‘What’s the trickiest or strangest TC interview question you’ve ever been asked?’

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By Legal Cheek on

7

Curveball


In our latest Career Conundrum, an aspiring solicitor wants to hear from viewers about the trickiest questions they’ve faced in training contract interviews.

“Hi Legal Cheek. This isn’t strictly a career conundrum but more just something that interests me, and might help others. I’m in the middle of applying for vacation schemes and some direct training contracts and I read your article this week on what to ask (and what not to ask) a partner during your training contract interviews.”

“I’ve been told that some firms like to throw their own curveball questions to candidates and I wanted to ask your readers about some of the trickiest/strangest/weird questions they’ve been asked in interviews. Thanks.”

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7 Comments

Old fart

I was once asked to argue against the smoking ban. I didn’t smoke. I’d never smoked. I didn’t get the job.

4PQE

‘Why do you want to be a lawyer?’

Didn’t see it coming.

Mape

‘Why did’t you go to Oxbridge?’

You could probably guess which firm asked this…

Door enthusiast

Are there more wheels or doors in the world?

Anon

In a Latham VS interview, I got asked ‘why the hell are you applying for a VS whilst at university instead of going and living your life for a few years?’

‘Do you think lawyers earn too much’

Anonymous

DLA Piper exit interview on the back of a VS – asked to go through a contract and asked to provide changes that could be made to amend/add in boilerplate clauses. I was a 2nd year undergrad at this time in the middle of Covid.. I only found out about what boilerplate clauses are a few years later during the LPC. I was told the interview questions would be suitable for both law and non-law applicants. Something tells me a geography undergrad wouldn’t know about boilerplate clauses…

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