Akin Gump Vacation Scheme – February 2025

What was the full recruitment process?

1. Application

2. Online assessment: situational judgment questions, competency questions, Watson Glaser

3. Telephone interview

4. Assessment centre

Which aspect does this report cover?

Vacation scheme online assessment, telephone interview and assessment centre.

Where did the assessment centre take place?

At the firm's London office

Online assessment 

The bespoke online assessment is comprehensive and challenging, but manageable. It consists of approximately 60 questions, primarily situational judgement questions, competency questions, and a 16-question Watson Glaser assessment. I suggest taking your time, as the test is not timed, and the graduate recruitment team does not appear to evaluate completion time.

A key tip is to emphasise a collaborative approach in your answers. Feedback indicated that while my strengths were in collaboration, adaptability, and growth, my resilience was perceived as a weakness.

For the personality assessment, which uses a slider from 1 to 10 to indicate agreement with statements (e.g. "I feel very excited when I am tasked to work under pressure"), I positioned the slider at the highest setting for statements reflecting qualities sought in a vacation scheme applicant: openness to new experiences, ability to work under pressure, and entrepreneurial spirit. I mostly avoided intermediate positions, only using them twice when necessary.  

Ultimately, answer authentically, but this approach worked for me. Qualities like working under pressure, collaboration, creativity, openness to new ideas, and proactivity were rated highly.

Telephone interview

The interview was scheduled for 20-25 minutes but lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes due to a good rapport with the interviewer. 

Questions included: Why Akin? Why commercial law? What three skills will you bring to a vacation scheme? What qualities make a good team? Can you share an instance where you demonstrated good attention to detail? Why is diversity and inclusion important for a law firm, and how can a law firm demonstrate inclusivity?

Interestingly, no commercial awareness questions were asked. The interview was focused on competency and motivation questions, as stated in the invitation email. 

The interviewer inquired about sources for staying updated on commercial awareness, such as the Financial Times and Commercial Law Academy. My premium subscriptions to both impressed the interviewer. They clarified that graduate recruitment does not evaluate commercial awareness directly. Instead, associates review the commercial awareness question, and they then consider it alongside interview performance to determine assessment centre invites.  

What did the assessment centre involve?

1. Case study and motivation interview (25 minutes reading time, 30 minute interview with 2 partners)

2. Competency interview (30 minutes, with 2 associates)

3. Proofreading task

4. Group exercise (45 minutes, with a member of the graduate recruitment team)

The assessment centre was well-organised, with eight participants in two groups. Each person had their case study preparation, case study interview, and competency interview sequentially, ensuring everyone finished simultaneously. The partners and interviewers were all excellent.

Case study interview 

We had 25 minutes to individually review and annotate a recent Financial Times article. Frequent reading of UK-related Financial Times articles and understanding their impact on law firms is advised.  

This was followed by a commercial and motivation case study interview with the Graduate Recruitment Partner and the Trainee Development Partner. After a brief introduction and offer of water, I was asked, "Why Akin?" and then we proceeded to the case study interview. 

I was asked to summarise the article, its key themes, and its stance on the subject matter (London airport expansion). I was then asked how these issues might affect Akin and my opinion on them. 

The interviewer likely had more questions but limited the time. Keeping the interview conversational is key, as this is what they are looking for. 

Strengthen your "Why Akin" answer with examples. I mentioned their in-demand practice areas like restructuring and litigation, and how recent US tariffs could cause supply chain issues, company debt, and loan refinancing, leading to high-quality mandates for Akin. I used the ongoing Thames Water case as an example.

Competency interview

Immediately following the case study, I had a competency interview with two associates. They asked me behavioural questions, including:

• Tell us about a time you received constructive feedback and how you responded.
• Describe a time you took initiative at work.
• Tell us about a time you worked with a team with diverse working styles.
• How do you manage multiple deadlines?
• As a trainee, if you were unable to meet a deadline, what would you do?
• What is a pressing issue currently affecting law firms, and how do you think Akin can navigate it?

I also had the opportunity to ask them questions at the end.

Proofreading exercise

We were given a commercial news article to proofread within a 25-minute timeframe. We were instructed to identify grammatical, spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors, as well as instances of American English usage. My advice is to work quickly, as the time passes rapidly, and the document was quite lengthy. 

