Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker! Since our college was cut short due to the lockdown, and some placements got missing, I started working for a research division of Indian ministry of corporate affairs. Presently, it's a hiring freeze for Freshers in India, as far as decent law firms are concerned.

Do you think me taking up this research associate position with the ministry would disadvantage me when applying later for a TC? I'm asking because there's no client work as such, just research and drafting, as opposed to a firm, where it is predominantly client focused

Thanks in advance!

no not at all

 

[LegalNim]

Hi @Jessica Booker,
I've realised that, on one of my applications, the name of my secondary school is incorrect. It appears to be an autofill type issue because the school name is my surname with "school" on the end. From googling, both my school and this school are state comprehensive schools. It's not on Apply4Law so I can't update the application without emailing GradRec. I don't want to waste their time but don't know if this is something important. Do you think I should email them to correct it?

 

[Alice G]

Hi @Jessica Booker,
I've realised that, on one of my applications, the name of my secondary school is incorrect. It appears to be an autofill type issue because the school name is my surname with "school" on the end. From googling, both my school and this school are state comprehensive schools. It's not on Apply4Law so I can't update the application without emailing GradRec. I don't want to waste their time but don't know if this is something important. Do you think I should email them to correct it?

Hi there,

I don’t think application errors are a waste of firm’s time. I personally would call them and explain the issue if you can. The worst thing would be for this to come out in a check when you’ve been offered and it potentially being seen as an issue then. This is just what I’d say personally. I also don’t know enough about contextual recruitment but even if a school is the same ‘by type’ it doesn’t mean perhaps that the school will be contextualised in the same way. One state comprehensive can get better average results than another for instance and I can imagine (though not know for sure) this will be factored into contextual recruitment. If I’m wrong then I apologise and sure Jess will clarify this

 

[Sam55]

Hi Jessica,

I hope you're well! Macfarlanes have a question on their application form right under where you put your degree title that says 'Please give details of one area of your course which you found particularly interesting and explain why?' (50 words)

I am from a science background so there isn't much of my course that really relates to law. What is it they are looking for here exactly? Should I highlight a part of my course that has given me useful transferable skills?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker,
I've realised that, on one of my applications, the name of my secondary school is incorrect. It appears to be an autofill type issue because the school name is my surname with "school" on the end. From googling, both my school and this school are state comprehensive schools. It's not on Apply4Law so I can't update the application without emailing GradRec. I don't want to waste their time but don't know if this is something important. Do you think I should email them to correct it?

don’t think this is important enough to contact the firm about. It doesn’t sound like it is part of a contextualised process, which is a drop down menu of schools, so couldn’t be autocorrected in this manner.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

I hope you're well! Macfarlanes have a question on their application form right under where you put your degree title that says 'Please give details of one area of your course which you found particularly interesting and explain why?' (50 words)

I am from a science background so there isn't much of my course that really relates to law. What is it they are looking for here exactly? Should I highlight a part of my course that has given me useful transferable skills?

It doesn’t have to be law related, they just want to find out what interests you - that could be anything from fine art in France, to biotech, to the development of the Japanese language, to EU law, to football hooliganism (which would be my answer, as it is was one of my research modules in my final year of uni!).

It doesn’t even have to have transferable skills as such.

 

[Sam55]

It doesn’t have to be law related, they just want to find out what interests you - that could be anything from fine art in France, to biotech, to the development of the Japanese language, to EU law, to football hooliganism (which would be my answer, as it is was one of my research modules in my final year of uni!).

It doesn’t even have to have transferable skills as such.

Brilliant, thank you!

 

[jam1999]

Not clear if this was answered and I'm no guru BUT surely you need to think long term here? I'd literally go to the open evenings and see which LPC is better run and more suited to your needs. You will be a better lawyer if you have better training, whatever that looks like for you.

I see that the finances are an issue and it may be easier to procure a loan for, eg, the MSc version of the LPC if that's an option - at U Law where I went, it's literally an extra unit and month stuck on the end of the standard LPC but gives you an extra something to offer further down the line (and access to govt loans I believe).

Hope that helps. I'm sure that the recruiters can guide you if needs be.

