Application Help!

[William Langford]

Hi Forum,

I have a few questions regarding applications and would really appreciate some guidance. My questions are as follows:

1. Applying without prior firm contact – Is it worth applying to a vacation scheme without having met the firm beforehand (e.g., via insight days or open days)? Would my application be treated the same as someone who has attended such events if I had instead reached out to trainees or associates on LinkedIn to mention in my application, or if I had completed the firm’s Forage courses?
2. Where to mention Forage courses – For firms where I have completed Forage courses, which application question is best to mention this under (“Why this firm?” or “Why commercial law?”)?
3. Talking about practice areas and deals –
   • How should I structure an answer when discussing a specific practice area? Should I mention the Forage courses again if I have already referred to them elsewhere, or just focus on relevant deals?
   • When referencing recent deals, how do I relate them to myself and explain why they interest me? If I’m not familiar with the sector involved (e.g., an £800m M&A deal in pharmaceuticals), should I still include it? Or should I only refer to deals in sectors I understand?
   • If there are no recent deals in sectors I’m familiar with, what’s the best approach?
4. Demonstrating interest in a specific area – If I am interested in tax law, how should I best convey this? For example, if speaking to a solicitor at another firm was what sparked my interest in this practice area, is it still worth mentioning?
5. Smaller practice areas – Is it worth dedicating word count to discussing a smaller practice area the firm offers but is not well known for, or is it better to focus on the major areas where progression opportunities might be stronger?

Apologies for the long post, but I want to make sure my applications are as strong as possible. If you need any clarification, please let me know.