Government Legal Profession (GLP) Assessment Centre, Watson-Glaser Assessment & SJT Online Preparation – 2024
What Is GLP?
Government Legal Profession, formerly known as Government Legal Service, is a team of over two thousand lawyers working in dozens of the United Kingdom’s government departments. These lawyers advise and represent the government in commercial, policy, and parliament matters among an array of other areas.
The GLP typically trains its own lawyers right out of University. Students can begin training with GLP as early as a year before graduation. The program is highly competitive but is well-known for cultivating some of the best lawyers in the country.
What Is GLP’s Hiring Process?
Because GLP advises on important matters and deals with sensitive topics that are prominent in the media, the hiring process is rigorous. The hiring process is wholly a meritocracy. The GLP does not factor in past grades or institutions, they don’t even see the candidate’s name until the last stage of the interview process.
The GLP examines applicants in two stages, both with a large concentration on aptitude and emotional intelligence. These stages include:
- Application & Assessments
- Assessment Centre
Application & Assessments
The application requires two eligibility credentials. If these are not met, the application will be drawn from consideration immediately. The criteria include a 2:2 in an undergraduate degree and meeting the civil service nationality rules. All in all, the application is very brief. GLP is not interested too much in the background of the candidate as they are the ability and performance of the candidate.
The assessments accompany the application form. There are three total and the main focus of the assessments is to test the applicant’s decision-making skills. GLP’s online assessments include:
- GLP Situational Judgment Test
The situational judgment test, is a behavioural assessment consisting of 15 hypothetical scenarios. These scenarios commonly use workplace context and assess how the candidate navigates conflicts and communicates with others. After reading the scenario, the candidate must choose how to react from a list of preselected choices. If the candidate meets a particular benchmark, they will proceed to the verbal reasoning test.
- GLP Verbal Reasoning Test
The verbal reasoning test examines the ability to comprehend novel and intricate information. The test will provide a passage of completely random material with a handful of follow-up questions. These follow-up questions will ask the candidate to distinguish the connection between the statement and the passage by choosing an answer choice of “True”, “False”, or “Cannot Say”. There are around thirty total questions paired with a nineteen-minute time limit. Those who perform satisfactorily on the verbal reasoning test will advance to the critical reasoning test.
- GLP Critical Reasoning Test
The verbal critical reasoning test is a thirty-minute assessment focused on the evaluation of arguments. Structured similarly to the verbal reasoning test, this assessment presents a passage of information followed by either an assumption, an interpretation, a conclusion, or an argument. Depending on which statement is made, the candidate must analyse it according to the provided information and assess whether it is relevant and accurate. Once the candidate has been deemed successful on the critical reasoning test, GLP will extend an invitation to the assessment centre.
The GLP Assessment Centre
The assessment centre is at one of two locations, London or Leeds, and is the final stage of GLP’s hiring process. There are two activities at the assessment centre which help GLP assess certain qualities such as teamwork and communication skills, impact, and motivation. These activities include:
- Interview
The interview will take place in front of a panel of two senior lawyers and a chairman. The panel inquires about the candidate’s alignment to GLP’s values and preferred skills. The interview takes seventy minutes, with the first fifteen dedicated to reviewing the candidate’s performance on the written exercise.
- Written Exercise
The written exercise is a simulation of an advisory report. The candidate is provided with a legal question, then asked to find a resolution and answer the questions that follow. Candidates are allowed sixty minutes to complete the assessment.
How to Prepare for GLP’s Online Assessments?
GLP’s online assessments are unique in the way that they are administered which raises the stakes for candidates who are taking them. GLP only lets candidates advance to the next assessment when they have met or exceeded expectations on the assessment before it. Because it is an automatic system, there are no exceptions.
This makes preparing for GLP’s online assessments that much more important. There are plenty of methods and resources to help aspiring lawyers reach their goal of employment with GLP. These include practice tests, sample questions, and partner study.
The practice tests are the most popular of the choices and are even recommended by GLP. With practice tests, the candidate is given the full testing experience without the pressure. You will be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them ahead of time. There are also the added benefits of being able to acquaint yourself with the content of the assessments, get a feel for the time constraints, and receive scores. The scores can outline how much more you need to prepare, and they estimate how well you will do on the genuine assessment.
Then, there are sample questions and partner study. Sample questions offer you the chance to focus on the material without having to stress over the ticking clock. By concentrating on your thought process, you can improve your accuracy while gradually increasing your speed. It may also help to get a second opinion or to look at a question through a new lens by studying with a friend. Either way, the most important step is to make sure you have dedicated enough time to prepare for these assessments.
Interview Tips for GLP
The Government Legal Professions outlines their ideal employee as well as the areas they assess during interviews. These areas are:
- Ability
- Behaviours
- Experience
- Strengths
- Technical
Additionally, their “ideal employee” will exhibit the following traits:
- Impartiality
- Integrity
- Honesty
- Objectivity
GLP will ask for specific, past examples of how you relate to these qualities. They may also ask, for example, “when was a time you had to be honest about something very difficult for you?”.
GLP also wants to see a candidate that is focused on the bigger picture, is determined to learn and grow alongside their colleagues, and is driven to providing GLP with high-quality work at a quick pace.
If you meet these guidelines, your interviews with GLP will be a breeze. Just remember to be very professional and confident during the panel interview. Best of luck!
