Hi Sonal,
I don't think there is anything extra that needs to be done per se, but I found it helpful to use being an international applicant as a strength. For me personally it taught me a lot of skills, speaking multiple languages, having relocated to different countries, adjusting and having developed greater people/communication skills due to living with people from different cultures. So I always approached my applications from that angle. My main advice would be to use it to your benefit to differentiate yourself rather than a barrier.
My other point would on international grades. The text box never allowed for enough words for me to explain the grading system in a way that made sense. I spoke to graduate recruitment about it and was told to e-mail it separately. One thing I'd recommend is having someone who doesn't know your grading system read through your explanation and comparison to the UK system and have them explain it back to you. Because I knew my grading system what I had initially made complete sense to me, but was actually quite difficult to understand for someone who wasn't as familiar with it as I was. I think this was one of the reasons why I was rejected at application stage over and over again during my first cycle.
As far as I know, some of the international firms do sponsor visas, so it is always worth looking into that. In addition, depending on where you're from, these firms offer clerkships. Off the top of my head, I know that HSF has an Indian clerkship, Linklaters has an Indian and Australian clerkship and I'm sure there are others. I'm not sure how these work, but they basically fly you to London to do your vac scheme in their UK office and sponsor your visa etc. If you're not physically in the UK yet, there's also always the option of doing an internship at one of their international offices, alliance or best friend firms to give you some legal work experience or insight into the firm.
I have to say that I wasn't successful with direct TC applications and the reason given was that my motivation for law wasn't clear due to my CV. I know there are people on this forum who were successful with direct TC applications. If you've studied law or have already done your GDL. I decided to self-fund my GDL and I obviously don't know if it was a coincidence, but I got 9 interviews out of 10 applications. The more clear you can make your commitment to law, the better.
If applying for direct TCs is your only option, I'd either research the firm's recruitment process online, see if there's a law fair or reach out to graduate recruitment directly. I didn't apply to American firms as they are not the right fit for me, but from my understanding most only recruit from VSs. Some MC firms predominantly recruit from their VS (Linklaters), while (I think I read somewhere that) Clifford Chance has just cancelled all their VSs for the next year, so will be relying on direct TC applications. I'd always recommend to do quality over quantity applications, so I would start with firms that don't put as much weight on VSs. That is not to say though that you shouldn't apply to firms that predominantly recruit from their VSs if you have your heart set on one of them. It may just mean that there is a longer wait where they fill places via vacation schemes first and then take it from there.
The standard of your overall application and what is expected of you during the assessment centre will be much higher for direct TC applications. Particularly in terms of commercial awareness and your motivations for law and the firm your answers need to be spot on. I think that's quite important to keep in mind.
The other one is to apply early, particularly as so many firms review applications on a rolling basis.
I used the firms website, which is usually a good place to start. Other resources I looked at where The Lawyer, Chambers, Legal Cheek, Lex 100, lawcareers.net, LinkedIn (to reach out to people from the firm) and events hosted by my university. The best way to learn for me was by talking to people who have been with the firm. My uni hosted a few Q&As last year with trainees from all kinds of firms and that was a great way to network. I believe that one of the trainees I spoke to is the reason why I made it through the AC. He gave me a lot of resources to prepare for the case study, which is what I was most worried about. He was also in the same seat I was in during my vac scheme, so it is a small world and people can be your greatest resource.
With this, I'd also say to always be careful to not just tell the firm how amazing they are or cite back their rankings, but instead say why this is relevant to you and why that makes you want to work there. For every sentence you write when you talk about why x firm, ask yourself 'but why' and if you get to the end of your paragraph and can still ask that question, you know that your answer needs to be amended.
This is just my view and I'm sure some applicants would disagree with some of the above, but I hope this is helpful. If you have any follow up questions, let me know
!
