Herbert Smith Training Contract Interview Questions

Herbert Smith interview and application procedure

The interview and application process at Herbert Smith is:

• Online application
• Interview day

Interview day

• Case study questions
• Partner interview

Case Study

Upon arrival you will be taken to a private room and given one hour to read through a case study and answer four questions. The case study is quite technical. You will have contracts to look at and these may be ambiguously worded. Pay attention to exactly what the questions ask of you.

The case study will consist of approximately eight pages of information. There will be a few pages which are contracts and a few which are information about the issue/companies in question. Herbert Smith recommend that candidates spend roughly 25 minutes reading through the case study information and the other 35 to answer the questions set out as part of the study. Candidates should have plenty of time to complete the case study.

Partner Interview

After the hour long case study exercise, two partners will join you for a further hour long interview. They will start by discussing the case study with you, although they won't necessarily ask you about the questions which were printed with the case study.

This discussion is relatively relaxed, and candidates are free to ask questions if they don't understand something, or need something explained in more detail. Your interviewers are interested in how candidates solve problems, and the way answers are structured, and less interested in candidates coming to the correct answer.

For the final 30 minutes of this interview, your assessors will discuss your CV and application form. They will be trying to find out who you are and what kind of activites you enjoy. Try to be outgoing and talk about yourself with passion and enthusiasm. Explain why you enjoy any social activities you do and what you have achieved, both personally and socially from partaking in these activites.