CMS Assessment Center, Aptitude Tests, Hiring Process & Interviews Online Preparation – 2025

What Is CMS?

CMS is an international law firm headquartered in Germany that provides companies and organizations with legal and tax advisory services. Established in 1999, the firm has over 5,000 lawyers and more than 1,200 partners worldwide. CMS has a presence in over 43 countries and has 78 offices.

The firm focuses on changing the way clients receive legal solutions. They strive to see problems from their client’s perspectives to be more approachable and accessible. Innovation and communication are critical to the company. The firm also values inclusion and diversity and encourages employees to be themselves in the workplace.

Working at CMS

CMS has employment opportunities for people in all stages of their careers, including experienced lawyers, business services, and early talent opportunities. Because the firm wants to create a welcoming workplace environment, they offer several benefits to their employees that reward them today and help them plan for tomorrow, including:

• Bonus schemes
• Emergency childcare
• Payroll giving options
• Loyalty awards
• Subsidized gym membership
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance

What Is the Recruitment Process at CMS?

Application

Job seekers interested in joining the CMS firm must fill out an online application stating their qualifications and expressing their interest in the role. You must complete several sections on this application form, including educational history, work experience, and contact information.

There will also be questions about your motivation behind applying for CMS, your commercial awareness, and some competency-based questions to ensure you are qualified for the position.

Each question has a word limit, so be concise and straightforward in your responses.

Critical Thinking Test

If your application passes the initial screening, you will be invited to complete a critical thinking test. This will assess your ability to solve problems clearly and rationally. This test will be timed, and you will answer about 40 multiple-choice questions that cover the following five topic areas:

• Inferences
• Deduction
• Recognizing assumptions
• Evaluating arguments
• Problem-solving

Throughout the test, you will receive passages and statements you must read and analyze to answer questions. For example, you may receive a passage followed by a list of statements, and you must select which statement best describes the conclusion of the passage. The most common test in this category is the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA).

Video Interview

Candidates that do well on the critical thinking exam will be invited to complete a video interview. This will consist of a few pre-selected questions that you must record responses to for the hiring team. These will include a combination of competency-based and motivation-based questions.

This interview aims to understand more about you, your qualifications, and why you want to work for CMS. The entire process should take about 15 minutes, and you will likely have a chance to answer a practice question at the beginning of the process to get used to the video system.

Be sure to take the interview in a quiet environment and to have your CV close by in case you need to reference it. This is the hiring team’s first impression of your personality, so be yourself and act confidently.

CMS’ Assessment Day

The final stage of the recruitment process is the assessment day. This day-long event brings you onsite with other candidates to complete various exercises and an in-person interview.

• Group Exercise – One exercise you should expect to take part in is the group exercise. Collaboration and teamwork are crucial to the firm’s success, so they want to assess all candidates’ communication, leadership, and teamwork skills. During the exercise, you will be put in a team with other candidates and asked to review some information that contains some sort of problem or case that must be addressed. You will then need to discuss the possible solutions with your team. It is essential to voice your opinion and show the hiring team that you can make worthwhile contributions to the group. However, you want to ensure that you are also giving others a chance to speak and contribute.
• Case Study Exercise – In addition to the group exercise, you will also complete an individual case study exercise. The assessor will present you with a business-related scenario and ask you to analyze the information to develop a logical solution. You must be able to defend your position by answering questions and explaining the rationale behind your argument. During this exercise, the team will assess skills such as logical thinking, analysis, and critical thinking. They will also look at how well you form an argument and communicate your position in an understandable and accessible way.
• Competency-Based Interview – The final step of the assessment day is the competency-based interview. This will likely be with a partner or senior associate and will focus on your ability to perform the tasks required for the role. They will also be looking at several competencies during this interview, including:
  • Leadership
  • Communication
  • Commercial Awareness
  • Teamwork
  • Forward-Thinking
  • Relationship Building
  • Personal Effectiveness

Try to ground your answers in concrete examples. These can be from your schooling experience, past work history, or skills and interests. When possible, form your responses according to the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to clearly state your example in a way the interviewer can easily follow. It is also essential to use this time to ask any questions you may have about the role or the firm itself. Remember, you also want to ensure this role fits your goals and lifestyle well.

How to Prepare for CMS’ Assessment?

The CMS recruitment process is designed to identify the best possible candidates for the position. Therefore, you must do well on all assessments to succeed in the hiring process. The best way to prepare for these is to use online resources such as practice exams.

Practice tests will provide sample questions similar to what you may see on the critical thinking test, for example, and will give solutions for how to best approach these questions on the actual exam. Working through these sample questions is also a great way to rehearse your timing and gain confidence in your ability to do well on the exam.

Candidates who use these resources during their preparation are much more likely to do well on the exam and proceed in the hiring process.