Group exercise

We were told to imagine that we were stranded on a mountain and needed to reach a location with strong satellite connectivity to call for help by a specific time. Our task was to determine the fastest route and decide which available items would be most practical to carry, and then present our plan to the graduate recruitment team.

We also had to solve a brainteaser before the main exercise. We spent too much time on the brainteaser, leaving us with only 30 minutes for the main exercise. My advice for group exercises is to focus on collaboration. Avoid imposing your opinions, even if you feel strongly about them. I didn't speak as much as others in my group, but I focused on redirecting the team when needed. For instance, the instructions stated we needed to determine our starting location before choosing the best camping location, which I brought to their attention. There were two other instances where I did the same. The graduate recruitment team noted that this made me stand out. Some of my opinions were dismissed, but I remained positive and didn't dwell on it. Understanding Akin's emphasis on collaboration is crucial for success in the group exercise.

What was the outcome?

I got a phone call  the next day from Graduate Recruitment to say that I was successful, and they were impressed with my performance.

Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?

For the online assessment:

• Take your time.
• Emphasise a collaborative approach in your answers. 

For the personality assessment:  

• Position the slider at the highest setting for statements reflecting qualities sought in a vacation scheme applicant: openness to new experiences, ability to work under pressure, and entrepreneurial spirit.
• Mostly avoid intermediate positions.
• Answer authentically.

For the telephone interview:

• Prepare for competency and motivation questions.
• Be prepared to discuss your sources for staying updated on commercial awareness.

For the case study interview

• Frequently read UK-related Financial Times articles and understand their impact on law firms.

For the motivation interview

• Strengthen your "Why Akin" answer with specific examples.
• Keep the interview conversational.

For the competency interview:

• Prepare for behavioural questions.
• Be prepared to discuss pressing issues affecting law firms.

For the proofreading exercise:

• Work quickly and efficiently.

For the group exercise:

• Try to understand the instructions of the task so you can point this out to group members if they are going off on a tangent.
• Avoid imposing your opinions.
• Understand Akin's emphasis on collaboration.

Akin Gump Vacation Scheme - January 2025

What was the full recruitment process?         

1. Application

2. Psychometric test: Akin Blended Test + Watson Glaser Test

3. Assessment centre

4. Vacation scheme

Which aspect does this report cover?

Vacation scheme assessment centre

Where did the assessment centre take place?            

The firm's London office

What did the assessment centre involve?      

1. Group exercise: 60 Mins working in a group of four, on a non-legal problem. 

2. Proofreading exercise: 25 minutes to work through a 7-8 page document and highlight and make amendments to spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes, and identify inconsistencies. 

3. Commercial case study interview: 25 minutes preparation time to analyse an FT article. I was allowed to bring the article and any notes into the interview with me. The interview was then with 2 Partners for roughly 35-40 mins. 

4. Competency and motivation interview: 30 minute interview with a counsel and senior associate. I was asked straightforward competency questions. Again, this was very conversational. I wasn't made to feel stressed at all. 

Group exercise

The exercise centred on being in a group of stranded astronauts on Earth, with no means of communication and the need to reach a rescue site within a time limit. Tasks included calculating coordinates for different locations on a map, choosing what survival items to bring with us (with justifications) and calculating the speed, distance and time for our travel. This was with a member of graduate recruitment and was essentially to see how you work in a team and how you tackle an array of problems. 

Proofreading exercise

25 minutes to work through a 7-8 page document and highlight and make corrections to spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes, and identify inconsistencies. This was fairly straightforward, nothing exactly to trick you out, but ensure you go through the entire document multiple times and check all of your suggestions. 

I wasn’t told how many errors there were in total, nor how many I correctly identified, but I’d say I identified around 50 errors (many of which were repeated).

Commercial interview   

The interview was with 2 partners for roughly 35-40 mins. They asked motivation questions at first, then they asked article-specific questions. It was very conversational and not like I was being pressured or pushed on every little thing I mentioned. My interviewers were really polite and jumped in and gave their opinion when I was stumped by a question, which gave me an opportunity to run with what their arguments were and give a proper answer. 

Motivation questions 

• Why Commercial Law?
• Why Akin? 
• What sets us apart from other firms? 

