What is the Broadwick Live Graduate Paralegal 2023/24 role? 

This opportunity is a one-year graduate placement with Broadwick Live as an in-house paralegal (based in their London office). This is the first time Broadwick Live has launched a graduate scheme, giving those interested in working in the cross-section between law and the creative industries the opportunity to gain invaluable experience. 

What was the full recruitment process?         

1. Application: CV and cover letter (applied via Indeed). 

2. Creative task: I had to creatively answer the questions “Why Broadwick?” and “Why you?” using any medium I wanted to. 

3. Assessment centre: interactive tasks and interviews. 

4. Final round interview: 45 minutes at the company’s office, with two members of the legal department and a member of the HR team. 

Which aspect does this report cover?

Graduate Paralegal Scheme assessment centre 

Where did the assessment centre take place?            

Magazine London (one of the organisation’s most famous venues). 

What did the assessment centre involve?      

1. Presentations from Broadwick Live employees: this provided an overview of the organisation and what different teams do, as well as the opportunity to ask questions. 

2. Cocktail making group task: working as a group to design and making a cocktail that reflected Broadwick Live’s values  (~20 minutes to prep, and a 5 minute pitch assessed by two members of senior management) 

3. Event planning group task: working as a group to pitch an idea for an eventat one of Broadwick Live’s venues (~20 minutes preparation, 5 minute pitch assessed by a panel which included the Broadwick Live CEO).

4. Interview with assessor: motivation and competency questions (~5 minutes with a member of the wider Broadwick Live team). 

5. Speed interview: six one-minute speed interviews with different members of the Broadwick Live team (~30 minutes). 

Cocktail making group task 

We were placed into groups of 4-6 candidates. Group members had applied for a range of different graduate schemes at Broadwick Live and represented a variety of disciplines. We were tasked with conceptualising a sours cocktail (a particular type of cocktail) themed around the values of Broadwick Live. We then had to make the cocktail in front of two judges (two members of the senior management team), whilst pitching the concept.

The task began with a demonstration of how to make a sours cocktail. We then worked on the cocktail recipe and design as a team in the presence of our assigned assessor. The assessor would inject at times to ask questions and remind us of the time limit. Some of the cocktail demonstrators would also wander around the groups, asking about ideas and giving some hints and tips.

Given my public speaking experience, I opted to help with the pitching part of the process, working with the two cocktail makers and the other girl pitching to help communicate our vision for the cocktail and, importantly, link it back to the values of Broadwick Live. I suggested using visual aids; we had A3 sheets of paper on which we wrote out the values of Broadwick and explained how they linked back to the cocktail. Our cocktail was called the ‘Leep a faith’ (as an anagram, it represented each of the values of Broadwick Live).

The winners each received two tickets to a show of their choice at Printworks!

Event planning group task

For this aspect of the assessment centre, we remained in the same group as for the cocktail making group task. We were given twenty minutes to quickly and creatively conceptualise an event at any of Broadwick’s venues. We then had to pitch our idea to a panel, which included the Broadwick Live CEO.

The twenty-minute time limit meant I had to steer the brainstorming of the more creative members of the team towards making a decision, since we did not have the time to explore endless possibilities. I ensured throughout that each member of the team knew what they would be saying during the pitch, as ultimately whilst it was important for an interesting idea to be presented, it was equally important that the idea was pitched well. As with the cocktail task, an assessor was there to observe, ask questions and remind us of the time.

During the pitch, I focused on demonstrating my legal awareness as I spoke about the legal implications of running the event. This was well received by the panel and across all of the other group presentations, I was the only one to mention such implications. By the end of our five minute pitch, the group received questions from the panel, testing the robustness of our event plan. 

Again, the winners each received two tickets to a show of their choice at Printworks.    

Interview with assessor 

• Why do you want to work for Broadwick Live? 
• What three things do you look for in a working culture? 
• What motivates you? 

Speed interview questions 

• What is a controversial opinion that you have? 
• Where would you most like to travel in the world? 
• What is the best piece of advice somebody has given you? 
• What was your dream job when you were a child? 
• What is your biggest phobia? 
• What is the best joke you know? 

Do you have any specific advice on how to prepare? 

Know your application. What did you write on your CV? What attracts you to the organisation and how does that link back to your experiences? What do you want to build upon from your application in the interviews? By thinking about these things, you’re then able to treat the interviews as your opportunity to shine. 

Think about why you want to work in-house at a creative company. Broadwick Live is an event venue company first and foremost, so bring out your interest in that industry first and then link it back to why law in this area. What makes the legal implications of a creative company more interesting than other kinds of in-house legal work? What comparisons could you draw out and why would you want to do this over being a barrister/private practice solicitor?

Show off your legal skills. Many of the people attending the assessment centre are going after creative roles like marketing or events management, so the tasks naturally show the assessors their skills in these areas. It’s more difficult in these creative circumstances to show off your legal knowledge. Particularly in the event planning task, ask yourself ‘What are the legal implications of planning, organising and running an event?’ so that in the pitch, you can then discuss those implications to the audience in order to demonstrate your legal skills.

What was the outcome?                                                  

The firm emailed me a fortnight after the assessment centre informing me that I had been shortlisted for the final interview. As I had another opportunity lined up, I declined the final round interview.