I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Freshfields (London, England) in Aug 2016
Interview
Competency interview - like a relaxed conversation, getting to know me; written exercise - various questions on correspondence and instructions and also editing an email; analytical interview - intense. Not something one can really prepare for. Strong test of commercial ability, ability to think on feet and deal with pressure. By far the hardest interview of my life but great experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why not a barrister? Why a solicitor?
How else can a business run the operations of a building with out franchising or owning the building?
What do you do to relax in your busy schedule?
What recent news has caught your interest?
How do you think RevPAR is calculated?
Two interviews, general and analytical. In person. Written test too. Two interviewers in each interview (different individuals in each). Competency based questions and then questions based on a commercial article.
Smooth interview process - first was a competency/motivation interview with HR and a partner, second was a news article analysis interview also with HR and a partner (different individuals of course).
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Freshfields (Quarry Bay) in Jul 2023
Interview
written English test, mandarin test, presentation, interview. interview was with one partner and one HR. mandarin test was on reading aloud some passages and translation, so students need to know certain legal phrases in chinese before tackling the assessment
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
why is there supply chain disruption how does it impact the business
Trainee Solicitor applicants have rated the interview process at Freshfields with 3.4 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 60% positive. To compare, the company-average is 62.8% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Trainee Solicitor roles take an average of 26 days to get hired, when considering 5 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Freshfields overall takes an average of 28 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Freshfields as a Trainee Solicitor according to 5 Glassdoor interviews include:
Group panel interview: 23%
One on one interview: 15%
Skills test: 15%
IQ intelligence test: 15%
Personality test: 8%
Presentation: 8%
Phone interview: 8%
Other: 8%
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