We are looking for people with ambition and a positive attitude, who are agile and with an eagerness to learn. We are looking for thinkers, problem solvers and decision makers who can approach situations with a commercial mind-set. Whatever your background, if you can demonstrate to us that you have the foundations to navigate the complex business environment in which we operate, we want to hear from you.

All our assessments throughout the process have been created around the firm’s competency framework, we’ll consistently refer to this framework throughout each stage of the process, as they’re imbedded into our culture and our behaviours. They are part of Norton Rose Fulbright and what makes us the high achieving firm that we are.

What to expect

This is your first step to landing the career you want; our Early Careers Team receives a huge number of applications every year, for both graduate and apprenticeship opportunities. We don’t recruit on a rolling basis so ensure to take your time when writing your application.

Step 1

You’ll be asked to enter some basic information, including personal details, along with other questions to ensure you’re eligible for the programme.

Step 2

Next step is to detail any work-experience chronologically; making sure to include dates, your role and an overview or key call outs of your time there. We’re interested in learning about you, so we’re looking at both legal and non-legal work experience – make sure you include Open Days and Vacation Schemes (whether this is at Norton Rose Fulbright or not!)

Step 3

Your cover letter is your chance to stand out!

• Why do you want to be a commercial lawyer?
• Why Norton Rose Fulbright? – don’t just the recite the website, make it personal to you.
• Your strengths - what can you bring to the firm? Successful candidates align with our behaviours.  Why not go the extra mile in finding out about us? Listen to our Early Careers podcast here.
• Honesty – remember only to include areas, experience and even hobbies that are true to you.
• Generative AI – Tech is rapidly advancing; we know there are tools you can utilise to write a cover letter for you. We’ve tested it! They’re good but not great; and we’re looking for great.

Following completion of your application we will ask you to complete a Rare data-questionnaire. Rare is a contextual recruitment tool we use to support your application with us. We apply the Rare Contextual Recruitment System to all our early career hiring processes, the system enables us to spot high-potential candidates by considering their grades and achievements along with applicant's social and educational backgrounds. To find out additional information about Rare, click here.

The second stage of our recruitment process is a task-based assessment. We use the Arctic Shores assessment which may be different from other assessments you may have completed in the past. It is based on neuroscience research and does not contain questions, but instead uses a series of engaging and intuitive tasks.

What is Arctic Shores?

It’s designed to measure your unique behaviour and skill indicators so that we can see your potential to grow with us and be successful in the role. This way, we can see beyond your cover letter and see how you’ll suit the role and succeed as part of our team. This means every candidate is given a fair, consistent shot to stand out; it’s not about what you can do now, it’s about what, with our support and training, you’ll be able to do in the future. 

How to prepare?

There is no right or wrong way to approach the tasks. As you respond to each task, we collect data to measure your unique qualities and how they relate to the workplace. We just ask that you approach it in a way that feels most natural to you.

There is no time limit for the whole assessment, but you can expect to set aside around 35 - 60 minutes to complete it. If you would like to familiarise yourself with the assessment beforehand, you can complete the practice task.

Reasonable adjustments

We use this assessment approach to support our goal of creating diverse and dynamic teams. ED&I is really important to us, and we’re keen to ensure you feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible completing the assessment. So please do share if you require any necessary adjustments, it’s important we know this before you start the assessment so that the right adjustments can be made. And if you’re not sure, you can read more about the assessment tasks here, to help you understand the nature of the tasks and whether you’re able to complete them.

If you’d like to know more about the assessment and Arctic Shores, you can read their FAQs here.

The video interview is a fantastic opportunity to bring your application to life and meet a member of the Early Careers recruitment team at the firm. Your interview will last approximately 20 minutes and will be carried out over Microsoft Teams. We are keen for you to make the most of this opportunity to speak to us, so please do ask us questions at the end of the interview.

Ahead of the interview we recommend that you familiarise yourself with your application and  consider possible question topics. All of our assessments have been created to assess your strengths around our competency framework.

This is an opportunity to show your strengths across several different assessments. You will meet a range of people from the firm and find out more about life at Norton Rose Fulbright. Please ask questions throughout the day and make the most of the opportunity to find out about us, our culture and the work we do.

Prior to every assessment day, the Early Careers team will conduct a Skills Session to provide an overview of what you can expect and clarify the skills we’re expecting you to display on the day.

We may assess you in a number of different ways, including:

• Case Study or Written Exercise

This is an individual, scenario-based task. All the information you need to complete the exercise will be provided on the day. This will include analysing a piece of text and delivering your recommendations to an assessor via a presentation or a written report.

• Negotiation or Group Exercise

You will be working in a small group, working on a fictional commercial based scenario. Working within your team you will be using information we provide to make recommendations to a third party.

• Interview

You will be interviewed by two senior lawyers at Norton Rose Fulbright. To help you prepare for this assessment, you should familiarise yourself with your application and be prepared to answer scenario-based questions that demonstrate your strengths against Norton Rose Fulbright’s competency framework.

• Online or In-person

Many of our Vacation Scheme Assessment Days take place virtually.

For those applying to our Solicitor Apprenticeship, Paralegal Apprenticeship, Business & Legal Operations Graduate Scheme (BLOGs) and Direct Entry Training Contract opportunities, your assessment day will take place in person in either our London or Newcastle office.

At the end of your assessment day the Early Careers team will confirm when you should expect to receive an update with your outcome, whether that be an offer for an Apprentice Programme, a Training Contract, a place on one of our Vacation Schemes, Business & Legal Operations Graduate Scheme or a Paralegal position.

We recognise these are life changing decisions, and we take the time to carefully consider your strengths in line with Norton Rose Fulbright’s competencies throughout each of the assessments you have undertaken.

The Early Careers team will arrange a feedback call with every candidate who attends an assessment day. The aim of the call is to provide you with the feedback on your assessments to support any future applications.

Need extra support?

We want every candidate going through our process to perform to the best of their ability. You are the expert on your specific requirements so please ensure you contact the Early Careers Team at earlycareers.recruitment@nortonrosefulbright.com to discuss any necessary adjustments we can offer you. We will arrange a time for a confidential phone call ahead of any assessments to talk you through what to do.

Our Early Careers podcast, Jump Start has been created so you can learn about life at Norton Rose Fulbright and your journey into commercial law. Why not listen to our most recent episodes here.