I applied online. I interviewed at Freshfields (London, England) in Mar 2021
Interview
There were 3 parts to the Interview.
The 1st was a writing exercise, simply fixing an email as per the instructions given. No legal knowledge needed for this stage.
The 2nd was an interview with a partner and a member of HR. Both were friendly. They had a set of questions that they had to ask, even if you had already covered some parts of those questions in your previous answers. This led to some instances of me needing to repeat examples of my skills and experiences.
The 3rd stage was the most fun. They sent me an article on autonomous vehicles and we then discussed the article's contents and the general factors affecting this market. I really enjoyed this part and it definitely felt more of a conversation than the 2nd stage.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time you went beyond what was expected of you?
How do you handle a co-worker who is slacking off?
What is your biggest failure?
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%
Skills test: 15%
IQ intelligence test: 15%
One on one interview: 15%
Other: 8%
Phone interview: 8%
Personality test: 8%
Presentation: 8%
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