Home » Posts tagged 'applications'
Tag Archives: applications
Verbal reasoning tests in training contract applications for law students
Virtually all City law firms make the verbal reasoning test a compulsory part of the application for a training contract.
They are therefore crucial for law students to master, whatever their skills and knowledge in law.
City law firms will often require a minimum level of competence in the verbal reasoning test, i.e. it could be the policy of that firm to only invite candidates who come in the top 20% to interview if they reach a high enough score on their ‘application form matrix’. Therefore, law students often fall victim to ‘death by spreadsheet’ by legal recruitment managers and their administrators.
“Training contract” (@tc_applications) is a Twitter account for anyone to follow.
The only way to get better at these tests is simply ‘practice, practice, practice’. Legal Recruit (click here) is a novel, independent and fun website which contains resources including practice questions, factsheets and videos. 100 people have taken the sample test so far, and the average score is 21. The test is completed within 20 minutes, and contains 30 questions. There are many free practice questions on the site as well, and all of the factsheets and videos are free.
Please do use the Twitter to say how the website can be improved. Alternatively, free feel to post on our Facebook page.
THIS INITIATIVE IS NOTHING TO DO WITH BPP.
Repeated training contract applications can seriously damage your mental health
Repeated training contracts can seriously damage your mental health.
There’s an argument that, if you knock on enough doors, somebody’s bound to open the door eventually.
However, there’s also a sage argument that repeated setbacks can lower your mood and motivation. In the animal literature, animals which receive repeated electric shocks, despite whatever their behaviour to obtain reward, develop depression; this is the basis of the learned helplessness theory of depression.
Where there is no psychological link between your efforts and the outcome, that’s when mood can plummet. If you get depressed about the world, yourself, and your future, like if you see yourself being left on the shelf while everyone else gets a training contract, you might develop Beck’s traditional triad of depression. In other contexts, you might be a good candidate for cognitive behavioural therapy.
If, on the other hand, you receive an email stating that they would like to invite you for interview, this sudden mismatch between expectation and event could lead to such a profound rush of the chemical dopamine in your brainstem that you might feel genuinely euphoric. This would be like somebody who likes smoking feeling a high on seeing a lit cigarette.
Getting a series of training contract rejections can lead to distorted thinking about you and your relation to the world. You can develop paranoid delusions, believing that graduate recruitment managers are incompetent, or even worse that you are no good. In which case, it’s time for some non-pharmacological therapy, like working hard at your LPC or pro-bono, and don’t let the buggers grind you down!
A free systematic way to prepare for the online verbal reasoning test for training contract applications
To be frank, you are most likely to have to sit an online verbal reasoning test at some stage in an application to a corporate firm for a training contract. Even if you manage to escape one at the time of submission of your online application form, you are likely to have to do one as a precursor to an interview, or part of an assessment day. You might even have to do two online verbal reasoning tests; one in your time, and one ‘under exam conditions’. It’s probably fair to say that the test will be administered on behalf of the corporate firm by SHL or Kenexa; this test has a ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘cannot say’ format. Some, including one Magic Circle firm, have used the Watson-Glaser Critical Reasoning Test, which you are likely to do in the head office of that corporate firm instead. Here is a suggested route from ‘Legal Recruit’, an initiative by students in the BPP Legal Awareness Society, but it’s important to note that this training is not a product of BPP, nor endorsed by BPP. We hope, in our Society, hope that you find these free materials helpful, anyway.
Introductory video to an online verbal reasoning test
Factsheet on the online verbal reasoning test
Examples of questions of a verbal reasoning test
150 examples of verbal reasoning test questions
A free full-length practice verbal reasoning test for you to try [you can only do this if you are a graduate and speak English fluently.]
Answers to the trial (only to look at if you’ve done the trial)
Best of luck! We hope it goes well for you.
Examples of practice for online verbal reasoning test questions: useful practice for training contract applicants
In the article below, none of the exemplars have been written by or in collaboration with any testing provider. Candidates are advised to look at their learning materials carefully.
In some verbal reasoning tests, you are usually provided with a passage of information and required to evaluate a set of statements by selecting one of the following possible answers:
A – True (The statement follows logically from the information or opinions contained in the passage)
B – False (The statement is logically false from the information or opinions contained in the passage)
C – Cannot Say (Cannot determine whether the statement is true or false without further information)
This presentation is on the verbal reasoning test.