Legal and commercial awareness questions 

• How does Heathrow’s proposed expansion (mentioned in the article) affect our clients? 
• How can we support them? What opportunities does it provide for them?
• Does the article have any multi-jurisdictional impacts?
• Do you think the UK can achieve economic growth and meet its environmental targets? (again, this was based on something mentioned in the article)

Competency and motivation interview         

Competency questions 

• Tell me about yourself.
• When have you demonstrated initiative and how did it benefit you? 
• When have you worked with someone whose working-style is different to yours? How would you approach working in a team and taking responsibility?
• How do you manage a high workload?
• How would you approach a situation where you cannot meet a deadline?

It was very straightforward. 

What was the outcome?                                                  

The firm phoned me a couple of weeks after the assessment centre informing me I was successful. 

Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?

Akin screen CV-blind, so for both interviews the interviewers do not know anything about you. I’d suggest obviously knowing your CV well but don’t stress about knowing every little detail (just ensure you are well prepared and equipped to talk about 4-5 experiences and go into detail). The firm isn’t looking for the finished article but for you to demonstrate you have the basics and have a commercially sound way of thinking. 

The competency interview is relatively straightforward - be sure to check the firm’s most valued qualities and identify which of your experiences relate the best. The questions are scripted and the interviewers make notes as you’re talking, but the environment is very positive and comfortable. Just try to put your best foot forward and keep it simple. 

For the case study, be sure to make the most of the prep time. Also, one of the most vital aspects is being able to relate the case study to the firm and its clients. When doing so, they really look for your opinion so be sure to demonstrate critical reasoning/give evidence to back up your points.

Also be sure to ask questions at any point if you are unsure; it won’t negatively impact you in any way – if anything, it will show you’re focussed.

Akin Gump Summer Vacation Scheme – February 2024

What was the full recruitment process?         

1. Application
2. Online assessment
3. Telephone interview (~30 minutes with the senior graduate recruitment manager)
4. Assessment centre 
5. Vacation scheme 

Which aspect does this report cover?

Online assessment, telephone interview, and vacation scheme assessment centre 

Online assessment 

This was a strength-based assessment set by Cappfinity. While there isn't a guaranteed formula for passing this stage, I've developed some strategies that have proven helpful:

• Prioritise collaboration over working in isolation.
• Remember your role as a trainee; you're not expected to perform at the level of a senior associate or partner. Take on responsibilities wisely, delegate tasks when appropriate, and seek guidance from supervisors.
• When faced with questions allowing for scaling responses, if you feel confident about one extreme, consider choosing it. Extreme responses don't always indicate negative traits. However, balance is key, and not all questions require choosing an extreme.

The firm emailed me ~1 week after the online assessment to tell me that I had progressed to the telephone interview.

Telephone interview 

The telephone interview lasted about 30 minutes and it was with the senior graduate recruitment manager. She asked questions including: 

• Why law/commercial law?
• Why Akin?
• Where else have you applied?
• What skills can you bring to the firm?
• Talk about some key legal industry trends.
• What challenges is Akin facing?
• Provide a short summary of a commercial issue.  

She also asked some competency questions. One tip I have is when you answer “Why Akin?”, be as specific as you can. I structured it as follows:  

1. Unique positioning in PE, especially with a focus on secondary PE markets

• Explain how I got into PE 
• Explain how it is different from M&A 
• Discuss why Akin has a focus on secondary markets
• Give examples
• Explain how this would benefit me as a trainee 

2. Unique training environment

• Two formal reviews in each seat of the TC 
• Explain how it differs from other American firms 
• Explain how its approach to training would facilitate my success 

The firm emailed me ~1 week after the telephone interview to tell me that I had progressed to the assessment centre.

Where did the assessment centre take place?            

The firm's London office.

What did the assessment centre involve?      

1. Motivation and commercial interview: based on a Financial Times article (30 min prep time, 1 hour interview, with 2 graduate recruitment partners)
2. Competency interview (1 hour with two senior associates)
3. Proofreading exercise: hardcopy mark-up (1 hour)
4. Group exercise (2 hours, assessed by the senior graduate recruitment manager)
5. Networking with trainees 

Motivation and commercial interview    

I was given a Financial Times article (2-3 pages in length) to read for 30 minutes. During this time, I took notes and highlighted key points (on that note, I recommend bringing highlighters to the AC with you). I wasn’t given any specific questions provided for contemplation. When preparing, I focused on these aspects: 

1. Digesting the key facts of the article.
2. Considering its implications for Akin.
3. Evaluating how it might impact Akin’s clients.

