Ask A Magic Circle Future Trainee Anything!

[Abstruser]

Hi Abstruser,

Thank you so much for your informative response. I was just wondering if you could elaborate on why you didn't apply to US firms- specifically what training style did you prefer over theirs. Also, do US firms generally expect trainees to know what practice area they want to qualify into?

Thank you so much for your help!

So I just want to caveat this by saying you should try to get firsthand experience interacting with US firms (particularly the ones you are interested in) instead of basing your decisions on hearsay or other people's experiences.

The US firms I was interested in and interacted with had small trainee intakes and little by way of formal supervision or training. So while that means you will be given greater responsibility from the get-go, I was doubtful as to whether I was capable of learning that much independently and also thought I would like to benefit from formal training eg: in-house advocacy, business skills, etc. MC firms had larger trainee intakes so progression in terms of responsibility might be slower or more 'boring', but I thought I would prefer to have a solid grounding and more supervision especially at the beginning of my career. Of course not all US firms fall into this stereotype - there are a few I can think of that have large intakes and more structured training, especially the ones that have been offering TCs in London for a longer time.

I also didn't mean that US firms expect their trainees to know which areas they can qualify into - sorry if that confused you. I meant that most (again, not all) US firms are very well-known for one or two practice areas, and the rest of their practice areas are sort of 'support' for the star practice areas of the firm if that makes sense. My impression from other candidates and trainees I met at events was that when people are attracted to a US firm, it usually is because they know which areas (eg, private equity) they are interested in qualifying into. So they know they are joining a firm with a top-notch, say, private equity practice, and aren't really bothered about the strength of the litigation or corporate seats. In my opinion (and others may not share this opinion), MC firms tend to have more balanced practice areas, in that most of their practice areas will be top-notch and you know that you will be getting great exposure and experience in each seat. I don't know which area I want to qualify into, so for me getting broad, quality experience across the board was a paramount consideration.

I hope that makes more sense. Obviously not saying that there's anything bad about US firms - just that they didn't suit my current priorities and ambitions, but they might very well suit someone else's!

 

[Suzen]

Hi! So in terms of general advice, I answered a similar question above:



As to how to identify weak areas - it’s difficult to comment offhand on an application as there are so many variables, but for me the best thing to do is to ask for a second opinion from a friend or someone else you may know.

If you’ve already done that or can’t find someone, try to go line by line through your answer and ask yourself:

• What am I trying to prove through this sentence?
• Is this sentence answering the question?
• Could I have written this in less words?
• Does this sentence really need to be here?

It’s also important to make sure you’ve actually understood the question and answered it fully. For example, if you’re asked ‘tell me about a recent news story and how it affects X firm’, you might have written a great piece about a recent news story, but might not have actually answered how you think it affects the firm.

Hope that helps!

Thank you so much for your guidance. Really appreciate it. I’d also like to hear your advice on another point. How do firms/partners test a candidate’s commercial awareness? My point behind asking this is I’m a bit confused as to how to navigate the vast amount of information available online. How do I structure the commercial awareness to align it in tandem with what is required in an interview or application.

 

[Abstruser]

Thank you so much for your guidance. Really appreciate it. I’d also like to hear your advice on another point. How do firms/partners test a candidate’s commercial awareness? My point behind asking this is I’m a bit confused as to how to navigate the vast amount of information available online. How do I structure the commercial awareness to align it in tandem with what is required in an interview or application.

So in my experience, commercial awareness isn’t really tested that much in an application unless it’s a specific question eg: tell me about a recent news story. It’s more often tested at the interview stage, eg in case studies.

I think that what firms look for in terms of commercial awareness is a solid understanding of a how a business is run. By that I mean you should learn to think about the different objectives a client running a business would have. That should help ‘structure’ and enhance your understanding of the commercial news. I also want to add that commercial awareness isn’t about reading through lots and lots of news articles. I recommend reading up on Porter’s Five Forces and SWOT for a basic understanding of how a business works, and then reading the news in that light.

I hope that helps.

 

[Suzen]

So in my experience, commercial awareness isn’t really tested that much in an application unless it’s a specific question eg: tell me about a recent news story. It’s more often tested at the interview stage, eg in case studies.

I think that what firms look for in terms of commercial awareness is a solid understanding of a how a business is run. By that I mean you should learn to think about the different objectives a client running a business would have. That should help ‘structure’ and enhance your understanding of the commercial news. I also want to add that commercial awareness isn’t about reading through lots and lots of news articles. I recommend reading up on Porter’s Five Forces and SWOT for a basic understanding of how a business works, and then reading the news in that light.

I hope that helps.

Thank you!
Just another quick question. Does giving a recommendation letter with the application help a candidate in any way at the application stage?

 

[Abstruser]

Thank you!
Just another quick question. Does giving a recommendation letter with the application help a candidate in any way at the application stage?