In the example below, you might give your answer to each question by clicking on either A, B or C. You will be told whether your answer is correct or not.
Example passage:
Over 60 years ago, evolutionary biologist Bernhard Rensch calculated that males are typically the larger sex in big-bodied species such as humans, whereas females outdo them in small-bodied species such as spiders. Now it turns out that many plants obey Rensch’s rule too. Most plants produce both male and female sex organs, but around 7 percent are dioecious, meaning individuals are purely male or female. Recent results provide that female stems also must be large enough to display the fruit and support the animals that spread the pollen or seeds. If metabolism, predators or climate promote the evolution of smaller plants, however, males can shrink because their gametes are smaller.
Examples of questions might be:
1. Over 80 years ago, Bernard Rensch calculated that males are typically the larger sex in big-bodied species.
CANNOT SAY – the passage says that Bernard Rensch calculated this over 60 years ago, but it is not possible to say from the passage whether he calculated this over 80 years ago.
2. Around 7% of plants are dioecious, but it is not necessary for female stems to be large enough to display the fruit.
FALSE – whilst the first part of the statement is true according to the passage, the second part of the statement is clearly false, making the entire statement false
Here are example questions with a business theme.
QUESTION
Business schools and venture capital firms have long organised entrepreneur-in-residence programs, tapping seasoned founders for a year or two to mentor students or evaluate potential investments. Now U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are launching what it calls its own “Entrepreneurs in residence” initiative, to bring business leaders and academics into the agency to meet regularly with officials to improve the visa process. The goal is to “capture the full power of the laws that currently exist to attract talent to spur entrepreneurial growth, to maximize innovation – all for the benefit of our economy and the American worker“, according to agency director Alejandro Mayorkas. Specifics on the push Mayorkas announced today are still being hammered out. Names of the participants and mechanics on how the in-person meetings will work have not been announced yet, though the organiser expects to do so in the next week or so.
Venture capital firms have only recently been involved in organising entrepreneur-in-residence programs.
FALSE. The passage states that venture capital firms have ‘long organised’ such programs.
Names of the participants and information about how the in-person meetings will work will be announced within the next week.
CANNOT SAY. The passage provides that it is expected that this information will be provided within the next week, but it is not definitely the case that the information will be announced within the next week.
QUESTION
The number of so-called contingent workers has not been measured since 2005, when the Bureau of Labour Statistics last calculated the population. And now that the bureau has requested funding to resume the headcount, the Freelancers Union advocacy group is calling for changes in the way these workers are labeled and how their contribution to the U.S. economy is being measured. In a new policy paper, the Freelancers Union argues that the government is “ignoring a crucial, and growing, segment of the economy that is transforming the U.S. workforce.” The BLS’s ‘contingent work supplement’ was discontinued six years ago due to lack of funding. That year, contingent workers, which the BLS defines as labourers who consider their jobs temporary, made up about 4 percent of total employment.
‘Contingent workers’ are workers for work for an organisation on a non-permanent basis.
CANNOT SAY. This is in fact a valid definition of ‘contingent workers’, but this definition is not provided in the passage.
The BLS’ ‘contingent work supplement’ was discontinued a month ago due to lack of funding.
FALSE. This supplement was discontinued six years ago.
QUESTION
Small business owners are suffering from an economy hurt by reduced consumer? spending and stagnant growth, according to a new survey by the National Small? Business Association, a Washington, D.C., trade group. More than one-third say they aren’t confident about the future of their business from a financial perspective. Eighty-eight percent anticipate a recession or flat economy in the next year, an increase from 78 percent six months ago. Forty-five percent expect no growth opportunities in the coming year, up from 40 percent in December. Given the ongoing economic difficulties the U.S. has faced the past three years, small business owners overwhelmingly cited economic uncertainty as the most significant challenge to the future growth and survival of their business, according to the report.
Small business owners are suffering from lack of bank loans.
CANNOT SAY. Consumer spending and stagnant growth are cited as causes of hurt for small business owners, but one cannot exclude the possibility of small business owners suffering from lack of bank loans.
Six months ago 10 percent anticipated a recession or flat economy in the next year.
FALSE. Six months ago 78 percent anticipated a recession or flat economy in the next year.
To access lots of free materials, including factsheets and videos on psychometric tests, please go to the ‘Legal Recruit’ website.
@Legal_Recruit is also on Twitter here.
