commercial awareness application question

[Yminh]

I noticed there are 2 main types of commercial awareness questions:

1) tell us about a topic/ commercial news story you've been following and explain why it interests you
2) tell us about a topic/ commercial news story that interests you and explain how it would affect our firm

I'm wondering with respect to type (1) question, must I select a commercial story related to the firm I'm applying to and mention briefly how it would affect that firm anyway, even though they did not ask for such explanation in the question. Would this add value to my answer or weight against me as the person who screens my application may think I did not read the question carefully and answer something they did not ask for.

Really appreciate your help guys!

 

[Jaysen]

I noticed there are 2 main types of commercial awareness questions:

1) tell us about a topic/ commercial news story you've been following and explain why it interests you
2) tell us about a topic/ commercial news story that interests you and explain how it would affect our firm

I'm wondering with respect to type (1) question, must I select a commercial story related to the firm I'm applying to and mention briefly how it would affect that firm anyway, even though they did not ask for such explanation in the question. Would this add value to my answer or weight against me as the person who screens my application may think I did not read the question carefully and answer something they did not ask for.

Really appreciate your help guys!

It's the latter. No need to talk about the impact on the firm.

I see students do this very often. They write about something that wasn't in the question. There's absolutely no need -- if a law firm wanted you to write about XYZ they would have included it in the question.

It's not too damaging for this question if you did write about the impact on a law firm. It just limits the scope of what you write about and can lead to repetitive answers.

For other questions, like: "Why do you want to be a commercial lawyer?", it looks worse if you start tailoring your answer to the firm. It suggests poor attention to detail.

 

[Yminh]

It's the latter. No need to talk about the impact on the firm.

I see students do this very often. They write about something that wasn't in the question. There's absolutely no need -- if a law firm wanted you to write about XYZ they would have included it in the question.

It's not too damaging for this question if you did write about the impact on a law firm. It just limits the scope of what you write about and can lead to repetitive answers.

For other questions, like: "Why do you want to be a commercial lawyer?", it looks worse if you start tailoring your answer to the firm. It suggests poor attention to detail.

thanks for your help!

 

[AJ]

Just wanted to get some further clarity. Where you’re asked to write about the impact on law firms of a commercial issue, is it advisable to tailor the issue to that specific firm?

By way of example I mean, not to talk about the Aston Martin IPO for a firm that is known for its litigation work or litigation funding for a corporate firm.

Slightly thrown by the phrasing as it reads law firms as opposed to firm x or our firm. There are issues where I can put good reasons forward for being interested and draw some connections to law firms, but perhaps not that specific law firm due to their (perceived) niche specialism.

 

[Jaysen]

Just wanted to get some further clarity. Where you’re asked to write about the impact on law firms of a commercial issue, is it advisable to tailor the issue to that specific firm?

By way of example I mean, not to talk about the Aston Martin IPO for a firm that is known for its litigation work or litigation funding for a corporate firm.

Slightly thrown by the phrasing as it reads law firms as opposed to firm x or our firm. There are issues where I can put good reasons forward for being interested and draw some connections to law firms, but perhaps not that specific law firm due to their (perceived) niche specialism.

Yes -- if the question asks about the impact on law firms and not firm X, then your answer doesn't need to be specific to a firm. Just be sure to make clear connections to law firms.

 

[AJ]

Yes -- if the question asks about the impact on law firms and not firm X, then your answer doesn't need to be specific to a firm. Just be sure to make clear connections to law firms.

Thanks Jaysen !!

 

[Maymoonah]

1. Instead of writing about the impact of the piece on the firm, you could indirectly highlight how the issue affects the firm's practice. For example, if the firm you're applying to specialises in Energy, Trade and Sanctions - you could discuss the US-China Trade War, how it impacts commodities, its implications on oil prices and the issues with the Iranian market. This covers all the major areas for the firm, and also highlights your commercial awareness.

2. Don't be afraid to use statistics. If you have read a useful article on Bloomberg or an FT report that includes a statistic on M&A activity in a country, use that to leverage the fact that you have a broader understanding of the markets that the firm operations in.

3. I would also recommend structuring your answer to address three specific implications as opposed to broadly (and vaguely) discussing the impact of an issue.