Reading Time: 5 minutesCompanies often call us up with their specifications for in-house legal posts, and this invariably involves a little bit of negotiation on what is essential and what is desirable. Quite often companies start with the idea that certain particulars are essential, but after reviewing CVs for a little while, realise that actually a lot of…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice This is a difficult question because it is asking you to in some way criticise work colleagues and to perhaps idolise other work colleagues. This is a question potentially loaded towards the interviewer as opposed to the interviewee. At its rawest form you could end up giving an answer that indicates to the interview…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAdvice This is another question where you need to have a stock of answers ready to be tailored according to the particular question that is put to you. This one gives you the chance to demonstrate something of quality that pushes your case with the company in relation to the role you are applying for…
Reading Time: 2 minutesHow to change your CV and improve it dramatically with this simple hack. Simply change your profile at the top of your CV so that is actually reflects who you are and not the usual nonsense that 90% of CVs seem to contain. By this I mean including factual information rather than a load of…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe do see some gems of interview questions coming our way, and this one is our favourite at the moment. Are you the type of person to cry if someone shouts at you? What a question, and perhaps the person asking it was really testing the interviewee to see how they would respond. Would the…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAdvice This is a negative question and one that wherever possible should be avoided. It does not matter how you answer the question, the answer you give will have to result in you providing the interviewer with evidence of a negative point. Wit this in mind it is worth trying to avoid answering the question…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice This question is quite an easy one, but it is important not to fall into the trap of giving a general answer instead of a specific one. The question has asked you to describe a time, not a circumstance that you regularly find yourself in. Try to think of a specific occasion when you…
Reading Time: 3 minutesToday we had an email from a law firm who owe us a reasonable amount of money and following a letter before action we received a detailed response from one of the directors at the solicitors firm explaining his understanding of the fee and how it should be paid. Part of this explanation and discussion…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice This is a competency based interview question which again if you do not practice interview questions it is very unlikely you would be able to think of an answer on the spur of the moment. This needs to be one of the selection of scenarios you have stored in your head ready to use…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice This is a completely open question and one that everyone attending an interview should have a stock answer ready to use. Team questions are almost always best answered using a work environment and anyone who has worked in any capacity is able to give a situation or example. If you have not yet worked…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice This is a competency based interview question and should be one that you are able to put forward a positive strength and experience that relate specifically to the post you are applying for. so for example if one of the requirements of the post you are going for is that you have experience handling…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice Another particularly difficult competency based question which will almost inevitably result in you needing to have an example in your head before you go into the interview that you are able to use. Without having something pre-prepared it is almost impossible to think about something that quickly when asked these types of questions, which…
Reading Time: 2 minutesThis is often a question asked by fairly elderly or semi-retired solicitors who approach our legal recruitment consultancy Ten Percent Legal Recruitment. They have probably worked in the same job for the last 30 years and know just about everything there is to know about the work they do. This is invariably conveyancing or family…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice A very difficult question indeed. Firstly because if you have ever had a disagreement with your superior it clearly indicates that you are someone who maybe a little awkward at work. Not only that but you are introducing a negative into the interview process which is not recommended. However if you don’t answer the…
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe have recently reintroduced our popular CV review service. We review CVs free of charge if you consent to us posting your CV and our comments live onto the website as a blog article (we remove your contact details of course). You can also pay for the service – details here: https://ten-percent.co.uk/cv-advice-and-reviews/ You can also…
Reading Time: 3 minutesA couple of job offers recently have ended up in a stalemate situation between the employers and the employees. The employees have asked for a higher salary and the employers have taken umbrage at the fact the employees have asked the question. Here are our top 10 pieces of advice when considering negotiating on salary…
Reading Time: 2 minutesFor years we have very patiently advised clients contacting us to request solicitors with a following, ie the ability to bring their own work and files to a new firm, that there is the small matter of a Restrictive Covenant ever present in most contracts of employment. As anyone knows, you cannot simply walk out…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAdvice This question is one of the easiest to give a response to and does not appear to carry any risks at all with the response. Quite obviously you do need to indicate that you are willing to travel as if this was not part of the job then presumably the employer would not have…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice This question is often asked where an interviewer has identified that you have a specific weak point on your CV, for example you have a low grade at A Level or have a Third Class Degree. The question is designed to pick you up on whether you respond negatively or positively to this question.…
Reading Time: 4 minutesThis is one of the number one questions asked by clients who instruct Ten Percent Legal to seek a buyer for their law firm or accountancy practice. If I retire what can I get for my business and by implication how long have I got before I run out of money once I have retired?…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice A fairly straight forward question in most circumstances as it is easy to give a fairly noncommittal response. Very often the question is asked of people who live in different areas to the company they have applied to or alternatively live a fair distance from the company but still potentially commutable in the short…
Reading Time: 2 minutesQuestion 21 – Describe a situation when you had to communicate a message to someone knowing that you were right and they were wrong and reluctant to accept your point of view. Advice This type of competency based interview question is more difficult because you need to think of a situation when there has been…
Reading Time: 2 minutesIf you are a South African qualified lawyer who has decided to come to the UK to experience our high quality weather, our stable political system and our well functioning courts, congratulations! You may have spent 20 years practising in a good quality South African law firm undertaking high quality legal cases and you may…
Reading Time: 4 minutesWe have written about this before some years ago, but it seems that there are solicitors firms out there who are trying to rip off duty solicitors and this is advice on how not to get scammed by crime firms recruiting duty solicitors. It seems that there are a couple of firms in England who…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice This is the classic competency based interview question that gets asked time and time again in some form or another. It does not matter who you are and what your circumstances, there must have always been a time when you were a member of a team and you are able to give this information…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice This is another relatively easy question because if you have prepared your approach to interview effectively you should have a number of examples that will cover this question already stored in your mind. It is a good time to get over the point that you are a team player who contributes effectively to a…
Reading Time: 4 minutesThere are a lot of different terms used for the work of a childcare solicitor. You will often see them described as solicitors with care proceedings experience, solicitors who do publicly funded family law work (just about the only thing left now that is publicly funded is care work), social services family lawyer, local authority…
Reading Time: 7 minutesYou are a solicitor who has been in your job for at least 3 years. You completed your training contract and then found a permanent job to move into. You may have moved once or twice since then and perhaps if you are on the high street you are probably earning between £30,000 and £45,000;…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice This is a relatively easy question, mainly because the question is so short and gives you plenty of scope in terms of material and circumstances. It is likely that just about everybody can answer this question, whether through an example from work, an example from a sporting activity or personal interest or from their…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdvice This is an answer that most people can probably conjure up from somewhere as most of the workforce will have dealt with difficult customers. Everyone has had to deal with some sort of confrontation in their lives, whether in a sporting, academic or work environment. Try to think of a work-based example as these…