Clifford Chance

Careers

Where inquisitive
minds meet

United Kingdom

Join our industry leading teams to make the most out of your career and unlock your full potential

Our recruitment process

With more Tier 1 rankings than any other law firm, we attract and recruit exceptional talent across the board. We understand how time consuming finding a new role can be, so our recruitment process is as straightforward and transparent as possible.

We aim for two-way conversations where we not only assess your experience and capabilities for the role, but also ensure you have everything you need to make an informed decision. This includes providing you with information not only on the role you're applying for, but also on the wider firm, our collaborative culture, and our fantastic support networks.

The range of opportunities available at the firm mean that we have varied approaches to our recruitment. Your recruitment specialist will explain the particular process for the role you have applied for. Generally, the process will involve these steps:

Applying

All vacancies in the UK are advertised on our careers portal here, where you can apply for our roles using your most up-to-date CV. Each vacancy is managed by one of our dedicated recruitment specialists, who will be your main contact throughout the entire recruitment process.

Application screening

Every application is personally reviewed by our team of experienced recruiters. They work in partnership with our business to make sure they are guided by the skills, knowledge and experience our business needs. It takes time and consideration to apply for roles, so we ensure that it's our people, rather than artificial intelligence, who assess your skillset.

If you meet the criteria for the role, the partners or hiring manager will review your CV before a decision is reached about next steps. If you're unsuccessful at this stage, you will receive an email from one of our team.

Application support

At Clifford Chance we understand that our true asset is our people. Diversity and inclusiveness is at the heart of our culture. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society.

We are able to make reasonable adjustments within our application process to ensure that you have the best chance of success. We understand that there’s not a “one size fits all” approach to adjustments so our team will work with you individually to understand what support you require or your lived experience.

We understand that it can be difficult to share your lived experience around a disability (visible or non-visible), neurodiversity, a long term health condition or injury, however it is beneficial for you to share your lived experience so that we can support you through the process and ensure you have the right level of support. Any conversations we have will be treated confidentially.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age. This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer, and every other aspect of employment. Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm.

Interviewing

Virtual: As we operate and enjoy an agile working model, we conduct our first stage interviews virtually via Microsoft Teams. This allows for more scheduling flexibility for all parties, ensuring we can invite you to interview more efficiently and at a more convenient time for you.

Typically, you will meet with two people in the first stage, and another two people in the second stage. Your interviewers are usually the hiring manager or hiring partner, senior team members and recruitment specialists. Interviews will focus on your professional experience and capabilities in relation to the vacancy you have applied for, and also your personal qualities with regards to how you approach tasks and working in teams.

Face-to-face: It's important that you have the opportunity to attend a face-to-face interview further along the process if your application is progressed. These interviews will take place at our offices.

It's important to us to ensure that you have the opportunity to meet us in person and visit our office environment for you to learn more about our proposition and visualise working at Clifford Chance. We're keen to have a balance that's best for you, so if you have strong preferences either way, to visit our office in person or to be in touch in a virtual environment, let your recruitment specialist know.

Assessments

For some roles we may ask you to complete psychometric or skills-based assessments. We may also ask you to consider a case study or prepare a presentation related to the role you're interviewing for. Where possible, we aim to complete these assessments virtually. Depending on the role you're applying for, these may need to take place in the office. Your recruitment specialist will discuss this with you and give you an overview of what you should expect.

Feedback

We give feedback to every applicant we interview. This is typically shared verbally by your dedicated recruitment specialist.

Our virtual and face-to-face interviews follow exactly the same structure and everyone who is interviewed virtually will be treated the same way as everyone who is interviewed in person.

Offer process

If you are successful, your recruitment specialist will contact you to discuss the offer terms and answer any queries you have. You'll also be sent formal paperwork to review and consider. Our contracts are sent out electronically via AdobeSign, allowing you to review them instantly.

Your dedicated recruitment specialist will be there to support your move to the firm every step of the way. For international candidates, we may also be able to offer visa support as well as a highly generous relocation package, should this be required for your move.

If you have any questions during the recruitment process, please contact the team directly.