To take a free online trial, look at the second half of this page.
Gazelles
This is a typical question, one of 300, which I am writing for my practice verbal reasoning platform.
12 Young, fast-growing businesses are more likely to have their loan applications rejected in Britain than in any other leading country in Europe, according to European Union figures. So-called “gazelles” — small, dynamic enterprises that are only a handful of years old — had a harder time clinching bank loans than in other top Western European nations last year, Eurostat numbers showed. The British rejection rate was 35.6 percent last year, up from 6.8 percent in 2007, according to data released this month. Among the larger EU nations, the only countries that came close were Denmark and the Netherlands, where failure rates on loan applications were 32 percent and 29 percent, respectively. The number of rejections among small British information and communications technology companies was particularly high, at 38.4 percent.
‘Gazelles’ sometimes turn into ‘large antelopes’, in business terms – these are large, incumbent companies with much inertia.
CANNOT SAY. No reference is given to the term ‘large antelopes’ in this passage.
The Netherlands have the third highest rejection rate in the whole of Europe for successfully obtaining bank loans in Europe.
CANNOT SAY. Whilst this is possible from the passage, it cannot be stated as a fact, particularly since the passage strictly speaking refers to countries in Western Europe.
LegalAware four-part series on psychometric tests: Factsheet 4 – Online tests for individuals with reading disability or visual impairments
This is the fourth (and final) factsheet in a four-part series looking at psychometric testing.
It’s really important to realise that if you have a reading disability or visual impairment, the test administrators, designers and corporate law firm are obliged to enter into both the letter and spirit of helping you. Once you have all the ‘reasonable adjustments’ successfully implemented (if and only if, rather), it is perfectly possible for you to ‘train’ to become good at these tests.
Reading difficulty (dyslexia)
Dyslexia can be a legally recognised disability depending on its severity. Therefore, when applicants or candidates are being assessed, the qualified test user should have due regard to the employment provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) or Equality Act (2010); this makes it unlawful for an employer to treat a disabled person less favourably than a non-disabled person without good reason.
Discrimination is outlawed in a wide range of employment activities including selection, promotion and training. Employers have a duty to make “reasonable adjustments” to selection processes and working conditions so that disabled persons are not placed at a substantial disadvantage
The definition of the British Dyslexia Association mentions the impact dyslexia can have on other functions as well as literacy.
The BDA defines dyslexia as:
‘A combination of abilities and difficulties which affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling and writing. Accompanying weaknesses may be identified in areas of speed processing, short-term memory, sequencing, auditory and/or visual perception, spoken language and motor skills. It is particularly related to mastering and using written language, which may include alphabetic, numeric and musical notation.’
In selection for a training contract, an individual with dyslexia is likely to encounter difficulty with tests of verbal reasoning, spelling and functional literacy. The law requires that accommodations are made for disabled people including those with dyslexia to ensure that selection procedures do not disadvantage them. The employer is concerned with eliciting accurate information on abilities to use in making decisions.
The standardised nature of these tests is one of the main contributors to their effectiveness and objectivity. Arbitrary modifications to the test or administration procedure are likely to invalidate the results and render standard norm groups and score interpretations meaningless.
A common modification for individuals with dyslexia is to adjust the timing of the test. However, the amount of extra time required will depend on the way the dyslexia manifests itself, its severity, the test(s) being used and their relationship to the job requirements. Only a relevant professional can determine what is appropriate.
Whether adjustments have been made to standard test procedures or not, careful administration can help ensure that individuals with dyslexia have a fair opportunity to demonstrate their skills.
As with many disabilities, stress may exacerbate the impact of dyslexia. Therefore, a calm and understanding approach on the part of the administrator is important.
People with dyslexia may have difficulty with test instructions. This can be due to reading difficulties, or to a difficulty with short term memory and/or sequencing which is common with dyslexia.
Useful contacts
The British Dyslexia Association
Contact details here
National Helpline
For all dyslexia related enquiries.
Tel: 0845 251 9002
Email: helpline@bdadyslexia.org.uk
Our Helpline, staffed by volunteers, is open from 10:00a.m. until 4:00p.m. Monday to Friday, and open late on Tuesday and Wednesday from 5:00 – 7:00p.m.
Specialist Teacher and Accreditation Enquiries
Tel: 0845 251 9003
Email: accreditation@bdadyslexia.org.uk
Office and Administrative Enquiries
Tel: 0845 251 9003
Fax: 0845 251 9005.