The article I received was about interest rates. It was an opinion piece from Financial Times, published the week prior to the AC.  It was easy to digest, with no heavy commercial jargon, and lots of good content to get me thinking about the topic.   

I was then taken to a room with the interviewers. The interview started with standard questions such as: 

1. Why Akin?
2. Why law?
3. Why commercial law?
4. Why did you switch your degree subject to law?
5. What other firms have you applied to? 

This lasted about 25 minutes, and the rest of the time then focused on the article. I was asked to summarise the article, and then asked questions such as: 

1. How do you think the described shifts in the economic cycle could impact the investment decisions of businesses? 
2. With the rise of AI and decarbonisation (as stated in the article), what industries do you believe are poised for growth and why?
3. How do you think the changing economic cycle could impact the legal industry? 
4. The article mentions the potential impact of geopolitical tensions; how do you think these factors influence international business transactions? 
5. How will inflation rates influence our clients and what can we do to support them? 

I think they were assessing the breath of my commercial knowledge and my ability to approach issues from a commercial perspective. They were also checking whether I researched the firm, including its specialities and clients.

Competency interview

This was with two senior associates and mostly consisted of ‘tell me about a time when…’ type questions. I was asked questions including:

1. When have you worked in a team and faced challenges/conflicts?
2. When have you had to work closely with someone whose personality was very different from yours?
3. Tell me about a time when you were under a lot of pressure and how you got through it.
4. When have you had to juggle multiple tasks at the same time?
5. Tell me about a time when you made mistakes.
6. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond for a customer/client.

It wasn’t just a Q&A one-way style interview. It was pretty conversational and informal. Before the AC, I prepared at least 8 different examples using the STAR method, just to practice.

Proofreading exercise 

I was given a 3-page article that discussed a commercial matter, and had to identify:

1. Typographical, spelling, and punctuation errors
2. Formatting and layout errors and inconsistencies (such as page numbers, font size, line spacing etc.)
3. Grammar and syntax errors and anomalies.
4. Repetitions and omissions.

I was able to identify around 35 of them. I was told there were 40 of them to find in total, and successful candidates typically identify at least 30.

Group exercise         

This was perhaps the trickiest part of the day, which led me down. There were 4 of us in one group and we had to prepare a pyramid sales pitch for a pharaoh. The pharaoh was preparing for her death, and wanted to build a pyramid as a tribute to her. 

In order to build the pyramid, we had to consider:

1. Which site to choose.
2. Where to get the materials from.
3. How many people would be needed to build it. 
4. How much it would cost to build.
5. The number of pyramids to build and the size of each.

The article outlined the budget and some of the pharaoh’s objectives and expectations. As there is a lot to consider, our group deviated from thinking about the pharaoh’s objectives and focused on the math more than what the client ultimately wanted. Be mindful that you will need to calculate how much it would cost to build and for how long. This isn’t simple! 

What was the outcome?                                                  

The firm emailed me a week after the assessment centre to tell me I had been unsuccessful.

Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?

The motivation and competency questions are straightforward. They really go through your work experience and application, so it is important to know your experiences inside out. Although they have scripted questions, they just want to know you as a person. 

The commercial interview is also straightforward. Use the 30 minutes to understand the material in detail. Sign up for FT and read the news daily to prepare yourself. When reading it, always think about how this would impact firms and their clients. Ask questions if you do not understand.

The group interview is the most challenging, as you cannot really prepare in detail for it. If you are not confident with maths, just be honest with the team and delegate the work effectively. Avoid spending time trying to grasp the complex mathematical concepts. Remember, the graduate recruitment team observes every action and word, even during preparation for the sales pitch. They want to see how well you work as a team, and not how brilliant you are with math. 

Akin Gump Vacation Scheme – January 2023

What was the full recruitment process?         

