Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[hopefullawyer123]

Hi @Jessica Booker , I hope you are well. I have a video interview coming up with 4 questions to answer. During the application I answered questions on why the firm and why commercial law. Am I correct to assume that it’s unlikely the firm will ask these same questions during the VI?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker , I hope you are well. I have a video interview coming up with 4 questions to answer. During the application I answered questions on why the firm and why commercial law. Am I correct to assume that it’s unlikely the firm will ask these same questions during the VI?

I don’t think you can assume that. The questions could possible be similar or just asked in a slightly different way, but basically asking for the same type of answer.

 

[Holly]

Hi @Jessica Booker,

I was wondering if you have any tips for virtual group exercises at AC?

Also, are there any common mistakes candidates make at group exercises more generally?

Thank you

Hi @Jessica Booker I was wondering if you had any insights on this. Thanks!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker I was wondering if you had any insights on this. Thanks!

General group exercise advice:

• Try not to be someone completely different to who you are
• Contribute
• There are lots of roles and responsibilities to take on - it doesn't matter what you do but find a way to contribute beyong adding your ideas
• Have an opinion
• Support each other
• Keep an eye on the time
• Try to come to a conclusion/judgement/outcomes

When delivered virtually:

• Agree how you will communicate and record (screen, chat function, hands-up function)
• Check whether you have any creative tools to utilise (Whiteboard)
• Give each other more space to discuss things – delays can mean communication can feel slightly awkward/stilted, but try to be patient
• Don’t be afraid to ask people to repeat things, whether facilitators or other candidates
• Check with facilitators what you can/can’t use (e.g. accessing websites)

 

[Holly]

General group exercise advice:

• Try not to be someone completely different to who you are
• Contribute
• There are lots of roles and responsibilities to take on - it doesn't matter what you do but find a way to contribute beyong adding your ideas
• Have an opinion
• Support each other
• Keep an eye on the time
• Try to come to a conclusion/judgement/outcomes

When delivered virtually:

• Agree how you will communicate and record (screen, chat function, hands-up function)
• Check whether you have any creative tools to utilise (Whiteboard)
• Give each other more space to discuss things – delays can mean communication can feel slightly awkward/stilted, but try to be patient
• Don’t be afraid to ask people to repeat things, whether facilitators or other candidates
• Check with facilitators what you can/can’t use (e.g. accessing websites)

Brilliant, thank you

 

[gricole]

Hi Jessica, should departments in law firms be capitalised in the work experience section? E.g. "I worked in the Finance department."

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, should departments in law firms be capitalised in the work experience section? E.g. "I worked in the Finance department."

In most cases they are not capitalised - just look at how the firm writes about them in body copy of their brochure/website (not in headings) or how they are written in Chambers Student Guide.

Exceptions are if it is a title of something, like an awards "Finance Team of 2020".

 

[Dwight]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I submitted my Travers app like a week ago and I went to look at it today to check something. It it turns out that my responses (cover letter and question) have no format whatsoever. So for each response, there are no paragraphs. Also, there are minor formatting issues in my work exp section - e.g., bullet points all over the place. I don't understand why this has happened! I checked before submitting a thousand times and my siblings checked for me too. I am really panicking right now because how will grad rec read it. Should I contact them?

By the way, I viewed the app in a word doc - that is the only way Travers enable you to view an app after submitting as you save it before sending it off. Could this problem be due to software/tech? I don't wanna be rejected because of this.

It is so late right now and I am just up stressing about this. I feel like I should contact grad rec and let them know.

Thank you.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I submitted my Travers app like a week ago and I went to look at it today to check something. It it turns out that my responses (cover letter and question) have no format whatsoever. So for each response, there are no paragraphs. Also, there are minor formatting issues in my work exp section - e.g., bullet points all over the place. I don't understand why this has happened! I checked before submitting a thousand times and my siblings checked for me too. I am really panicking right now because how will grad rec read it. Should I contact them?

By the way, I viewed the app in a word doc - that is the only way Travers enable you to view an app after submitting as you save it before sending it off. Could this problem be due to software/tech? I don't wanna be rejected because of this.

