Travers Smith interviews

Hey everyone,

I have an interview at Travers Smith for their Christmas vac scheme next week. Has anyone here any experience of what the interview itself will actually be like - and any specific memories of questions asked or areas I should research?

Thanks for any help!

Is it bad of me that I very nearly didn't apply to Travers Smith because of the bloody awful grad recruitment website? I detest having to go on that site to see those red dots and endless loading animations... eugh. Still, the app is nearly finished! I'm gonna leave it a couple of hours, re-read and submit. Here's hoping...

there are some firms i very nearly didn't apply to - or in fact didn't apply to - because of difficult to navigate websites.

Man up! The both of you!

Be prepared for some curveballs. It's not really your standard City firm interview. The first half will be all of the rubbish about your CV, your motivations for law, why Travers, etc. Then out of the blue they'll probably ask you something strange. I got asked "if you could introduce any Bill to Parliament, what would it be?" Then based on my answers they asked a series of more complex morality-based questions which, although I'm sure they'd deny it, are designed to try and trip you up. Then I got asked some professional ethics questions including a scenario.

I've heard people who got asked about what they'd speak about at Speakers' Corner, whether it's ever okay to lie, etc. Stuff that's not really related to law. I just had a quick look on RollOnFriday (which, incidentally is very useful for interview questions, just go to the Training Contracts discussion board and use the 'Search' function) and some more questions are:

"Do you feel guilty for having bought your education?"
"Do you agree with positive discrimination?"
"Do you think you should have to employ a pregnant woman?"

EDIT: Sorry, that makes it sound a bit scary. I actually found it to be a pretty nice interview. They gave lots of opportunities for me to talk about what I wanted to, so you can direct the discussion, to an extent.

Thanks for that, had the interview yesterday and it was exactly like you said! Really want to know the outcome now, how long did it take them to get back to you?

cxg687, how long did it take for Travers to get back to you after you initially applied?

cxg687, how long did it take for Travers to get back to you after you initially applied?

In which case, the 31st is 'D-Day' for me...

Hi guys,
I was wondering if anyone could offer me any insight into how my VS interview might have gone as I feel a little nervous about it!

Basically I got asked the "if you could introduce any bill" question which, despite a lot of contradictory arguments from the interviewer, I think I managed to answer and stick to my guns fairly well. However, as far as I am aware he didn't really ask me any moral/ethics questions and the interview lasted for about 20 mins of the half hour allotted. The girl in the next door room had 50 mins and I don't know if it is a good or a bad sign that mine was short! I was friendly, relaxed and confident but am nervous about the fact that he appeared to have made his mind up so quickly! Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Thanks in advance for any replies!
Caroline.