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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nicole" data-source="post: 1540" data-attributes="member: 16">Hi everyone!Demi Joannides, a future trainee at Herbert Smith Freehills, has kindly offered to share her application advice to students at TCLA.Enjoy <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />The Online ApplicationChoose quality over quantityAs with many firms, the online application is in some ways both the most important part and the hardest part of the application process. While many find interviews and assessment centres more challenging, most applicants are unsuccessful at the online application stage and on any online tests. Once you’re invited to interview, the chances of being offered a vacation scheme are statistically higher  as you have already successfully passed other stages of the application process.It’s no secret that [quality over quantity] is highly debated. I’ve heard stories about how people applied to fifteen law firms and received fifteen vacation scheme offers. Great. but this is very rare. In reality, those who send off fewer targeted applications which are of superstar quality are far more likely to be invited to interview than those who send off countless half-hearted applications. I applied to four firms and was invited to interview at all four. I ranked the firms in order of preference (making a note of each application deadline) and worked on one application at a time. As a rule, I never started a new application until I had submitted the previous one. This way I was sure that each application was the best it could be and had absolutely no spelling or grammar mistakes!Demonstrate stellar commercial awarenessThe concept of commercial awareness itself is quite abstract and it can be hard to know what law firms actually look for. The best piece of advice that I received was that they are simply looking for an ‘awareness’. Yes commercial awareness is very broad, use this to your advantage. A great place to start is by reading Richard Susskind’s “Tomorrow’s Lawyers”. Having a general understanding of the issues discussed here will be a great foundation for you to research some topics further. I also used the <a href="http://citycareerseries.com/commercial-law-handbook.php" target="_blank">Commercial Law Handbook</a> by Jake Schogger (a Warwick alumnus) which is great for defining and explaining business jargon.Show major interest in the firmBe sure to mention each and every time you have come into contact with the firm, whether that be at open days, presentations or campus events. Try to name drop (assuming you made good notes at the time!) and show how speaking to person X enticed you into finding out more about the firm. If in doubt, mention the firm’s Campus Ambassadors!Don't downplay your interests or achievementsYou may think this is a strange tip, but I have found it concerning to read over applications in which people downplay their achievements. Perhaps we are so used to not boasting in everyday life that it seems strange to have to sell ourselves in applications. In questions like ‘tell us about your biggest achievements’ it’s arguably more impressive to fully analyse how you dealt with a difficult customer at work and what skills you gained from this, rather than how you climbed Kilimanjaro which is restricted to able-bodied people who can afford to do so.Likewise, never be ashamed or embarrassed about your participation in outreach programmes (which are typically for students from non-traditional backgrounds). I was heavily involved in Pathways to Law, Rare Recruitment, Aspiring Solicitors and Pure Potential. Diversity is very important to a lot of law firms and this is one way to show your motivation for a career in law outside of university societies and extra curricular activities.Save a Word copy of every application you sendOk, listen up. This is arguably the most important tip of all. I learnt my lesson very early on. I typed my answers directly into the online application and, once it was sent, there was no way of retrieving my responses. This made preparing for interview very difficult and meant that I could not conduct further research on any deals/cases that I (perhaps?) had mentioned.</blockquote>

Verification: Our company is called, "The Corporate ___ Academy". What is the missing word here?

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