Hey, thanks for the tips but I've already had to use my post-grad loan (you only get to access it once) to do an LLM version of the GDL. So pretty much need to self-fund the whole thing!

 

[IntrepidL]

Hi @Jessica Booker, I have a question in relation to two questions from Taylor Wessing's application form. They are:

1. We strive for excellence for our clients and people. What will drive you to succeed at Taylor Wessing? (250 words max)*

and

2. Working with innovative and fast-paced clients means our lawyers need more than just legal expertise. What other key attributes would you bring to the firm? (250 words max)*

The two questions seem to be asking the same thing in which they are asking us to elaborate on our key characteristics. I was wondering if you might have any thoughts on how to avoid overlaps in the answer?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker, I have a question in relation to two questions from Taylor Wessing's application form. They are:

1. We strive for excellence for our clients and people. What will drive you to succeed at Taylor Wessing? (250 words max)*

and

2. Working with innovative and fast-paced clients means our lawyers need more than just legal expertise. What other key attributes would you bring to the firm? (250 words max)*

The two questions seem to be asking the same thing in which they are asking us to elaborate on our key characteristics. I was wondering if you might have any thoughts on how to avoid overlaps in the answer?

they are asking you for different things. First question is asking about what is going to drive you to succeed (eg your motivation/energy) the second is asking about your skill set that will complement that motivation/energy.

 

[B1806]

Hi Jessica! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer all of these questions. I'm sure everyone can agree that it is tremendously appreciated.

I just had a question regarding work experience. Unlike many applicants, I have never done an internship or work-shadowing scheme at a local law firm or anything along those lines, nor have I ever had a proper job. I'm in my second year of a three-year Law degree and all of my work experience can be whittled down to some open days (6 at this point I believe), 2 first-year insight schemes, a campus ambassador position (for a law firm), two society positions (not sure if these count, so please let me know if they do!) and a project done in conjunction with a start-up and a uni society. The latter lasted several months and was somewhat akin to an internship, though I was never formally employed or taken on as an intern, I just provided some research and wrote some reports.

I was just wondering whether, in your experience as a graduate recruiter, these experiences suffice for the purposes of getting a vacation scheme. I understand that are many other factors that influence this and that, as a result of this question not accounting for that, any answer to it cannot be entirely holistic; but just isolating the work experience, would you say it's inadequate and weakens the overall application or good enough and strengthens it?

Thanks again!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer all of these questions. I'm sure everyone can agree that it is tremendously appreciated.

I just had a question regarding work experience. Unlike many applicants, I have never done an internship or work-shadowing scheme at a local law firm or anything along those lines, nor have I ever had a proper job. I'm in my second year of a three-year Law degree and all of my work experience can be whittled down to some open days (6 at this point I believe), 2 first-year insight schemes, a campus ambassador position (for a law firm), two society positions (not sure if these count, so please let me know if they do!) and a project done in conjunction with a start-up and a uni society. The latter lasted several months and was somewhat akin to an internship, though I was never formally employed or taken on as an intern, I just provided some research and wrote some reports.

I was just wondering whether, in your experience as a graduate recruiter, these experiences suffice for the purposes of getting a vacation scheme. I understand that are many other factors that influence this and that, as a result of this question not accounting for that, any answer to it cannot be entirely holistic; but just isolating the work experience, would you say it's inadequate and weakens the overall application or good enough and strengthens it?

Thanks again!

They can suffice - I have seen successful applicants with similar profiles (based on some assumptions of what you have said).

The society roles/project aren’t work experience, but still are relevant for your extra curricular section.

 

[B1806]

They can suffice - I have seen successful applicants with similar profiles (based on some assumptions of what you have said).

The society roles/project aren’t work experience, but still are relevant for your extra curricular section.

Thank you!

 

[iamJW]

Hi Jessica, I have a question about Norton Rose Fullbright's Vacation Scheme application questions.

This may have been answered before, but for clarity, in regards to the question - 'If applicable, what do you do to keep up to date with your foreign language skills?' while my native tongue is English and do have some proficiency in Polish and Spanish, I do not regularly keep up to date by practising or using them. As such, is it okay to leave this question blank?

