Our aim, through the recruitment process, is to identify whether you have the potential to be a great fit for Eversheds Sutherland.
That’s why we’re interested in more than your qualifications, skills and knowledge. These elements are important but it is your ‘strengths’ that will really make the difference.
Your strengths are those aspects of your work that really engage you, that you really enjoy and that energize you. Research shows that you perform better when your work overlaps with what you enjoy as well as what you can do. For a business, ensuring employees are playing to their strengths improves employee engagement, customer satisfaction and loyalty.
We have therefore adopted a strengths-based solution at each stage of the recruitment process. At every step, we are keen to hear about what you are energized and motivated by, as well as what you can do.
A detailed look
The recruitment process for both the vacation scheme and training contract comprises:
Stage 1: An application form to be completed online. We ask for information about you: your qualifications, languages and any relevant work experience. We also have some strengths-based questions exploring situations you have faced or could face in the role, your response to these situations and what energises you about them.
We are proud to be using the REALrating Contextual Recruitment System, which helps us ensure fairness and equality in our application reviews. As a firm we are committed to fostering a more inclusive and equitable hiring process. REALrating provides us with information to assess applicants’ academic achievements accurately and fairly, as well as within the context of their educational and personal circumstances.
Stage 2: A video interview with strengths-based questions exploring situations you have faced or could face in the role, your response to these situations and what energises you about them. The video interview is not ‘live’ and you will record your answers in response to the questions presented. You will not have an opportunity to pause the video or re-record your answers. The video itself will be approximately 10 minutes in length and will ask you strengths-based questions.
Stage 3: Selection day includes a strengths-based interview and two exercises, helping us assess not just what you can do, but what you have the potential to do and what you are energised by. Further details will be provided nearer the time of your selection day.
Think of this as an opportunity to convince us that Eversheds Sutherland is the firm for you and that you are right for us. Make sure you know something about the clients we work with - and have a clear sense of how you can contribute and what you’ll enjoy.
Think about how you present your answers. Always be clear and positive, and give your answers a logical structure. For example, describe a situation, tell us what you did/how you behaved, explain the impact of your actions and what you were energised by in that situation.
A number of questions will ask you to reflect on your feelings about a situation, what you found motivating, what you learned about yourself.
It is really important that you tell us about what you find interesting or motivating about a situation, what aspects you really engage with. To discover your potential, we want to hear not only about what you can do or have done but about what aspects you're really going to love doing.
Our business attracts great people and we've created an environment where they can achieve great things. So it will come as no surprise that Eversheds Sutherland is home to some of the most innovative and inspiring lawyers and professionals in their industry - or that we look for trainees with the ambition and enterprise to keep us ahead of the competition in the future.
While many trainees have studied law, we welcome applications from all degree disciplines. The reason is simple. The trainees from a non-law background bring a wealth of alternative experience that can only benefit a growing and diverse organization like ours. You may have a background in business, a degree in an exacting science, a knowledge of foreign languages or even a record of holding positions of responsibility.
However, whatever your background - and our trainees are an incredibly diverse community of people - you will need to demonstrate a number of other skills and aptitudes to succeed as part of our team:
- Strong academic performance: Have you achieved or are you on track to achieving 128 UCAS points (new UCAS tariff points) from your best three A-Levels (or equivalent) excluding General Studies and Critical Thinking, a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in any degree discipline and a Pass (or above) at law school ( GDL and /or LPC/SQE) ?
- Outstanding problem-solving skills: Do you have the mental agility and intellectual rigour to analyze problems and devel-op novel, unexpected solutions?
- Proactive mindset: Are you naturally inquisitive with an openness to new ideas and the initiative to turn them into practical results?
- Commitment to excellence: Do you hold yourself to the highest standards of performance even when the going is tough? And are you passionate about continuously raising and refining your own performance levels?
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills: Can you communicate fluently, clearly and concisely? Persuade and negotiate with others in both group and individual situations? Make complex information understandable to clients?
- Working with others: Do you have the confidence to collaborate, seek feedback, share ideas and build credibility through your interaction with other people?
- Organized with an eye for detail: Can you manage your own workload, stay organized under pressure, pay attention to detail and be relied on to complete each task accurately and completely?
- Commerciality: Do you have the ability to see situations from a business or commercial perspective? Are you comfortable dealing with financial information and being accountable for achieving productivity goals?
- Motivation: Are you passionate about a career as a Lawyer and a career at Eversheds Sutherland?
Sounds like someone you know? Then you're likely to fit in perfectly as part of our high-performing, inclusive and meritocratic culture.