Grounded in the real hiring process
Built from the employer's own process and public material, not candidate reports. Sign up and tell us what you were actually asked.
02 / Hiring process
Five stages, and one of them decides it
5 stages from application to offer. Interviews with the team is reported to be the one that decides it.
5stages
01
Application and route selection office, program or practice fit
Student applications follow office and jurisdiction specific rules. Toronto 2L candidates submit materials through viLawPortal. Lawyers and professionals use the employer's open-position routes, which identify the relevant office, practice and requirements.
02
Initial conversation background, motivation and readiness
McCarthy Tétrault does not publish one interview sequence for every role. Toronto's 2L route begins with an OCI for selected students. Montréal publishes first and second student interviews, while lawyer and professional formats vary by team.
03
Interviews with the team judgment, collaboration and client focus
Students, lawyers and professionals can meet multiple lawyers or leaders. Bring concise stories that explain your work, the decision you made, how you used feedback and the result, without sharing confidential client information.
04
Role specific assessment writing, analysis or functional task
For professional roles, McCarthy Tétrault says assessments can include Microsoft Office tests, DiSC, writing and formatting exercises or case studies. Treat the invitation as evaluated work, then show the reasoning as well as the answer.
05
Decision and onboarding recruitment timetable and credentials
Student offers follow the relevant professional recruitment timetable. Lawyer and professional hires move through position-specific checks, credentials and start planning. Québec legal roles may require professional French and English capability.
Ask before the interview: what will this round cover, who will I meet, and is there anything I should prepare?The question almost nobody asks
03 / Question library
Interview question practice library
The questions are drafted from McCarthy Tétrault's published student programs, current careers taxonomy and clearly labelled role-dependent recruitment information. They are not claimed as a harvested verbatim question bank.
60questions
Asked in every interviewAsked in every McCarthy Tétrault interview
01 Why McCarthy Tétrault? Motivation Open guide
Find your angle. McCarthy Tétrault question 01 examines your choice among leading Canadian business-law firms. The interviewer is testing whether you understand the McCarthy Way, office model and client work, with enough detail to distinguish actual judgment from a polished claim.
Build your answer
- Define the situation. Set out your choice among leading Canadian business-law firms, including the people, deadline and consequence that made the decision important.
- Explain your judgment. Show whether you understand the McCarthy Way, office model and client work. Separate what you owned from advice, approval or specialist work supplied by others.
- Prove the result. Close with one firm fact, matching experience and office reason. State the outcome, evidence and one remaining limitation.
Bring the evidence
For McCarthy Tétrault question 01, bring one firm fact, matching experience and office reason. Include a date, scale, decision point or measured result that can be tested.
What weakens it
When answering McCarthy Tétrault question 01 about your choice among leading Canadian business-law firms, do not replace the decision with claims that you work hard, communicate well or care about quality.
Likely follow upWhich part of the firm’s current work or training model would you want to understand first?
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.02 Walk me through your background. Background Open guide
Find your angle. McCarthy Tétrault question 02 examines two decisions that best predict your performance here. The interviewer is testing whether you can make a broad record relevant to this role, with enough detail to distinguish actual judgment from a polished claim.
Build your answer
- Define the situation. Set out two decisions that best predict your performance here, including the people, deadline and consequence that made the decision important.
- Explain your judgment. Show whether you can make a broad record relevant to this role. Separate what you owned from advice, approval or specialist work supplied by others.
- Prove the result. Close with two responsibilities, difficult choice and measured result. State the outcome, evidence and one remaining limitation.
Bring the evidence
For McCarthy Tétrault question 02, bring two responsibilities, difficult choice and measured result. Include a date, scale, decision point or measured result that can be tested.
What weakens it
When answering McCarthy Tétrault question 02 about two decisions that best predict your performance here, do not replace the decision with claims that you work hard, communicate well or care about quality.
Likely follow upWhich decision from that background best prepares you for the work in this role?
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.03 Why this office? Office fit Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.04 Tell me about uncovering what a client needed. Client focus Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.05 Describe catching an error before it mattered. Excellence Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.06 Tell me about taking ownership. Initiative Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.07 Describe coordinating competing priorities. Collaboration Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.08 Tell me about difficult feedback. Feedback Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.09 Describe deciding with incomplete information. Judgment Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.10 Tell me about protecting a professional boundary. Integrity Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.11 How do you handle urgent deadlines? Priorities Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.12 What questions do you have? Questions Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.Associates and Lawyers6 to practise
6 questions
The questions this role actually gets asked
The core set above is asked whatever you applied for. These 6 are specific to Associates and Lawyers, and they are usually what the decision turns on.
Create a free accountWhat you get
Less than the cost of one lunch, for a great deal more confidence.- Unlimited tailored interview preparation
- A massive database of actual questions and answer guides
Role specific
Pick your role and the list narrows to what that role tends to get asked.
A guide for every answer
What the question is testing, three steps to build your answer, and the evidence to bring.
Prepared, not guessing
You walk in knowing the shape of the round and which of your own stories fits it.
04 / In the news
Worth mentioning in the room
The strongest answer to why this company is something that happened last month.
4stories
Free account
What happened at this employer this month
Stories screened from everything published about this employer, chosen because they can be used in the room rather than because they are recent.
- Each one carries a line on how to use it in the answer
- Crime, recalls, litigation and share price moves are excluded outright
- Refreshed daily, so it is different the week of your interview
05 / The four values
What is actually being scored
McCarthy Tétrault calls its culture The McCarthy Way. Prepare evidence that shows the same habits in difficult work.
4stories
Excellence
A time you improved the accuracy, clarity or reliability of high-stakes work under deadline pressure.
Collaboration
A time you built a proactive team across roles or offices and made handoffs dependable.
Client focus
A time you clarified the commercial or human decision behind a request and changed your work accordingly.
Innovation
A time you improved a workflow or question without treating change as a goal in itself.
06 / Before you apply
Where candidates lose it
Pro
Where candidates lose this before anyone meets them
The part of the process that eliminates most people is not the interview. It is what happens around it, and almost none of it is written down anywhere.
- The assessment answers that read as dishonest rather than confident
- What the availability question is really deciding
- The application detail that cannot be edited once submitted
Interview in 48 Hours
Turn your experience into your advantage.Bring your own stories to the interview. Start with the role, build your preparation sheet.