It is so late right now and I am just up stressing about this. I feel like I should contact grad rec and let them know.

Thank you.

I think this is just their system. I have seen some references to having to use Note pad rather than Word to submit applications via (but I don't know the specifics). You can contact them, but you might want to post in the forums to see if other people have experienced this/what they have done.

 

[gricole]

Thank you Jessica! Could you please also advise on the best way to put numbers in applications. I remember seeing advice on here about it but I can't find it. When should numbers be written in their whole form (e.g. four)?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you Jessica! Could you please also advise on the best way to put numbers in applications. I remember seeing advice on here about it but I can't find it. When should numbers be written in their whole form (e.g. four)?

 

[Dwight]

I think this is just their system. I have seen some references to having to use Note pad rather than Word to submit applications via (but I don't know the specifics). You can contact them, but you might want to post in the forums to see if other people have experienced this/what they have done.

@Jessica Booker

Ok, thank you. Is it okay to call them rather than email?

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jessica Booker. Hope you are doing well. Wanted to know if the firm is interested in the electives that we choose. For example, if I choose International Humanitarian Law instead of International Commercial law as part of my curriculum, can I be questioned on this, or can this put the recruiters off? Do I need to worry about this?

Thank You.

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker

Ok, thank you. Is it okay to call them rather than email?

Yes - either are completely acceptable ways of communication.

 

[Lumree]

Hi Jessica!

Typically, when would you try to send an email/give a candidate a call to invite them to an AC? In other words, what is considered a fair or reasonable amount of time to allow them to prepare I.e. three days, five days, one week, two weeks, three etc?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica!

Typically, when would you try to send an email/give a candidate a call to invite them to an AC? In other words, what is considered a fair or reasonable amount of time to allow them to prepare I.e. three days, five days, one week, two weeks, three etc?

I have known it to be anything from 2 days in advance to 2 months. So many variables at play, it could be such a range of time even within the same firm/organisation.

 

[Lumree]

I have known it to be anything from 2 days in advance to 2 months. So many variables at play, it could be such a range of time even within the same firm/organisation.

Helpful to know, thank you so much!

 

[cortana116]

Hi Jessica!

Have a bit of an unusual question that I hope you could shed some light on, which I think will be helpful for people reading this post because it relates to the importance of academic grades as well as the status of international students during the pandemic where Vac Scheme applications are concerned. I write this because i was genuinely devastated before the recent spate of interview acceptances, and now i'm just really curious about what your take on this is.

A bit about my first-year background - I'm an Asian International student from Oxbridge (one of the two, can't specify for obvious reasons), and was ranked first in my cohort of 200 students overall, along with picking up individual awards for mooting and getting legal work published. Both my overall and individual subject modules are above first-class standard. Concurrently, I started an educational-technology venture and raised close to 100,000 pounds, alongside other extracurriculars.Obviously many sacrifices were made for this - I slept at 3-4am and woke up at 10am for most of the year, and clocking in the hours, invested over 1500 hours in studying for law alone. Moreover, I had legal and private equity internships back in Asia in 2019.

When application season came, I felt like the work had been put in, and interviews would be a shoo-in. But then the rejections came one after another, with the exception of Slaughter & May who had awarded me an academic prize. I didn't even make it to the interview stages for many UK firms with a "large intake" (50 +). At that point of time, I was in a bit of a panic. I wondered if my work experience or grades sounded unrealistic, or overly boastful. I speculated that as an International Student during the economic crisis, I was being discriminated against - or perhaps there was some sort of reverse-discrimination. Some of my friends, who I had assisted in drafting Cover-Letters for, eventually got onto their schemes and converted their TCs (Happy for them!).

Recently however, I received interview invites from the American firms with small intakes. including Sullivan & Cromwell, Davis Polk, Skadden(Telephone Interview). btw, if anyone wants advice for Davis Polk or Sullivan & Cromwell (who have just sent out their invites, drop me a DM.) I've just done those and am happy to share.

