. AC writing task: two-hour written assessment. I was given 3-4 documents to look over, and needed to prepare an email brief.
3. Group task: a team of 3-4 presented a business case to a ‘bank’ (a senior counsel or partner) (~30 minutes prep time, 15 minute presentation).
Pre-AC writing task
The task tested research, writing and creativity. It was sent about 2 weeks before the AC, and could be completed at any point before, or for a few days after, depending on when it was sent to you. The word limit for the task was 1,000 words.
There were multiple options for questions, the one I chose being about the factors for the “War for Talent” in the London legal market, and what Travers Smith could do to appeal to junior lawyers in the next 5 years. Other examples included legal services, environment topics, and AI.
AC writing task
I was given a laptop and a document bundle. The task was to complete 4 different questions relating to 2 different scenarios.
Scenario 1
This scenario involved a trainee-like task. I had to read a bundle containing 3-4 documents relating to an acquisition. The documents included information relating to the target’s business model, influencers it had hired for promotion, issues involving previous employees etc. There are some clear ‘issues’ that you need to pick out from a large amount of information, as well as some irrelevant information.
I then had to draft an email addressed to that client, which outlined 4 key risk areas, as well as discussed types of funding we could use, plus areas of Travers Smith that would be involved in the transaction and why.
Scenario 2
This was based on the first scenario, although the facts had developed. There was an unfair dismissal case, and other information came to light. I had to outline to a partner the key issues, and reasons for pursuing/not pursuing the acquisition in light of these.
Group task
I was placed into a group of 3-4. We were given a document describing a ‘business’ that the group had founded. This included information about a hypothetical product that we needed to pitch to a ‘bank’ for investment (in reality, we were pitching to a Senior Counsel).
We were also given information about specific characters within our business, and had to collectively assign these roles amongst ourselves. We then had to work in the group to discuss and prepare the pitch. There is a trainee who sits alongside and helps throughout the planning.
Some of the key points of the pitch that we had to include were:
There are also issues with each ‘character’ assigned to each person. For example, one character acts as an uncle who invests about 10k. You may be asked things like if you are a company, how much of the shareholding do you have compared to the other people?
What was the outcome?
The firm emailed after about a month and a half to tell me I had been successful.
Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?
The pre-AC writing task is quite straightforward. The task requires you to do a lot of research on the topic; I read a lot about the issue on the FT, legal recruitment company websites, Legal Cheek, Roll on Friday etc. Also try to be original and creative in your proposals, as just writing basic descriptive answers will probably not reflect well.
The writing task during the AC is at the beginning of the day, which is good as the whole AC is quite a long time to concentrate. A key thing is just to have good time management. Take a good amount of time to read the bundle, and make sure you understand what each question is asking you to say, and to who. Write the emails appropriately based on the recipient (e.g., don't include legal jargon in a client email.)
You then have the opportunity to have lunch with the other AC participants, and a few members of the Grad Rec team. Take the opportunity to sit and chat! You are still being assessed, but try to relax and be more personable. Ask questions about the more day-to-day things in the firm, what the partners or associates enjoy, just some more casual things. Show some personality, the firm really values it. Make sure to be kind and courteous to other AC participants as well. Ignoring others or just generally not being social, or only focusing on what Grad Rec are saying doesn't come off very well either.
The group task is quite difficult, but just have a good team plan. Try not to be overbearing, but speak confidently. You don't have that long to prepare (maybe 30 minutes) so try and have the key points clear to sound confident when pitching. There are some times when you will have to improvise mid-pitch (e.g. if you face an oddball question), but try to be clear regarding which general questions/topics will be answered by who, as it looks bad to speak over each other or disagree.
Finally, there is an informal drinks after with trainees, partners etc. This is great for having some nice chats with the AC participants and other trainees, so definitely take advantage! The firm really values the personality and attitude of people, so always put your best foot forward, even if tired from the day.
Travers Smith training contract - March 2024
What was the full recruitment process?
Which aspect does this report cover?
Written exercise and final interview.
Once you participate at the vacation scheme, the firm will have five options to choose from:
I had option five given to me, so had to sit the written exercise again and attend another interview.
Written exercise
I first completed the written exercise during the vacation scheme, but was asked to re-do this stage of the assessment after the vacation scheme.
I was given 2 hours to sit the assessment, which took place in the firm’s London office.
The written exercise focused on commercial agents. Our client was a medical device company and wanted to hire an agent to sell its product. The client wanted to check whether the agent will fall under the legal definition of” commercial agent”. I was given access to the internet, and was also given guidelines to the law (these were in a Practical Law article).
I started by reading through the legal guidelines, highlighting the parts that I thought were applicable to the client’s issues (the document was provided online, but I downloaded a PDF version so I could highlight sections). Rather than writing in chunks of paragraphs, I used bullet points focusing on each part of the definition.
