If you have any questions with regards to your application or the application form please refer to our FAQ page or alternatively please contact the graduate recruitment team.
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Assessment process
First year insight day assessment
Applicants will be invited for a telephone interview before offers for a place on our insight day are made. In addition to outstanding academics, the qualities we look for in applicants to our insight day are the same as those we look for in our people. These include strong communication skills, attention to detail, research skills, drive, motivation, resilience and an interest in City law.
Vacation scheme assessment
Successful vacation scheme applicants will be invited to attend one of our assessment days. In the morning you will be assessed for the vacation scheme, taking part in a group exercise and a written exercise. You will get to talk to our partners and trainees over lunch, followed by interviews with HR and one of our partners. The remainder of the afternoon will be spent work shadowing in one of our practice areas.
Training contract assessment
Assessment days comprise of partner interviews, a series of written exercises and a group exercise and presentation. We do not make it a condition of a training contract offer that candidates have attended a vacation scheme at the firm. If candidates are unsuccessful or unable to attend a vacation scheme that does not disbar you from applying for a training contract.
Our assessment days are intentionally demanding - we set high standards in everything - but they are also, for most people, enjoyable, stimulating and illuminating. We keep our recruitment procedures under constant review to ensure that they are meritocratic but also that there are no elements that stand in the way of the recruitment of candidates from a wide range of universities and backgrounds.
We want to recruit the best candidates regardless of their background or where they were educated. The majority of our assessment processes for both our vacation schemes and training contracts are scored CV blind. We also use a contextual recruitment tool to understand each applicant's achievements in the context in which they have been gained. We understand that not every candidate's achievements look the same on paper and we are a firm that believes passionately in meritocracy and diversity.
Macfarlanes is unlike any other law firm - we expect you to use the assessments as a chance to build your understanding of us and what makes us different, just as we see it as a chance to gain an understanding of you.
