Withers
Withers training contract – May 2022
What was the full recruitment process?
- Application
- Online strengths-based test
- Interview
- Offer
Apparently Withers has since introduced an additional assessment centre at the end of the process.
Which aspect does this report cover?
Interview
Where did the interview take place?
Online, via Microsoft Teams.
What did the interview involve?
Competency, motivation and commercial questions (90 minutes, with a partner and a member of the HR team)
- 30 minutes motivational questions
- 15 minutes competency based questions
- 30 minutes commercial questions
- 10 minutes to ask questions
During my interview (which should have been an hour long, but went over by 30 minutes), I encountered a diverse range of questions that delved into various aspects of my background and motivations.
The interview began with questions about my academic journey, including:
- Why law?
- Why did you decide to study the PGDL?
- Which subjects did you enjoy the most?
- What areas of law are you most interested in and why?
- Why Withers?
- What about its international focus appeals? (this was something I had mentioned on my application)
Following this, I faced competency questions. They were:
- Tell us about a time you have broken the rules.
- Tell us about a time you have made a quick decision.
- Tell us about a time you worked as part of a team and faced conflicts.
- Do you enjoy working with other people?
- When was your biggest failure?
I think they had a list of questions to ask as they had a paper with the questions in front of them. They also had a copy of my application and asked questions based on my answers.
As I shared my interest in wanting to practice IP law, they also asked me questions such as:
- How would you explain the importance of protecting IP rights to a non-legal audience?
- What are GDPR regulations? (I originally brought GDPR up)
- Suppose a client is launching a new product incorporating innovative tech. How would you advise them on protecting their IP rights while also maximising market share?
It was perhaps the most difficult commercial questions I have received, and I struggled to provide satisfactory responses.
At the end, I was asked questions including:
- What do trainees typically do on a day-to-day basis?
- What other firms have you applied to?
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 scenario questions are straight forward. For the motivation questions, prepare answers (without scripting them) for why law and why withers, and you will be fine. For the commercial questions, I think it is important to choose an area that you can confidentiality discuss with the partners. I mentioned IP during the interview and that led me to commercial questions around IP. I wasn’t prepared to answer commercial questions and legal questions specific to IP and this was the reason I wasn’t successful. Choose one area of law and delve deep into it.