Assessment day
For apprenticeship positions, Bristows typically holds an assessment day at the firm’s offices. This enables candidates to showcase their talents across a range of activities and provides an insight into the firm and the people who work here.
A small group of candidates, who have been through the application and initial interview process, are selected to attend the assessment day. The assessment centre consists of written, group and individual tasks so we can assess the candidates in a variety of areas. The group task looks at collaboration, leadership and communication skills, whilst the written skills looks at research, planning and outlining skills.
Another part of the assessment day is a presentation, where candidates are asked to prepare a slideshow about a topic of their choice. This can be on any topic and assesses organisation and confidence. The rest of the day is followed by an interview and a comprehensive task.
Preparation
A number of our current apprentices have shared their advice for prospective apprentices for the application process and assessment day:
- Research the firm, understand different practice areas and the firm’s mission, vision, and values - at Bristows we are proud of our culture so to understand and have a strong association to the culture is important.
- Prepare for different scenarios - for different tasks you can practice different methods. For group tasks, ensure you are getting involved and being yourself and practicing what might come up. The interview stage is a relaxed environment to ensure we can get to know the candidate so although we want you to be yourself, make sure you are prepared for the interview and potential questions that may come your way.
- Be yourself - we want our apprentices to really fit in at Bristows and enjoy this exciting venture.
Talent
As a firm we recognise talented employees do not all come from the traditional university route and that apprenticeships are a key tool in ensuring we have diversity across our workforce. Diversity in employee background, skills and perspective ensures we create an inclusive and high performing environment. Read more on our Inclusion and Diversity page.
