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Choosy law firms raise the bar for applicants

13 October 2010 | By Corinne McPartland

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A number of firms have radically overhauled their selection procedures in a bid to weed out weak applicants as competition for training contracts remains high.

Herbert Smith has added two exercises to its recruitment process to test what the firm calls ‘intellectual ability’. The top 10 outfit will be adding an online situational judgement test, which candidates will have to take when they first fill in their application form.

Would-be lawyers will also have to take a logical reasoning test, which has been added to the existing verbal reasoning exam.

Herbert Smith head of resourcing Peter Chater said: “We think we’re improving the objectivity of our selection process by introducing online testing. We’re able to reduce the length of our application form and will be able to respond to candidates more quickly.”

Elsewhere, SNR Denton will be introducing psychometric testing to its online application form, while Addleshaw Goddard is adding a verbal reasoning test to its existing selection procedure.

Addleshaws graduate recruitment manager Brett Galloway said: “We’ve put in this extra stage to make the application process as robust as possible and I think it’s necessary to use other tools apart from the usual application form because it’s often difficult to differentiate between applicants on the basis of academics alone.”

Meanwhile, Pinsent Masons has introduced a telephone interview element to its recruitment process. But the firm’s graduate recruitment manager Edward Walker has denied that the extra test is just another hoop for candidates to jump through.

“This is for candidates to prove that they’re right for the firm beyond a piece of paper,” insisted Walker. “As an increasing number of people apply for a career in law, we’ll need more ways to distinguish between applicants other than the traditional application form.”

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Readers' comments (12)

  • Anonymous | 13-Oct-2010 3:55 pm

    Sounds like HR staff trying to justify their existence to me.

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  • Anonymous | 13-Oct-2010 4:08 pm

    I am so pleased that I am not just starting out today

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  • Julian Summerhayes | 13-Oct-2010 4:13 pm

    Wouldn't it be interesting to see this process applied right across the board in law firms? I am all in favour of recruiting A star candidates but the bar should be raised right across the firm. I imagine there would be too much risk attached to failure.

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  • Anonymous | 14-Oct-2010 10:25 am

    I think it's a bit presumptious for law firms to use these tests to weed out applicants who are not "right for the firm". I'd like to see the law firms first subject all their existing staff (particularly partners) to these tests and publish the results.

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  • sam smyth | 14-Oct-2010 2:48 pm

    This tightening of the application is particularly alarming for those of us wanting to enter a legal profession but what is it exactly in aid of? Surely good training and experience supercedes some one with a few IQ points more than the next person unless lawfirms have begun to try and hustle pub quizzes...

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  • Greg | 14-Oct-2010 6:36 pm

    Sam they need to pick them somehow. Simple fact is if you have more applicants you probably want better tools to (quickly and efficiently) decide which ones to take.

    Quite frankly when they have thousands of applicants for a few dozen places then it is definitely a buyer's market!

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  • Anonymous | 15-Oct-2010 0:04 am

    Sadly some of the most gifted and talented of God's creation may go unnoticed.

    Lawyers would do well to develop their capacity to 'discern' and ask God for His wisdom in the selection process - try it - it might just work!

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  • Oli Smith | 15-Oct-2010 2:36 am

    Just a question as to "choosyness". I am currently a law student studyigfor the LLB and hoping to get a good 1st. I also got A*A*A*A at A Level. I was offered a palce at LSE, but didnt want to go in the end. I didnt apply to Oxford because I didn't want to study Jurisprudence.
    Instead I specifically chose Lancaster University (currently "only" no 8 in the country (6 in Guardian)).

    Is the fact that I didn't go to Oxford or Cambridge going to rul me out of applying to many of the competetive sets in London??

    Thanks

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  • Big Dave | 15-Oct-2010 2:51 pm

    Oli Smith, your spelling hints at the reason firms are no longer happy to rely on exam grades.

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  • Anonymous | 15-Oct-2010 4:20 pm

    To "Oli Smith" - I'm afraid that it's not the impressive volume of A & A* grades you got at A Level that'll "rule you out", it's your failure to do the simple things like spell checking your own comment, which is just littered with errors. Repeat that on application forms and yours will just end up in the bin.
    It isn't all about just getting good grades.

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