As the draft was eventually going to be sent to the client, I used the comment function on Word to flag comments to my “supervisor”, including specific information about legislation and case law (i.e. stuff that clients probably wouldn’t want to have to read about). This helped to ensure the main body remained concise and client-friendly. I also included a ‘Next steps’ subheading, followed by an explanation of next steps that our client should take, plus further information we may need to know in order to reach a definitive answer.
At the end of the email, I said it would be greatly appreciated if the client could get back to us by xyz date and we can then set up a meeting to discuss further action plans accordingly.
The firm sent me an email a week after to tell me that I had successfully passed the written exercise. I was then invited to the final training contract interview (which took place the week after).
Final interview
I was interviewed by two graduate recruitment partners at the firm's London office. As I had already completed the assessment centre and vacation scheme, they were less curious about why law and why the firm. Instead, they went straight into a different style of questioning.
They asked me questions in relation to criminal law, although these didn’t require legal knowledge. In particular, they gave me a scenario:
Who should be getting the bike?
The interviewers said to try not to mention anything legal in my answers; I just had to think logically. It was tough and challenging.
When I gave responses, the interviewers kept questioning my answers. I tried to defend every corner but sometimes it was really tricky! At times, I asked for time to think, calmed myself down, and then gave my answer. The interviewers then developed the scenario, saying that the thief was put on trial but refused to attend the trial. I was then asked whether the court has the power to forcedly summon the defendant in this case?
What was the outcome?
The firm called me 3 days after the interview to offer me a training contract.
Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?
For the written exercise, you really need to think smart and act smart. I used the Comment function on Word when I wanted to raise something legal to the supervisor.
For the final interview, there isn’t really much advice to give. The topic you will get might not be criminal law; for example, it can be property law. The questions that you will receive will be tough and these are not really the types of questions you can prepare for. When you get stuck, just ask for more time; they actually prefer candidates who take time to give a more thoughtful answer. I would suggest talking to one your friends who is really good with debating, and just discuss a random topic with them, asking them to challenge you.
Travers Smith Vacation Scheme - March 2024
What was the full recruitment process?
1. Online application
2. Online interview
3. Vacation scheme
Which aspect does this report cover?
Vacation scheme interview
Where did the assessment centre take place?
Microsoft Teams
What did the assessment centre involve?
General interview: one interview with competency, motivation, commercial awareness and ethical questions (no case study/written exercise etc.) (~1 hour with one senior counsel)
General interview
The interview was quite conversational. It started off with two motivation and firm-based questions, before delving into my technical knowledge and critical thinking abilities.
Motivation questions
Commercial / debate questions
What was the outcome?
The firm emailed me 4 days after the interview to tell me that I had been successful.
Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?
Be prepared for anything, as the interview is quite unstructured, and the questions asked will vary by interviewer. For example, my interview invitation mentioned that the interview would refer to my application and include questions on motivation, competencies, and commercial awareness. However, my interviewer did not ask me any questions about my cover letter or experiences and was primarily interested in my thinking and debate skills. Personally, I found the best way to prepare for unpredictable questions was to have debates with anyone willing, as this helped me feel confident when thinking on my feet and appreciate different sides to an argument.
When preparing for the Travers Smith interview in particular, my key advice would be to know the firm and ensure your commercial awareness is up to scratch by reading the news regularly, so you can demonstrate your knowledge in your interview responses.
Travers Smith Vacation Scheme - January 2023
What was the full recruitment process?
1. Online application
2. Online interview
3. Vacation scheme
Which aspect does this report cover?
Vacation scheme interview
Where did the assessment centre take place?
Microsoft Teams
What did the assessment centre involve?
General interview: one interview with competency, motivation, commercial awareness and ethical questions (no case study/written exercise etc.) (~1 hour with one senior counsel)
General interview
The conversation was organic and flowed freely. I did not feel like my interviewer had a rigid structure to follow, and it was much more informal than I expected.
Motivation and competency questions
The interview started off with a conversation surrounding my motivations for applying for Travers Smith and how I became interested in law, then followed with discussions surrounding various experiences and achievements that I had referenced on my application form, including work experiences and volunteer positions. In particular, I was asked:
Ethical / commercial awareness questions
We then moved on to commercial and ethical based questions, where the interviewer rebutted most of my points and I had to quickly think of counterarguments in order to engage in an interactive and discursive debate. The questions I was asked included:
I was also asked to explain something complex to the interviewer in simple terms. The interview lasted for 45 minutes, then I had a further 15 minutes at the end during which I could ask questions.
What was the outcome?
The firm emailed me the next working day after my interview to tell me I had been unsuccessful.
Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?
They really go through your cover letter, so it is important to know your experiences inside out and be able to explain what happened (I would recommend using the STAR structure for this). It is quite difficult to prepare in detail for this interview, as the conversation can go down a multitude of routes depending on who your interviewer is and what they want to talk about. I would advise you to draw from a range of examples so that you are able to present yourself as well-rounded. Commercial awareness is also an important aspect of this interview, so try to know the firm’s business and the types of clients it advises and link it into your answers (as most of the time they are looking to test your commercial awareness in a more informal way).