Application Process & Interviews at DLA Piper Australia

2x interviews, one on strengths and weaknesses and one on getting to know the candidate - Interviews followed by informal catch-up with buddies - No assessment centre/psychometric tests - HR and recruitment was mostly personal (expect acceptance emails addressed to 'dear all'') and accommodated for necessary personal situations

The recruitment process has never really made sense to me. I know a lot of brilliant candidates who have been weeded out by the firm's selection processes, but others make it through because they know someone working at the firm already. To be fair, I think some positive changes to the firm's recruitment strategy have started to occur in the past year or so, but its overall approach to recruitment could be better thought-through. The firm used to conduct assessment centres for hiring, which are a good idea in theory but often weren't well organised. I believe it is just a standard application process/interview now.

I think the Hiring process was fine and that communication was quite well done. I think for clerk recruitment the amount of assessment was a bit excessive but I understand the need for it as there were so many applicants.

HR is absolutely wonderful and great people, interviewing process was quite long with an assessment, altogether it was about 3 hours long

Clerkship process was difficult, but rewarding.

The hiring process is extremely thorough. Interviews are in person and followed by assessment centre activities and group tasks.

For the Clerkship/Graduate program: 1. Submit resume, and academic transcripts 2. Perform psychometric testing 3. Assessment centre consisting of a team assessment, individual pitch, and interview.

The clerkship process involves the submission of a resume to the firm's website, followed by psychometric testing (everyone's favourite!). This is followed by a half day assessment centre which involves a group activity, presentation and 1-on-1 interview. If chosen, completion of the clerkship program is essentially your application to become a graduate.

The interview process involved an initial application to be a clerk in my penultimate year of university. This was a simple CV submission and responses to certain questions. Once your application had been chosen to progress, there was an assessment centre held over half a day which involved group and individual activities, including an interview and commercial pitch scenario. If you are successful in this, you are offered a clerkship which involves spending four weeks with the firm within a team, participating as a member of the team. Your performance as a clerk is considered when the firm makes decisions about graduates. Some of the clerks will then be offered a graduate position in the August following your clerkship.

The grad assessment centre was less stressful than anticipated. The firm provided a morning tea and applicants could socialise in between the interview and assessments. The partner who interviewed me was genuinely interested in hearing about my experience and ambitions both within the law and outside of it.

DLA Piper's assessment centre was the most involved and comprehensive of the firms that I applied, interned with and received graduate offers from. It comprised three components: (1) individual interview; (2) a group-based problem solving task, and (3) an individual presentation.

The applications were all online, and then there was one half day in person which included an assessment centre and interview.

We had to do a written application, then an online psychometric assessment, finally we had an assessment centre where we had an interview, group task and practical task.

1. Submit resume 2. Complete online assessment 3. In-person assessment centre (group assessment, individual assessment and individual interview).

The interview process was very comprehensive - it was the longest process of all my clerkship interview processes. It involved an assessment centre which was divided into three sessions, which were each designed to evaluate different skill subsets.

Interview process for clerkships included an assessment centre in 3 parts - partner interview, case study presentation, group case study session.

Biggest strengths - Biggest weaknesses - Worked in a team

When I was interviewed the list of questions was a stock list of questions dictated by the London office that every office had to ask. While I can't remember all the questions specifically and I don't know whether the firm still uses these questions for recruitment) I remember that not all the questions made sense for hiring in an Australian context. Some questions I was asked were why I wanted to work at the firm, what areas/sectors within the firm I was interested in, how I respond to challenges and whether I prioritise timeliness or perfection.

We were asked to look into a business proposal for a pizza shop.

General understanding of the law and behavioral questions designed to analyse critical thinking

Why do you want a job at this particular company rather than others operating in the same space? What are your interests? What are your ambitions and hopes for the future?

I was asked a variety of questions which ranged from my previous experience at the Company and other questions which involved discussions regarding my university experiences, grades, and life skills.

Why are you interested in a career in law? Behavioural questions about personal interests and hobbies.

I think knowing your CV back to front is definitely key during an interview. I was asked specific questions about my previous experience in regard to what I learnt, what challenged me, whether there was a time I made a mistake and how was it rectified. Knowing your strengths, what experience you have gained and how it is relevant to a law firm and the commerciality of a law firm is really important as well. If you think working in retail or hospitality isn't relevant, I can tell you it is. In the end we provide a service to customers/clients so don't be afraid to talk about the skills you have learnt from the positions you have held, no matter what level or skill it was.

I was asked, among other things: 1. Why I was interested in DLA Piper? 2. How I have dealt with conflicts in the past? 3. What attributes I think make someone a good lawyer?

Situational questions predominantly but also question about personal passions and interests

Standard questions regarding interpersonal and workplace skills (e.g. how you deal with conflict, how you work with others, strengths and weaknesses, working towards deadlines etc) and whether I had any questions about the firm.

General questions about university, what areas of law I am interested in, how I handle stress and confrontation, what I enjoy doing on the weekends .

Why do you want to work at DLA Piper? How do you deal with challenges or conflict?

I was asked about: why I wanted to work at DLA Piper, what experiences/skills/attributes made me well-suited to working at DLA Piper, what areas I was interested in working in.

Make sure answers are commercial in nature. DLA Piper is a commercial law firm, so make sure you show off your commercial thinking skills

It would help you to get face time with someone from the office you want to work at before you start the recruitment process. For example, ask a lawyer for coffee to discuss what they do, and refer to what you've learned in your cover letter/application.

I think just work on your communication skills, and learn how to interact with colleagues. I think in the next few cohorts of clerks and graduates this might start becoming a problem as their social growth was halted by Covid-19, especially if they were in University of Highschool.

BE confident in your own ability and understand how to market yourself in terms of personal brand, knowledge and both employment and life experiences. The people hiring you are humans too.

Know the Company, the values, and the culture.

Interviews are often more about getting to know a person and their personality rather than testing their technical knowledge or skills. This is often forgotten by eager interviewees. Treat the interview process simply as a two-way conversation of sorts - one in which you put your best foot forward.

I think the obvious points would be to do your due diligence, make sure you have researched the firm, look at what we're up to, what we stand for etc. I think the best tip would be to go to the open days or law fairs and have a chat to someone who works for the firm so you can get a sense of what it's like.

It's the most cliched and overused tip but be yourself! By all means, prepare appropriately by reading a bit about the company. However, in my experience, this firm really looks for people who are genuine, so the best way to do that is to be yourself.

Research the firm. Know what we do and who some of our major clients are.

My principal advice is know about DLA Piper, its goals and its place in the market (in Australia and internationally). The best preparation is to know what the firm has been doing and how its goals align with your own.

Research the firm - what is its brand, what is it known for and what are they proud of - then reflect on how this aligns with your own professional goals and experiences. Then be able to talk in detail about your own goals and experiences in line with why that makes you an ideal, outstanding fit for the company.

Read about the company, try to understand how clients think and operate, read about key people in the company as they will be likely to interview you and think about why DLA Piper is different to its competitors.

Read and learn about the sectors at DLA Piper, and the practice groups in each office. Consider whether that field genuinely interests you, and if so, show a genuine interest and ask questions pertaining to them at your interview. Don't stress about not having enough legal experience. Think about how your interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence would benefit your desired practice areas.

Attend events. Be yourself. Apply critical commercial thinking.