Postal Address:
Unit 8 Bracknell Beeches, Old Bracknell Lane, Bracknell, RG12 7BW.
- Admin and customer services: admin@bdadyslexia.org.uk
- Helpline: helpline@bdadyslexia.org.uk
- Accreditation: accreditation@bdadyslexia.org.uk
- Conferences: conference@bdadyslexia.org.uk
- Quality Mark: qualitymark@bdadyslexia.org.uk
- Training: training@bdadyslexia.org.uk
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Our Helpline
England: 0845 604 6610
Textphone: 0845 604 6620
Email: englandhelpline@equalityhumanrights.com
Scotland: 0845 604 5510
Textphone: 0845 604 5520
Email: scotlandhelpline@equalityhumanrights.com
Wales: 0845 604 8810
Textphone: 0845 604 8820
Email: waleshelpline@equalityhumanrights.com
Visual impairments and the law
A person who is registered or certified blind or partially sighted is automatically regarded as disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act (1995). However, even without registration, it is likely that a person with significantly limited vision which is not easily corrected using glasses or contact lenses will be considered disabled under the provisions of the Act.
The DDA makes it unlawful for an employer to treat a disabled person less favourably than a non-disabled person and those who provide services must make them accessible to clients with disabilities. When tests are being used in connection with employment (e.g. in making selection decisions) employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled persons are not placed at a substantial disadvantage.
Disabled individuals have the right to expect the same quality of service, including accuracy of diagnostics and assessment as other users of the service.
About visual impairments
Visual impairment covers a wide range of conditions.
Even a person who is registered blind may have some residual vision, e.g. the ability to discern light from dark or even quite good acuity within a severely limited field of vision.
Partial sight also covers many different types of conditions. These can range from very blurred vision to loss of some areas of the field of vision. For some people the act of focusing can be difficult, this can mean that reading difficult, as it is necessary to constantly refocus on the next portion of text.
A visual impairment may occur alone or in combination with other conditions.
Some people are born with visual impairments or have lived with the disability for a long time and have been taught or developed their own strategies for coping with both the practical difficulties of living and dealing with information usually presented in text form. For those with more residual vision, texts are typically accessed using large print and/or various magnification and lighting aids. Aids can include powerful spectacle lenses, free-standing magnifiers placed on top of a text, often with an integral light source.
Impact on testing
Any task where materials are presented visually, whether on paper, computer screen or as objects to be manipulated, will cause difficulty for a visually impaired person. This will include the vast majority of psychometric tests.
In order to assess a person with a visual disability, it is likely to be necessary to
- make adjustments to standardised test administration procedures, use alternate
- forms of materials, or both. However, such changes to a test cannot be made without affecting its reliability and validity.
The standardised nature of psychometric tests is one of the main contributors to their effectiveness and objectivity, and arbitrary modifications to the test or administration procedure are likely to invalidate the results and render standard norm groups and score interpretations meaningless. Some test takers may want to bring along some special equipment or ask for specific lighting conditions.
Practical advice during the testing session
Whether adjustments have been made to standard test procedures or not, careful administration can help ensure that the test results for someone with a visual impairment remain valid.
- A calm and understanding approach on the part of the administrator is important.
- If test administration times are greatly extended consider whether breaks are needed to prevent you / the candidate from becoming overtired.
- Make a note any adjustments made, or any other non-standard occurrences.
- If further advice is required in interpreting the results, make sure you consultant the recruiter from your corporate law firm, who may wish to contact the test publisher or consult with a Chartered Psychologist with expertise in visual impairment.
The new @Legal_Recruit verbal reasoning practice assessment for law students
The @Legal_Recruit system (which will be available here) is a very attractive easy-to-use cloud-based service which will allow @Legal_Recruit learners to complete sample tests, under real assessment conditions.
It will be available on Monday 3 October 2011 for the first time.
Current law students, who are doing the GDL, LPC, LLB(Hons) or LLM, especially those who are seeking training contracts or vacation placements for 2013/4/5 being made available in the next academic year may find this new service/product useful. It will be available on the internet via a secure website, and will cost £7.50 for unrestricted lifetime use. All Legal Recruit learners will have their own secure website username and password, and be invited to participate in the development of the huge bank of validated questions. These questions are set in a fair way, with due attention to equality, diversity and culture.
