Withers & Rogers training and recruitment process starts with you reading about the Firm and the profession in this website and elsewhere - if you have not done so already, for example, you might like to look at the patent section in www.insidecareers.com, cipa.org.uk, and itma.org.uk. A career as a patent or trade mark attorney can be very rewarding in many ways but it is not for everyone, so, find out as much as you can, and ask yourself whether it is really what you want to do.

Selection begins with your completion of an application form. This is designed to give you the chance to show that your experience provides evidence that you have begun to develop the competencies that we think are important for a successful attorney. We will also scrutinise your CV and wish to see evidence that your qualifications and experience are relevant to the position that is available - sometimes it will be important for a trainee to have very specific technical abilities, e.g. to match those of his prospective trainer and supervisor, and her clients.

Withers & Rogers assesses completed application forms and CVs, and then holds an initial interview, often by telephone, with selected candidates. At the initial interview, or thereafter, we generally use a number of tests such as written exercises, ability tests and possibly testing on specific technical knowledge. We will also use personality profiling as an aid to further interviewing. You will be given feedback about any such tests and, indeed, they will often be discussed with you.

If we have sufficient candidates, final interviews are likely to be part of a selection day where you may also be asked to participate in team exercises.

The graduate recruitment process is designed to select people to start in summer or early autumn, to fit with the normal recruitment for new graduates. We are not inflexible, however, and we may be able to let candidates start later so as to accommodate, e.g. completion of a PhD thesis, or earlier, if they are no longer at university.