1. Application

2. Psychometric test: Watson Glaser

3. Telephone interview 

4. Assessment centre

5. Vacation Scheme 

Which aspects does this report cover?

Telephone interview and assessment centre

Telephone interview

This was a 30-minute phone interview with the head of graduate recruitment, which took place two days after I received an email offering me the phone interview.

The interview involved a mixture of competency and motivation questions, including:

• Why law?
• Why Akin Gump?
• Tell me about a time you worked in a team.
• How do you approach building relationships with others? 
• Tell me about a time you completed a project. How did you ensure it was finished on time?

It was a very relaxed interview. Being on the phone meant that I could have notes in front of me and work from them without being concerned about whether I was looking at a camera.

A week after the telephone interview, I received an email inviting me to an assessment centre, which was scheduled to take place 5 days later.

Where did the assessment centre take place?            

The firm's London office.

What did the assessment centre involve?      

1. Commercial interview: discussion involving a recent article from the Financial Times (30 minutes preparation time, 30-minute interview with 2 partners)

2. General interview: competency and motivation questions (30 minutes with an associate and a member of the HR team)

3. Proofreading exercise: spotting spelling and grammatical errors (30 minutes)

4. Group task: group discussion and presentation based on a fictional business scenario (30 minutes with a member of the recruitment team) 

Commercial scenario        

This interview was referred to as a commercial interview. I wasn’t given any further information prior to the assessment centre. 

On the day, I was given 30 minutes to read and analyse a recent article from the Financial Times entitled “Shell expects $2.4bn hit from UK and EU windfall taxes”. Immediately after this reading time, I went into an interview room with two partners. The partners asked questions on the article, including: 

• What are the key points from the article?
• How could the article be relevant to Akin Gump?

The partners also asked about whether I agreed with the taxes and why I thought that the ex-CEO of Shell might have said that Shell should embrace the taxes. I was really pushed on my opinions (so you should use the 30 minutes reading time to carefully think through your opinions so that you can expand on them and justify them).

General interview         

This was a fairly standard 30-minute interview with an associate and a member of the HR team. It was quite relaxed, although the interviewers seemed to stick to a script most of the time (they only occasionally asked follow up questions).

Competency questions

• Tell me about yourself?
• Tell me about a time you have worked with a difficult person.
• How do you handle and organise a workload? 
• How do you deal with pressure? 
• Do you generally find yourself to be a leader?

Motivation questions

• Why did you become interested in law?
• Why Akin Gump? 

Proofreading exercise

I was given 30 minutes to read an article and highlight various errors (this involved marking up a hardcopy document). The article provided was quite long (given the time limit) and there were a large number of mistakes within it. These ranged from misspellings and bad grammar, to obvious typos. 

I would recommend first running through the whole article fairly quickly so that you have the chance to spot the very obvious mistakes throughout. You could then go back through the as much of the article as possible in more detail to look for more subtle errors. Do not overthink however, as mistakes were generally obvious. 

Group task 

I was placed in a group of four. We were told that we were working for a construction company and had to decide which building site to build on, and which building materials to use (we had two options for the site and for the materials). We were provided with a brief setting out the client’s objectives, plus information including budgets, timescales etc..

We were told that at the end we would have to present for 5 minutes and explain our ideas. We were not given direction on how to do this, but we worked as group to divide the material between each person, and made sure that everyone had the opportunity to present. After the presentation, our assessor asked basic questions about each aspect covered.

As with all group exercises, we were assessed on how we operated as a team. Overall, it was light-hearted and the group seemed to have fun during the task. 

What was the outcome?                                                  

The firm emailed me a week after the assessment centre to tell me I had been unsuccessful.

Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare?

Both the telephone interview and assessment centre were scheduled on very short notice, so I would recommend preparing early in anticipation of an interview. 

The commercial interview caught me off guard, as I thought it would centre on the commercial question I had submitted as part of my original application (as opposed to a totally different article). Be prepared to be questioned on why you believe things are justified from an ethical/moral perspective (I hadn’t expected this).

You cannot really prepare for the proofreading exercise. Remember not to question the facts presented in the article and the content more generally – you’re being tested on your ability to spot mistakes, not your general knowledge. 

You also cannot really prepare in detail for the group task. However, treat others courteously and perhaps volunteer to keep track of time.