This product has been built because it is felt by many that law students, the staff of their colleagues/universities (including their academics and their career services) and corporate law recruiting managers that the pivotal importance of the verbal reasoning test is grossly underestimated. This is not sensible, given the intense effort needed to complete any qualification in law. However, if your performance in a verbal reasoning test, and you fail to meet the cut-off score, it is possible that you will not be invited for interview, despite having a II.1 or above. This is clearly a tragedy.
Such practice will be ideal for any law students needing to complete a SHL Direct assessment for their real training contract/vacation placement application. Candidates are strongly advised to look, as a top priority, the practice tests in the practice area of the SHL website. There you can take a full-length verbal reasoning test which has been made available from the main SHL Direct website and it’s well worth looking at the example questions. You’ll also most likely enjoy looking at the advice given about verbal reasoning tests on leading corporate law recruitment sites, such as Eversheds and Clifford Chance. Obviously, Legal_Recruit does not actively endorse any of the entities above, or vice versa.
There will be very clear instructions in the @Legal_Recruit practice assessments which are akin to the current SHL verbal reasoning instructions. In the practice test, you are allowed to go backwards, although in the real assessment you will not be given this option. You must complete the practice examples before you do the test, and you are told not to press any function keys or do any background jobs such as printing during the test itself.
The word count per passage will ideally vary from 70 to 150, with a mean length of 107. Passages will avoid as far as possible the use of semi-colons, and be of no shorter than 8-10 words. They will be written in plain English, with no spelling or grammar errors. The passages will therefore avoid American spelling or American English. The mean number of words in a sentence will be about 15-20.
Assessments will consist of 30 questions, containing 15 passages (2 questions per passage). The 15 passages will be selected at random by the Legal_Recruit system from a huge database consisting of an equal number of questions in the following 16 subject areas.
- Biology
- Business
- Economics
- Education
- Engineering
- Environment
- Geography
- Geology
- Health and Safety
- Human resources
- Medicine
- Modern Languages
- Physics
- Technology
- Transport
@Legal_Recruit follows the leading twitter accounts in the world which daily produce news stories, which make excellent narratives for the verbal reasoning assessment that Legal_Recruit will be offering.
Legal_Recruit learners will be able to choose a maximum time permitted from 19 to 39 minutes; this is to that it’s easy to do the assessments with reasonable adjustments for learners who will benefit from them to allow them to perform on a ‘level-playing field’.
It’s interesting that there is no subject bias at all in the exemplars. Interestingly the passages appears to avoid contentious branding, politics, or subjects which are generally controversial.
It is essential for our system to work for our questions to be carefully set in keeping with the real verbal reasoning tests which our Legal_Recruit learners will face in their real assessments set by SHL for their training contract/vacation placements. If you would like to participate for free, and receive immediate feedback, in our sample assessments, please direct message @legalaware or @legal_recruit, and if there are any problems in me following you, please do let me know immediately, and I will remedy. We benefit from obtaining a huge bank of normative data, which indicates to us that all the questions are of the same (correct) standard, and from being able to give you an accurate indication of where you sit on the normal distribution curve.
You may enjoy following up-to-date developments in online psychometric assessment on the @SHLGROUP twitter feed.
The BPP LegalAware Situational Judgement Test
This situational judgement test is not a product of BPP. It is an entirely original test made by members of the BPP student society, ‘the BPP Legal Awareness Society’ [link here], which is independent and separate from BPP.
Legal recruiters often use the ‘situational judgment test’ to determine whether you might be suitable for their culture, or not, despite (or in addition to) your formal qualifications. Often doing the test can be a useful learning exercise for both the candidate and the law firm, to help to decide whether a candidate is really suitable for that firm or not. Current advice is that candidates should do the test honestly and in peace (e.g. in a quiet room); that they should try not to second-guess what the employer wants, but answer the questions directly. It might be useful to be aware of the law firm’s core competencies, but often legal advisors say that a candidate’s “best asset” in such applications is their common sense.
Please have a go at answering these ten scenarios. We’ll be able to build up a bank of results of what most people would do in these circumstances. Whereas law firms will probably get their senior people to do the test to cultivate the results, our results are most likely to represent a mixed sample.
Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.
