Super urgent question about BM Application

[am98]

Long story short, I am applying for the spring vac scheme at Baker McKenzie. I have slowly built my relationship with the firm in the past year (attending law fairs, speaking to trainees, virtual work experience, attending the open day, etc.). I am ready to submit my application--however, there is one last-minute question about a section on the application. Under work experience, there is another section that says

"Please list other work experience or career events you have attended (this can include open days). Outline Details/Responsibilities if required (500 words max)).

I wrote about all of the law fairs I've attended, the open day, any virtual work experiences, etc. however, how much detail should I give? Do I need to write in prose about what I learnt/how it lead me to a career in commercial law/how it lead me to Baker McKenzie? Or should I keep this concise? I mentioned most of this stuff in the actual application questions anyway, so I don't want to repeat myself.

Also, there's only a limited number of work experiences to enter. There isn't an "add work experience" button to add. I have one more work experience I could add, it was from when I worked at a cafe this past summer. I didn't want to necessarily leave it off of the application because I did talk about key actions/tasks/skills I learnt from the experience (plus, I know law firms are always saying include ALL of your work experiences).

Sorry for the long-winded post, I didn't want to leave my application to the last minute and I had it mostly ready 2 weeks ago, but I just needed time to proofread/fix errors and then came to this surprise entry!

Should I leave the cafe work experience off and talk more about the virtual workshops/internships/open day etc. I attended, or remove some of the extra info and add in the cafe work experience?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Long story short, I am applying for the spring vac scheme at Baker McKenzie. I have slowly built my relationship with the firm in the past year (attending law fairs, speaking to trainees, virtual work experience, attending the open day, etc.). I am ready to submit my application--however, there is one last-minute question about a section on the application. Under work experience, there is another section that says

"Please list other work experience or career events you have attended (this can include open days). Outline Details/Responsibilities if required (500 words max)).

I wrote about all of the law fairs I've attended, the open day, any virtual work experiences, etc. however, how much detail should I give? Do I need to write in prose about what I learnt/how it lead me to a career in commercial law/how it lead me to Baker McKenzie? Or should I keep this concise? I mentioned most of this stuff in the actual application questions anyway, so I don't want to repeat myself.

Also, there's only a limited number of work experiences to enter. There isn't an "add work experience" button to add. I have one more work experience I could add, it was from when I worked at a cafe this past summer. I didn't want to necessarily leave it off of the application because I did talk about key actions/tasks/skills I learnt from the experience (plus, I know law firms are always saying include ALL of your work experiences).

Sorry for the long-winded post, I didn't want to leave my application to the last minute and I had it mostly ready 2 weeks ago, but I just needed time to proofread/fix errors and then came to this surprise entry!

Should I leave the cafe work experience off and talk more about the virtual workshops/internships/open day etc. I attended, or remove some of the extra info and add in the cafe work experience?

I would keep it super concise. Title the events and the month/year you attended so your reader can understand the chronological journey you have had through the events. Focus on 1-2 key learning per event where appropriate (e.g. more appropriate for open days, but not really for something like law/career fairs). I don't think you have to be explicit in stating how these events have led you to BM, especially for the non-BM events you attended. If you have mentioned it elsewhere in your application, ensure there isn't repetition here (e.g. in other sections you could say how events have helped you decide on BM, but then it definitely isn't needed in this section, as it would be repetition).

You would put the cafe role in this "Please list other work experience" question too. Definitely don't leave it out of an application - it can just be mentioned briefly in this section. You don't have to state the obvious (e.g. serving customers), just try to focus on the unique elements - e.g. was the role full time/long hours, were you given additional responsibilities/promoted, did you help improve the business in anyway. Don't worry if it is limited - recruiters know these roles can be pretty straight forward, but will be able to infer a lot of transferable skills you would have gained from this experience.

 

[AvniD]

Long story short, I am applying for the spring vac scheme at Baker McKenzie. I have slowly built my relationship with the firm in the past year (attending law fairs, speaking to trainees, virtual work experience, attending the open day, etc.). I am ready to submit my application--however, there is one last-minute question about a section on the application. Under work experience, there is another section that says

"Please list other work experience or career events you have attended (this can include open days). Outline Details/Responsibilities if required (500 words max)).

I wrote about all of the law fairs I've attended, the open day, any virtual work experiences, etc. however, how much detail should I give? Do I need to write in prose about what I learnt/how it lead me to a career in commercial law/how it lead me to Baker McKenzie? Or should I keep this concise? I mentioned most of this stuff in the actual application questions anyway, so I don't want to repeat myself.

Also, there's only a limited number of work experiences to enter. There isn't an "add work experience" button to add. I have one more work experience I could add, it was from when I worked at a cafe this past summer. I didn't want to necessarily leave it off of the application because I did talk about key actions/tasks/skills I learnt from the experience (plus, I know law firms are always saying include ALL of your work experiences).

Sorry for the long-winded post, I didn't want to leave my application to the last minute and I had it mostly ready 2 weeks ago, but I just needed time to proofread/fix errors and then came to this surprise entry!

Should I leave the cafe work experience off and talk more about the virtual workshops/internships/open day etc. I attended, or remove some of the extra info and add in the cafe work experience?

I would keep it super concise. Title the events and the month/year you attended so your reader can understand the chronological journey you have had through the events. Focus on 1-2 key learning per event where appropriate (e.g. more appropriate for open days, but not really for something like law/career fairs). I don't think you have to be explicit in stating how these events have led you to BM, especially for the non-BM events you attended. If you have mentioned it elsewhere in your application, ensure there isn't repetition here (e.g. in other sections you could say how events have helped you decide on BM, but then it definitely isn't needed in this section, as it would be repetition).

You would put the cafe role in this "Please list other work experience" question too. Definitely don't leave it out of an application - it can just be mentioned briefly in this section. You don't have to state the obvious (e.g. serving customers), just try to focus on the unique elements - e.g. was the role full time/long hours, were you given additional responsibilities/promoted, did you help improve the business in anyway. Don't worry if it is limited - recruiters know these roles can be pretty straight forward, but will be able to infer a lot of transferable skills you would have gained from this experience.

Completely agree with @Jessica Booker! I think the last application question was different in my year (I am not a 100% sure about this!) and the way I went about listing it was by stating the event ➡️ mentioning key details about my role/responsibility ➡️ highlighting any stand-out achievements.

Wishing you the very best for your application! Please keep in touch about your progress and do reach out here on the forum if you have any further questions😇