I've spoken to career advisors at Rare/SEO as well as the University's career service, and they can't seem to figure out what the issue was with my previous applications. I was hoping that you might shed light on this situation. In particular:

(1)Are times tougher for International School students right now?
(2)Was the issue perhaps just poor responses to the questions on the application form / not showing interest? But it would seem anomalous that the American firms which are supposedly "more selective" seemed to have no reservations about my application.
(3)Did my application make me just sound too overbearing / a bit of a dick?

On my end, I would probably say that this experience shows that grades/oxbridge matter little for the VS process. Hope that this post was helpful to others, or interesting at the very least!

 

[cortana116]

I'd also just add here about what I learned from my experience, which Jessica can either confirm or debunk - Oxbridge / First Class grades or flashy work experiences don't truly matter, at least in comparison to perhaps what you write in the application form itself - I think they're more of a threshold requirement to be honest.

Looking back, the most probable reasons for the rejections I feel was the fact that I didn't spend too much time trying to come up with truly outstanding answers on the application form. While I don't think my answers were 100% crap, the lack of networking and heavy hours of research probably showed.

In circumstances like that, i think only the firms which had a predilection towards academic grades / work experience decided to take a chance and interview me, which worked out because those were the firms I was more interested in interviewing with at the end of the day. Once again, hope this sharing was useful, and doesn't make me sound like too much of an ass. Genuinely wanted to share this experience to get some closure / contribute to the knowledge out there.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica!

Have a bit of an unusual question that I hope you could shed some light on, which I think will be helpful for people reading this post because it relates to the importance of academic grades as well as the status of international students during the pandemic where Vac Scheme applications are concerned. I write this because i was genuinely devastated before the recent spate of interview acceptances, and now i'm just really curious about what your take on this is.

A bit about my first-year background - I'm an Asian International student from Oxbridge (one of the two, can't specify for obvious reasons), and was ranked first in my cohort of 200 students overall, along with picking up individual awards for mooting and getting legal work published. Both my overall and individual subject modules are above first-class standard. Concurrently, I started an educational-technology venture and raised close to 100,000 pounds, alongside other extracurriculars.Obviously many sacrifices were made for this - I slept at 3-4am and woke up at 10am for most of the year, and clocking in the hours, invested over 1500 hours in studying for law alone. Moreover, I had legal and private equity internships back in Asia in 2019.

When application season came, I felt like the work had been put in, and interviews would be a shoo-in. But then the rejections came one after another, with the exception of Slaughter & May who had awarded me an academic prize. I didn't even make it to the interview stages for many UK firms with a "large intake" (50 +). At that point of time, I was in a bit of a panic. I wondered if my work experience or grades sounded unrealistic, or overly boastful. I speculated that as an International Student during the economic crisis, I was being discriminated against - or perhaps there was some sort of reverse-discrimination. Some of my friends, who I had assisted in drafting Cover-Letters for, eventually got onto their schemes and converted their TCs (Happy for them!).

Recently however, I received interview invites from the American firms with small intakes. including Sullivan & Cromwell, Davis Polk, Skadden(Telephone Interview). btw, if anyone wants advice for Davis Polk or Sullivan & Cromwell (who have just sent out their invites, drop me a DM.) I've just done those and am happy to share.

I've spoken to career advisors at Rare/SEO as well as the University's career service, and they can't seem to figure out what the issue was with my previous applications. I was hoping that you might shed light on this situation. In particular:

(1)Are times tougher for International School students right now?
(2)Was the issue perhaps just poor responses to the questions on the application form / not showing interest? But it would seem anomalous that the American firms which are supposedly "more selective" seemed to have no reservations about my application.
(3)Did my application make me just sound too overbearing / a bit of a dick?

On my end, I would probably say that this experience shows that grades/oxbridge matter little for the VS process. Hope that this post was helpful to others, or interesting at the very least!

1) Only if they are trying to apply to firms who don't sponsor work permits. Otherwise no.
2) Possibly not "poor" responses just potentially misplaced ones - maybe your application screamed out "this person should be applying to other firms, just not us".
3) There is a possibility of that being the case

The other reason could be you weren't really selling the "why UK" part if you are an international student. This is exceptionally common - they oversell their international background and their motivations are all internationally based, but there is a major lack of explaining why the opportunity in London/the UK