I did not submit any recommendation letters with my applications. They’d probably only be helpful during referencing, once you’ve gotten through interview stage.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you!
Just another quick question. Does giving a recommendation letter with the application help a candidate in any way at the application stage?

Only if you have things like extenuating circumstances and the recommendation letter is from an academic suggesting you would have done better without the Ex circs.

 

[IntrepidL]

Hi Abstruser,

Thank you for your insight. May I ask, how you structured your answers for cover letters? Do you think having statistics, and deal examples to back up certain statements (e.g. such as an interest in emerging markets or the firm's practice area) would assist in making a cover letter stand out?

 

[Abstruser]

Hi Abstruser,

Thank you for your insight. May I ask, how you structured your answers for cover letters? Do you think having statistics, and deal examples to back up certain statements (e.g. such as an interest in emerging markets or the firm's practice area) would assist in making a cover letter stand out?

I usually structured my cover letters like so:

• Introduction (Name, current position)
• Why [commercial] law (details of motivation)
• Why the firm (firm's unique features, applied to the motivations in the above paragraph)
• Conclusion (I look forward to hearing back from you etc)

As to whether you should include deals in a cover letter - I have mentioned deals in my cover letters, some successful and others not. I would say mentioning a deal is fine if you're genuinely backing up a point you're making, but be sure that it is absolutely necessary to mention the deal. I would be careful of artificially structuring your cover letter around a deal just for the sake of mentioning a deal. Ditto for statistics.

Bottom line - I think its fine to mention deals and statistics, just be sure its necessary to the point you're making.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Abstruser,

Thank you for your insight. May I ask, how you structured your answers for cover letters? Do you think having statistics, and deal examples to back up certain statements (e.g. such as an interest in emerging markets or the firm's practice area) would assist in making a cover letter stand out?

The first thing to ask yourself is why you are including these statistics. Is it just to try to stand out? If so, tread carefully - it rarely works.

Your cover letter is all about you. If you are going to state deals or statistics, the first thing a recruiter will think is “why is this relevant” so you have got to weave in why you have included them and why it is relevant to YOUR application and YOU as a person.

 

[IntrepidL]

Thank you @Abstruser and Jessica. For the 'why law' section of the cover letter - would you suggest answering it in relation to a list of relevant work experiences, or limiting the answer to three points?

I have several work experiences/extra-curricular activities, which I am thinking of writing to support my 'why law' answer. However, I am unsure if I should narrow it down in case it becomes too descriptive.

 

[Abstruser]

Thank you @Abstruser and Jessica. For the 'why law' section of the cover letter - would you suggest answering it in relation to a list of relevant work experiences, or limiting the answer to three points?

I have several work experiences/extra-curricular activities, which I am thinking of writing to support my 'why law' answer. However, I am unsure if I should narrow it down in case it becomes too descriptive.

Neither. I would suggest answering with your genuine motivations for pursuing law. Personally, that related to one pivotal piece of work experience. It will differ from person to person though. You shouldn't artificially limit yourself to one or three or however many pieces of work experience when answering this question. Really try to dig deep and think about 1) when did your interest for commercial law arise 2) why was it interesting and 3) what did you do to follow up on that interest.

That said, I wouldn't mention too many pieces of work experience in the cover letter - they can see your CV/work experience detailed in other parts of the application, so just try to draw out the salient details.

Hope that helps!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Agree with Abtruser.

The why law paragraph is probably going to be less than 200 words. Explaining each work experience is going to use up a lot of that word count and the evidence will be in your CV anyway. What your CV won’t tell anyone is what you enjoyed, what you enjoyed learning about, what you didn’t mind doing despite it not being no most interesting thing to do, what motivated you etc.

 

[IntrepidL]

@Abstruser and @Jessica Booker Thank you!

 

[Arisa]

Hello @Abstruser

Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us on this forum!
I also have a question regarding my own application that I’m hoping you could give me some insight on.

I’m a 2:1 LLB non-EU graduate, currently studying the LPC part time, and due to be done in July 2022.
I’m currently applying for training contracts and oh boy... its been rejection after rejection so far.
One major issue with my application is that, my a levels were pretty bad (B,B,C... i know.. horrific..as I’m attempting to secure a training contract, most looking for AAB and above)
At this point the myriad of rejections are making me wonder if I actually have no hope due to the kind of alevels I have?
Or do I still have a chance? Do you know of any people who secured a training contract with a-levels like mine?
Also I’d be grateful if you could share with me any tips that could make my application stand-out despite my a level grades as well as any general tips applying as an international student.

P.S I have alot of work experience but unfortunately they aren’t very legal. Also I do have strong extra-curriculars from undergrad, one of them being Law Society President at my uni.

I apologize for stuffing so many questions in here! I look forward to your reply! Thank you in advance!