Fifteen years ago it is likely that a student would have secured a training contract with a commercial law firm in London by writing a letter to the firm, being invited to an interview and being offered a job.
These days, most larger commercial law firms are more sophisticated in the way they go about finding their trainee solicitors. During the selection process a variety of assessment methods can be used. These include lengthy application forms, structured interviews, group exercises, psychometric tests (both personality and aptitude), competency-based tests (such as fact-finding, prioritising or simple legal/commercial exercises) and presentations. Many firms now use assessment centres encompassing many of these methods to review short-listed candidates.