I have also completed the International Baccalaureate aged during the age of 16-18 years in the UK. For the question: 'If you have international qualifications, please state the full name of the equivalent qualification in the box below and briefly explain the grading structure.' do I need to explain these qualifications (as they hold some international merit) or is this a case for qualifications that were completed outside of the UK? I believe my grades are pretty self explanatory but this question is on the same page as the language question and I wasn't sure if leaving both blank could warrant a rejection for not answering the questions.

 

[dosblancos7]

Hi Jessica

I applied for a US firm in July,(Direct TC) and was rejected yday. They recently reopened their VS- would it be okay to reuse the same application as I felt as though I was only rejected because of the lack of space for TC applicants, not so much the content. I'm worried as in any case, as it is a cover letter firm, it may be seen as being lazy etc.

Thanks!

 

[Dwight]

you don’t really have to describe the events. Most of the time I just see them listed out in some form of logical order.

Sometimes people will provide a sentence or two about what they particularly learnt/took away from events that are very aligned to the firm you are applying to (eg the events that firm has run, or if the firm is very strong in PE, then any subject specific PE events).

They just want to see how you are informing yourself about your career options.

Thanks for your response Jessica!

For the following question,
Please give details of any interests and extra-curricular activities, including any positions of responsibility or achievements
which has no world limit, how much words should I aim for. My current answer is 550 - is that too much?

 

[Alice G]

Hi Jessica, I have a question about Norton Rose Fullbright's Vacation Scheme application questions.

This may have been answered before, but for clarity, in regards to the question - 'If applicable, what do you do to keep up to date with your foreign language skills?' while my native tongue is English and do have some proficiency in Polish and Spanish, I do not regularly keep up to date by practising or using them. As such, is it okay to leave this question blank?

I have also completed the International Baccalaureate aged during the age of 16-18 years in the UK. For the question: 'If you have international qualifications, please state the full name of the equivalent qualification in the box below and briefly explain the grading structure.' do I need to explain these qualifications (as they hold some international merit) or is this a case for qualifications that were completed outside of the UK? I believe my grades are pretty self explanatory but this question is on the same page as the language question and I wasn't sure if leaving both blank could warrant a rejection for not answering the questions.

Hi there,

On the first point, I suppose it’s usually good to be honest and if you don’t do anything in particular then I would think this would be ok to leave blank.

On your second point, can you input the IB when you type in your qualifications, I.e. is there a drop down option for this? I’d assume this is the case and I think the IB is self explanatory as it’s a very common qualification route in the UK. I believe you’re right in thinking this is reserved for overseas qualifications where HR would need more guidance.

 

[Alice G]

Hi Jessica

I applied for a US firm in July,(Direct TC) and was rejected yday. They recently reopened their VS- would it be okay to reuse the same application as I felt as though I was only rejected because of the lack of space for TC applicants, not so much the content. I'm worried as in any case, as it is a cover letter firm, it may be seen as being lazy etc.

Thanks!

I think every application can be improved and I personally wouldn’t assume it was down to lack of spaces even if this might well be the case. I think it’s only safe to assume an application was strong enough when you get to the AC. Try to reflect on the cover letter and see where you might be able to develop your responses more. If you truly think it’s as good as it possibly can be, it might be worth seeing what HR’s policy is on this. Of course, do ensure your app is updated in so far as you may have more achievements, grades and work experiences to add into it.

 

[Alice G]

Thanks for your response Jessica!

For the following question,
Please give details of any interests and extra-curricular activities, including any positions of responsibility or achievements
which has no world limit, how much words should I aim for. My current answer is 550 - is that too much?

I’ve sought to answer this for you here:
https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....-scheme-application-question.2658/#post-38443

though Jess May have a different take

 

[M1999]

Hi Jessica! Thank you so much for doing this
I have a question.. when writing my cover letter, is it okay to articulate your interest in commercial law specifically rather than saying my interest in law AND commercial law, for example. I felt my sentences regarding my interest in law were too generic and took up the word count of saying about what about commercial law specifically interests me. But I am a non-law graduate (although currently doing a GDL) and have no legal work experience apart from open days and insight evenings and the virtual events this year. Thankyou!