Addleshaw Goddard interviews you by voice, not video, at the second stage

An Addleshaw Goddard recruiter says the first stage pairs a short online application with a critical thinking test, and that the firm provides practice tests. Critical thinking papers ask whether conclusions follow from a passage, which our reasoning test's verbal and logical items also train, so a sitting of ours is a sensible warm-up.

The firm does not name the critical thinking test or publish its format in what we read, and its own careers page lists only the application, a voice interview and the assessment centre. Our test does not prepare you for speaking answers aloud or for the proofreading, group and briefing tasks reported at the centre.

Addleshaw Goddard says candidates who progress are invited to a voice interview, recorded at a time and location convenient to them. Without a camera, you lose gestures, eye contact and a smile. Everything the listener learns comes from your words, your pace and your tone. Filler words, long pauses and lists without signposts are much more noticeable on audio than on video.

The fix is structure you can hear. Start each answer with a sentence that tells the listener where you are going (there are two reasons), then deliver them, then close. Stand up while you record: most people sound more energetic on their feet.

An Addleshaw Goddard recruiter describes the critical thinking test as part of the first stage and strongly recommends the practice tests the firm provides. Do them. They show you the exact screens and question types, which no outside source can.

Critical thinking items usually ask whether a conclusion follows, whether an assumption has been made, or whether an argument is strong. The common error is reasoning from what you know about the world rather than what the passage says. Our verbal and critical reasoning guide explains the formats, and a round of our free reasoning test adds extra practice at literal reading.

Guides describing the assessment centre list a proofreading exercise first. Attention to detail is one of the key skills Addleshaw Goddard lists for its graduate programmes, and proofreading is where it shows. Reading for sense and reading for errors are different tasks, and most people do the first when asked to do the second.

• Read once for meaning, then once slowly for errors, ideally aloud under your breath.
• Check numbers, dates, names and defined terms against each other, because inconsistencies hide there.
• Mark changes clearly and consistently; a reviewer must be able to follow them.
• Leave two minutes to scan headings and cross-references.

An Addleshaw Goddard recruiter has said the firm recruits trainees only through its placement schemes and has no direct training contract route. The firm's apply page, however, has listed both a placement scheme leading to a training contract and a direct training contract. Both statements come from the firm at different times, so check the current apply page before choosing.

On the placement scheme itself, a guide reports that offers weigh two assessed tasks along with supervisor feedback. That means the scheme is an assessment from day one, not a preview.

Addleshaw Goddard also runs graduate programmes outside the training contract, such as its innovation graduate scheme. The firm lists an application form, eligibility screening, a pre-assessment centre test, an assessment centre and a placement for that scheme, and its graduate programmes page lists an interview, a group assessment and an in-tray exercise. The test before the centre is not named, so the preparation above for critical thinking is a reasonable default.

For a comparison with other firms' assessment centres, see our law firm assessment guide.

These come from anonymous reviews, university careers pages and prep guides. They often disagree, and Addleshaw Goddard has not confirmed them. Read them as leads, not rules.

• Guides describe the assessment centre as about half a day with a proofreading exercise, a group exercise, a partner briefing exercise and a partner interview.
• A guide reports that training contract offers after the placement scheme weigh two assessed tasks and supervisor feedback.
• A forum user says the firm uses a voice rather than a video interview, which matches the firm's own careers page.
• Older vacation scheme candidates describe a case study followed by a debrief to two partners.