Extracurricular activities question

[Am92]

A question for one of my vac scheme applications is:

Please provide details of your main extracurricular interests and achievements. How have these interests and achievements helped you to develop the skills that you will need as a commercial solicitor?

What's the best way to approach this? Is it okay to pick a few activities and talk about the skills you developed, or, is it better to explicitly say "Through coaching the football team, I developed leadership and teamwork skills which will be essential as a solicitor due to XXXXX".

Thoughts much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Jaysen]

A question for one of my vac scheme applications is:

Please provide details of your main extracurricular interests and achievements. How have these interests and achievements helped you to develop the skills that you will need as a commercial solicitor?

What's the best way to approach this? Is it okay to pick a few activities and talk about the skills you developed, or, is it better to explicitly say "Through coaching the football team, I developed leadership and teamwork skills which will be essential as a solicitor due to XXXXX".

Thoughts much appreciated. Thanks!

I'd focus the core of your answer on showing how you developed your skills by discussing your experiences. Personally, I would then explicitly (but concisely) reference how the skills are relevant to the role of a commercial solicitor. I think this is an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of what the role entails.

If you do, I would encourage you to be very specific. Many candidates will simply write something like 'my resilience will be useful due to the pressures of working as a commercial lawyer'. You want to show that you have thought about why resilience will be useful as a commercial solicitor.

 

[Naomi U]

A question for one of my vac scheme applications is:

Please provide details of your main extracurricular interests and achievements. How have these interests and achievements helped you to develop the skills that you will need as a commercial solicitor?

What's the best way to approach this? Is it okay to pick a few activities and talk about the skills you developed, or, is it better to explicitly say "Through coaching the football team, I developed leadership and teamwork skills which will be essential as a solicitor due to XXXXX".

Thoughts much appreciated. Thanks!

Hi @Am92

Completely agree with Jaysen. I remember during my applications, the importance of showing rather than telling was always stressed.

Therefore, I think I would focus on a few examples but expand and quantify these using a similar structure to the STAR technique, then link this to the role of a commercial solicitor.

Hope this helps & best of luck!

 

[Am92]

I'd focus the core of your answer on showing how you developed your skills by discussing your experiences. Personally, I would then explicitly (but concisely) reference how the skills are relevant to the role of a commercial solicitor. I think this is an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of what the role entails.

If you do, I would encourage you to be very specific. Many candidates will simply write something like 'my resilience will be useful due to the pressures of working as a commercial lawyer'. You want to show that you have thought about why resilience will be useful as a commercial solicitor.

Thank you Jaysen - that is really helpful. Just a quick follow-up - you mention it's good to be specific about *why* certain skills are relevant to the role of a commercial solicitor, and not be generic. Is something like "my resilience will be valuable in meeting tight deadlines, dealing with demanding clients and understanding complex issues" specific enough, in your opinion?

 

[Jaysen]

Thank you Jaysen - that is really helpful. Just a quick follow-up - you mention it's good to be specific about *why* certain skills are relevant to the role of a commercial solicitor, and not be generic. Is something like "my resilience will be valuable in meeting tight deadlines, dealing with demanding clients and understanding complex issues" specific enough, in your opinion?

Yep I think that's specific enough for the purposes of this question.