I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Freshfields (Hong Kong) in Dec 2017
Interview
First, there is an online application. After around two weeks, I received an email that I had to complete a written assessment online within a week. Two days later, I was invited to an interview which lasted for around 50 minutes.
Competency and article interview, more commercial than legal questions. Lots of tell me about a time you showed X quality. Questions were more general not based on my application, were friendly
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Freshfields (London, England)
Interview
Interview with two lawyers - one partner one senior associate.
Competency questions and commercial awareness questions, relating to recent news. The interviewers were nice but one was tougher than the other and challenged me a lot on my views regarding commercial awareness.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a situation where you had to work together in a team to tackle a difficult problem
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Freshfields (London, England) in Jan 2025
Interview
- Online application
- Watson-Glaser Test + written exercise
- Assessment centre (general interview + analytical interview)
Written exercise is quite straightforward, consisting of a proofreading exercise.
General interview was 1 hour long and mainly competency-based, with some hypothetical scenario questions. I was also asked the typical 'why commercial law', 'why Freshfields' questions. They also asked a lot of questions about my business of reselling vintage clothing.
For the analytical interview, I was given an article to read + take notes on for 30 minutes + then I was asked questions on it for 50 minutes or so.
All interviewers were very friendly which helped me to relax. Further, I had a sense that, especially during the analytical interview, they were trying to guide you to the answer they were looking for if you didn't quite get it.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
For the general interview:
A partner (who is not your supervisor) has given you very negative feedback regarding your work (which you don't think is justified). How would you react?
Are you going to miss being on the 'exciting' side of business (buying, selling, figuring out how to maximise profit etc.) when you move over to the more 'boring' legal aspects?
I see that you have attended an open day at X firm. How are we different to them?
Do you normally take on a leadership role in a team?
How do you deal with assertive people who want to domineer over everyone in a group project?
What are the key skills a solicitor needs to have/develop?
As a solicitor, you will have to work on many projects at once. How do you go about organising/managing your time?
For the analytical interview:
Some of the questions required pulling out information from the article/giving my opinion on the company's business strategies + problems they might face, and other questions were more broad.
Could you provide me with a summary of the article?
What are some of the differences between debt and equity financing? If you were in the position of the company, which method would you use to raise capital and why?
What are the advantages of seeking an IPO? What are the challenges?
Summer Vacation Scheme applicants have rated the interview process at Freshfields with 4 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 100% positive. To compare, the company-average is 62.8% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Summer Vacation Scheme roles take an average of 21 days to get hired, when considering 1 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Freshfields overall takes an average of 28 days.
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