DLA Piper Interview Questions
& Process

I had a disappointing and frustrating interview experience with DLA Piper. The first stage was an online interview with the Head of Development and another UX Engineer. They talked about the role generally and asked about my technical and soft skills. The interviewers were friendly and I felt it went really well. But I didn't get invited to the next stage. They said my technical skills were "too heavy" and I didn't have as much experience as another candidate. This confused me because "too heavy" technical skills and "too little" experience don't make sense together, and the job ad didn't mention salary or experience level. If my experience was insufficient, why interview me? It felt like a waste of time since my CV should have shown my experience level. I think I was overqualified and they realized it but didn't want to admit it. They mentioned they've been struggling to fill the role for 10 months, and now I see why.

The interview process was structured and transparent. It began with an online application followed by a pre-recorded video interview assessing my motivations and situational judgment. After passing this stage, I was invited to an assessment centre consisting of a competency-based interview with two members of the team, a group exercise, and a written task designed to evaluate analytical skills and commercial awareness. The process concluded with an informal conversation with current trainees, which provided insight into the firm’s culture and day-to-day work.

I applied on the DLA Piper website. About a week later, I got a link for an asynchronous video interview. It had 3 questions: who you are/what you do, why you're looking for a new job, and a big project you handled. You only had 30 seconds to prep for each question after seeing it, which isn't much time given my 14+ years of experience. It was a bummer there was no actual phone screening with a person, making the interview feel really impersonal. I think someone with my skills should get to talk to someone at the firm.

You begin with a one-way video interview via VidCruiter. Questions will pop up, and you'll have 30 seconds to prepare before your recorded answer starts. There are about 10 questions in total, covering topics from deadline management to your motivation for applying. If you pass that, you'll move on to a panel interview with two people. They'll ask you to go over your resume and discuss how you handle situations where you don't have constant guidance. The manager will also talk about what they're looking for in a candidate for this role. This is usually the last step, although sometimes the panel interview might be split into two separate interviews. After this, there's a background check, and then an offer.