Dechert

Sorry for the spelling error Dechert!!!not a cery good start!

I have no idea but usually written exercises consist of:

• A numerical reasoning and verbal reasoning test.
• Writing a letter to a client or manager explaining a situation.

With all written exercises there are time limits, so you must plan your time, and no spell checker provided, so you must be confident of the words you use!

I'd very surprised if they throw much else at you. The best thing to do is give them a ring and ask them the same question- they'll almost certianly tell you what's involved.

I have no first hand experience either but I do know it's very competitive. You can expect 30 people plus to be on your Assessment Centre with you. It's an American firm, so you'll be paid incredibly large amounts from day one if you get the job, but to get the job you need to prove that you'll live, breathe and die for Dechert.. and if they ask you, probably even kill.

Seriously though, you need to be very very enthusiastic and assertive at the interview/assessments. You need to research this firm so that you know bucket loads to talk about during the AC interviews and be very clued up on current commercial awareness issues and importantly, how they are/will effect law firms and in particular, Dechert.

You should also put some thought/research in to improving your general commercial awareness knowledge - expect questions such as "define hedge funds", "what is private equity" and "how does the FTSE 100 work"?

About the Assessment Centre specifically - I imagine at least one interview will be with a partner and one with HR. I'd expect that one will feature some kind of case study, role play or presentation too.

Have a look at the WikiJob interview profiles for other law firms and pay particular attention to the written exercises they use. I expect Dechert will probably give you:

• (1) a test, although this may be something like the watson glaser critical thinking test rather than SHL and;
• (2) an exercise where you must advise a client on a legal issue (although almost certainly no prior legal knowledge will be required). This will prrobably involve sifting through a large pack of written information (try to focus on the key parts and read quickly) and writing a letter (focus on structuring your letter appropriately).

Will you let us know how it goes and what happens? It would be good to make a wiki interview profile for Decert - and you could definitely help us!

This article on written exercises might help too!

Thanks very much for all your help. It look like it is going to be pretty tough

Do let us know how it goes, it would be good to build a really good wiki profile on Dechert.