Teamwork
This is an educational video prepared by the BPP Legal Awareness Society, and is an animation of two adults, not students, talking about what teamwork is and how to prepare for a job interviews which are competency-based. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. FMN Sports is not a real media distribution channel. Similarly, XNN does not exist as a brand of computers to knowledge of the author, and therefore the laptop shown is not a representation of a genuine computer made by XNN. Note that they are not promoting any product, service or cause. Please note that the video shown here is the intellectual property of the BPP Legal Awareness Society and as such does not represent the view of any employees or official representatives of BPP. This video may not be distributed without explicit permission from the Society. This may be sought on the website http://legal-aware.org by posting a comment on this video. This video is nothing to do with BPP Learning Media.
If you have any complaints about the video, please free to comment freely below.
Transcript
Angie:
Nice to see you again Belinda.
Belinda:
You too, Angie.
Angie:
Yep. What have you been up to?
Belinda:
Not much. I’ve been working for this radio show for several years now, and loving it. But I’ve got a job interview next week, and I’m bricking myself. It’s to be a journalist for my local newspaper. It’s a long time since I went to university and I don’t know what to do with my life!
Angie:
Haha. You’re not that old. Are there any issues you’re dodgy about?
Belinda:
Teamwork
Angie:
What?
Belinda:
Sorry?
Angie:
Pardon, I meant?
Belinda
Teamwork
Angie:
No probs. Teamwork is likely to asked about in your interview after what’s called a “competency-based” question. Competency-based selection methods are based on the assumption that past behaviour is the best predictor for future behaviour.
Belinda:
Where do these selection methods usually appear?
Angie:
Competency-based questions are now common on both application forms and at interview. These questions are looking for evidence of skills that are used in the job and often start with “Describe a situation where you had to ……” or “Give an example of when you ….”. It’s not enough to just say what you can offer. Just like a jury in court a selector will need convincing. You do this by giving evidence. You should give examples. Selectors are less interested in what you’ve done that how you’ve done it.
Belinda:
Brain block. Brain block. Help!
Angie:
When have you planned and organised an event, taken the initiative or lead a team. How do you cope with failure? Do you give up, or keep trying until you succeed. Or perhaps try an alternative route to your goal. Keep a log of what you have done, so you can remember any evidence you can use.
Belinda:
What competencies is the selector looking for, other than teamwork? It all sounds Double Dutch to me. Or should I say Greek?
Angie:
This will vary according to the job but competencies of importance to many recruiters of new and recent graduates include: communication skills, negotiation, persuasiveness, teamwork, decision-making, problem solving, planning and organization, and leadership. It’s probably worth having these in mind when you’re approaching any relevant question in your interview.
Belinda:
Can you give me any examples?
Angie:
Typical competency based commercial awareness questions include:
- Tell me of a time when you were given the task of improving a service or product?
- Tell me about a time you provided excellent customer service.
- Tell me of a time when you have been responsible for a budget.
- Give an example of when you worked in a team
- Give an example of when you worked under time pressure
- Give an example of when you worked as a leader.
- Give an example of when you persuaded someone to your point of view
Belinda:
Shucks
Angie:
I beg your pardon
Belinda:
Shucks. What can I do to prepare?
Angie
Read the employer’s web site and/or job description, and note the skills and competencies they require. You should note down any examples you can think of when you have put these competencies into practice. These examples could come from vacation or part-time work; university clubs and societies; voluntary work, study at school or university; holidays and travel or personal and family experiences.
Belinda:
And then what?
Angie:
Then you should compose a paragraph or so for each situation, outlining what happened, how you approached it and what the outcome was. Questions they might expect to face at most interviews (e.g. asking for an example of teambuilding, or showing that they are a fast learner) are difficult to answer well if you are not used to them, and haven’t prepared a list of examples to draw from. A good answer on teambuilding outlines difficulties you may have had with other team-members and show that you understand what you need to do to overcome that, rather than simply tell the interviewer that the team worked together really.
Belinda:
What if I can’t think of any suitable examples?
Angie:
Try and be as open as possible: the examples you give don’t have to be high-level. Planning and organising a week’s independent travel in your local village is as valid an example as a trek through the Himalayas. If you really can’t think of anything, consider how vital that competence is to the employer. If, for example, leadershio is a key factor, and you have really never taken the lead in anything, are you applying for the right job? Would you be happy in it?
Belinda:
Oh dear. Oh my dear. Thanks for your help though. I’m going to ask my careers advisor too. I value your time.
