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Message: <blockquote data-quote="vera.mekhonoshina" data-source="post: 216123" data-attributes="member: 30780">Hey [USER=35580]@lawyersum[/USER]! This is a very good question. One piece of advice that I would give to candidates when reviewing their applications at TCLA is to think about the personal link as 'evidence' that you are indeed interested in a specific area of law or a practice area at a law firm. You are absolutely right about the danger of making your answer look like a 'shopping list'. So, to make those statistics, facts, deals, etc. come across as more genuine and personal to you, I direct applicants to one question - 'Why is this important to you?'Now, here's the catch - you want to keep asking yourself this question until your answers go beyond the surface-level points, such as (some common examples I have seen in 200+ applications) being an international student, coming from a specific region, studying the module at university, reading the news, to more refined, in-depth reflections on the almost psychological rationale behind your interests and passions.So, to illustrate my point about what you have mentioned about areas such as an M&A: 1. Begin by really thinking about the aspects of this practice area that interest you. Avoid generalisations and clichés, such as 'complexity' or 'fast pace'. Try and explain how you understand those concepts in your own words. What does complexity mean to you? For example, to me, complexity is about bringing multiple independent pieces of dense information together and trying to understand how they fit together. It may mean something entirely different to you! 2. Continue by asking yourself: Why exactly am I drawn to [X aspect] of M&A work? Here, you want to provide an in-depth, personal reason. Try and find genuine reasons and stick to simple, everyday language. This is an area where I see many candidates struggle. You don't need to invent anything new here - you already have all the answers within yourself. For example, when I would talk about my interest in the client-facing nature of work, I would explain this by saying something along the lines of 'I want to work in [X area] because I genuinely enjoy building lasting connections with people, as doing so allows me to get to know their problems on a much deeper level'. 3. Finally, make sure that you provide a very specific example from your professional, educational, or extracurricular experiences that would confirm that you do indeed have an interest or enjoy [X aspect] of the work.So, the key to a convincing explanation as to why you are interested in a specific area of law isn't necessarily straightforward - you don't need to have done an M&A module at university to present a convincing argument for your interest in this type of work.Instead, focusing on the qualities and aspects of a specific practice area and drawing parallel examples from your own experiences can also work. I hope this helps!</blockquote>

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