Reed Smith Assessment Center, Personality Test, Hiring Process & Interviews Online Preparation – 2025

What Is Reed Smith?

Reed Smith is an international law firm headquartered in Pittsburg, PA. The firm believes that law practice has the power to drive progress. They serve clients in several industries, including financial services, healthcare, energy, and entertainment.

Reed Smith has several locations across the world, including:

• United States: 18 locations, 1,000 lawyers, and 900 staff
• United Kingdom: 1 location, 300 lawyers, 250 staff, and 50 trainees
• Europe and the Middle East: 8 locations, 140 lawyers, and 100 staff
• Asia: 4 locations, 150 lawyers, and 130 staff

Though their team is spread out, they are linked by their core values. These values are at the heart of their company and remain constant for every client.

• Excellence: Reed Smith employees are committed to delivering the best possible outcomes for their clients and themselves.
• Innovation: Innovation drives progress, and Reed Smith employees embrace change because it enables them to exceed expectations for their clients and the firm.
• Impact: Employees at Reed Smith strive to deliver the most significant impact to their communities, clients, and the firm.
• Integrity: Reed Smith employees are honest, equitable, ethical, and authentic and always do the right thing.
• Teamwork and Respect: The firm celebrates diversity and encourages collaboration.

Working at Reed Smith

Reed Smith is looking for professionals that embody their core values to join their team. Employees at the firm enjoy a host of benefits, including:

• Merit-based salary with opportunities for bonuses
• Flexible benefits plan
• Paid vacations, holidays, and sick time
• Maternity, paternity, and adoption leave
• Retirement plan

Online Application

The online application is the first step in the Reed Smith recruitment process. The application will ask questions about your academic background and your work history to ensure that you are qualified for the position. It is important to note that the firm expects a strong educational background and, in most cases, requires their candidates to have a 2:1.

You will have the opportunity to upload a current CV with your application. The document should be tailored to your desired position and showcase relevant communication, analysis, teamwork, research, and client relationship skills.

Situational Strengths Test

Job seekers who pass the initial application screening will complete an online situational strengths test to assess if they have the necessary strengths to be successful at Reed Smith. The exam will consist of several simulated scenarios related to what you may encounter in the role you are applying for.

Each scenario will be presented as either a paragraph or a short video. You will then read through a list of possible actions or answers to the given situation and choose which response would be the “best” or “most likely.” Sometimes, you may also have to identify the “worst” or “least likely” response.

This test will be untimed, so you should think about each situation carefully and consider what an employee at Reed Smith would do in each case. Remember, the firm is looking for candidates with the same values as their company and who would fit in nicely with their current team and culture. Take a free personality practice test here.

Video Interview

You will be invited to complete a video interview if you do well on the strengths assessment. This initial interview at Reed Smith is unique because they are interested in learning more about your strengths and passions instead of your qualifications.

Reed Smith is looking for candidates who have the potential to be great and add value to their firm. Rather than hear about your educational background during this interview, they want to know about your passions and natural skills and abilities that will help you succeed at Reed Smith.

Before completing this interview, you must thoroughly research the firm to better understand what kind of employee they want to hire. Then, use their mission and values to guide what to showcase in your video interview. You should also prepare specific examples and responses to common questions, such as why you want to work for Reed Smith and what motivates you to pursue a career in law.

Strength-based interviews can often be more personal and vulnerable than competency-based ones because they focus on your personal goals and passions. While this can feel intimidating, being honest in your responses is best.

Assessment Day

The last stage of the hiring process at Reed Smith is assessment day. This will be a day of exercises and activities to give the hiring team a better understanding of your skills and personality and to determine if you are a good fit for the firm.

Case Study

One exercise you will complete during the assessment day is the case study exercise. This activity will assess your verbal reasoning and critical thinking skills. The test will present a written case study; you must read through the information, analyze it, and answer questions on the material.

The test will not require any outside information, so there aren’t any particular materials to prepare in advance. The case study will include all the information you need for the exam.

Written Assessment

After the case study exercise, you will also complete a written assessment. In addition to reading and comprehending information, lawyers must be able to synthesize and concisely respond to questions on the subject. This test will examine your writing skills and your ability to communicate effectively.

Interviews

Lastly, you will complete one or more interviews with the hiring team and/or senior members at the firm. These interviews may be more competency-based than your initial interview, so it is essential to come prepared to discuss what skills and experiences you can bring to the team.

They may also ask behavior-based questions to better understand how well you work in a team and in professional environments. When responding to these types of questions, it is best to format your responses using the STAR technique to concisely give the interviewer as much information as possible.

• Situation: Give the interviewer some background on the issue that is needed to be solved.
• Tasks: Detail what steps needed to be taken in order to solve the problem.
• Action: Talk about what you did to address the issues.
• Result: Discuss the outcome of your efforts.

How to Prepare for the Reed Smith Assessment?

To do well in the recruitment process at Reed Smith, you must excel in all pre-employment assessments including the strength-based assessment and the exams on the assessment day. The firm is looking for candidates who fit in with the company’s culture and have the skills necessary to add value to the company. A high score on these exams will show the firm you have what it takes to join the team.

Online resources such as practice exams are a great tool to prepare you for the exams. Practice tests will contain sample questions similar to what you will encounter on the exam so you can better understand what to expect and confidently go into the process.

Candidates who take the time to prepare for the process using these resources are significantly more likely to do well on the exam. Therefore, take this opportunity to fully prepare for the exam and stand out from the other candidates by receiving a high score.