Eversheds expands overseas seats offerings for trainees

13 May 2010 | By Corinne McPartland

Historically Eversheds, which has only just reopened its graduate recruitment programme after axing it in response to the recession last year, has offered around five international seats to Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

But now the firm wants to double that number to 10 and include secondments, lasting between three and six months, to its offices in the Middle East and South Africa.

HR Director Angus Macgregor said: “Other firms will no doubt fall into the trap of just re-opening the taps and doing the same things they had done previously in order to bring in more people. What we’re doing is looking at things very differently.”

The news comes after Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer recently announced that it too would be giving potential trainees a taste of the jet set lifestyle after launching a foreign seat for vacation scheme students.

In a separate move Eversheds had also added an extra layer to its online application process - the situational judgement exercise.

The tasks asks students to complete a series of multiple choice questions on realistic work-place scenarios.

The top 10 law firm has also updated its website by adding real-time webinars on a range of topics including one called The business behind law hosted by chief executive Bryan Hughes.

In these sessions students will be able to ask questions and make direct contact with the presenter.

“We’re trying to interact and make connections with a wider audience and I think the new website reflects this. My driver is not only to attract a diverse cohort of trainees into the firm, in terms of ethnicity and gender but also people from different backgrounds and with different experience,” added Macgregor.