Simmons & Simmons Assessment Day, Judgement Test & Interview

This PrepPack™ offers a combination of Talent Q-style (Aspects & Elements) numerical, logical, verbal and personality tests, assessment centre exercises, guides and tutorials.

Simmons & Simmons have designed their application process to test candidates at each stage. They are looking for candidates who demonstrate that they can handle all that they have thrown at them and more. You have to pass each stage in order to progress to the next one. This guide will focus on the Simmons & Simmons graduate scheme, as this is the most comprehensive application process. Applications to jobs at other levels will contain many of the stages included in this guide.

The firm is looking for key qualities in their lawyers including:

• Teamwork
• Community spirit
• Demonstrable drive and determination
• The ability to quickly identify problems
• Good verbal communication skills
• Lateral thinking and analysis skills
• The ability to take on responsibility
• Confidence

You need to demonstrate that you have these skills throughout the entire Simmons & Simmons application process.

If you'd like to learn about other law firms' recruitment processes, visit this page.

The online application form is your first opportunity to impress the recruitment team at Simmons & Simmons. As well as the questions about your education, work experience and other skills, you are asked to answer two in-depth questions and three competency-based questions.

The questions are:

• Please give details of your interests and activities, positions of responsibility, skills and achievements.
• Please explain what attracts you to a career in commercial law and why you feel your skills suit this career? Why does working at Simmons & Simmons particularly appeal to you?
• Key to being a successful trainee at Simmons & Simmons is being able to build positive relationships with a variety of clients and colleagues from different backgrounds. Please describe a relationship you developed with someone which you found to be challenging. Explain why this was the case and what steps you took to ensure it was a success.
• As a trainee at Simmons & Simmons, you will need to effectively manage your time and juggle competing priorities in order to meet client expectations. Please tell us about a time when you have had to adapt quickly to change/ learn quickly in a new environment. How did you manage this? What did you find most challenging about this process?
• At Simmons & Simmons, we look for people who are highly motivated and can take the initiative to deliver a high quality of service to our clients. Tell us about a time when you have had to show real determination to complete a challenging task/project. What did you specifically do to achieve it? What obstacles did you have to overcome?

You have a word limit of 250 to answer each of the Simmons & Simmons interview questions above, which is not a lot given the amount of information they are looking for. Remember to plan each answer away from the application form and put it in the form when you are satisfied with the information you have given. You should refer to your experience so far in order to answer the questions. Use the application form as an opportunity to show how you have researched into the firm and demonstrate your eagerness to work with Simmons & Simmons.

If your application form reaches the required standard, you are likely to be asked to sit several exams. The Simmons & Simmons tests are provided by Talent Q. The tests include verbal, numerical and logical reasoning sections. The main subjects of these assessments are, generally, divided into the numerical, verbal and logical areas.

If you pass the test, you will be called to an assessment centre at the firm’s London offices. The assessment day lasts three hours and contains a mixture of tests and an interview.

In this exercise, you have 40 minutes to read several pages of information and use them to draft a letter in response. The letter is not necessarily a legal letter - the test is of your writing abilities only. Past examples of this exercise include dealing with a complaint from a customer. The brief was to respond to the customer citing the terms and conditions of the holiday.

It is not possible to practise for an exact written exercise, but it is important to prepare some of the skills and tips that you can do to improve the quality of your written exercise on the day. See how the PrepPack™’s written exercises can help.

The document review exercise is aimed at testing your abilities to take in information and summarise it in a useful format for other users. You have 30 minutes to read a set of legal documents before you are interviewed by two partners, who will ask you questions about what you have just read. Given the financial focus at Simmons & Simmons, the topic of the documents is likely to be about finance or on financing a deal.

This exercise aims to test quite a few of your skills. The recruiters are looking for your attention to detail, your awareness of the language, spelling, grammar and structure of the report. That way, they can evaluate how you notice any mistakes in the texts. They are also testing your commercial awareness and how you understand the impact of what you are reading on the deal. You are not being tested on your legal knowledge and are not expected to know all the answers.

The complex nature of this test makes preparation vital. Practice packs have been developed for case studies which give you feedback on what you are doing right or wrong, as well as provide you with the skills to approach this exercise with confidence. The additional trick in this exercise is that you are being interviewed to give over your findings. This will add pressure to the test, which can be alleviated by practising your interview technique in advance.

The partner interview will test you on the document review exercise, but they will also take the opportunity to find out more about you. They will use your CV to ask you questions that will tell them about your possible contribution to the firm. Questions can include: why did you get a particular grade in a certain subject, or why did you choose your university. You may be asked about an ethical dilemma to work through in the interview. As with anything, practice can definitely improve your interview skills. It is important to make sure you practise in interview conditions to test how you respond to pressure or unexpected questions. 

A significant proportion of Simmons & Simmons trainees have come from the attendees of the summer internships. Summer vacation attendees will be interviewed during their placements, in order to be in the running for a training contract place. The skills that you are tested on during the application process are many and varied; you will need to excel at demonstrating your abilities throughout, in order to be offered a training contract. This article has guided you through the graduate application process and has shown you the resources available to help you prepare at each stage. Good luck.