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<blockquote data-quote="Lawgirlxo" data-source="post: 3803" data-attributes="member: 191"><p>1. Be brave enough to be yourself: I’ve found myself trying to edit the answers to the app questions because it just seemed that people were firing off applications with spectacular answers. There’s no need to reference a deal or a practice area of a firm if neither of them interests you. True honesty can be perceived from a mile. Answer the questions without the aim of ‘outshining’ the other applicants. Focus on explaining your answers to the best of your ability and the rest will take care of itself. E.g, there was this app question that asked about the biggest technical innovation facing the legal industry in the next 5 years. I went with generational change. It doesn’t seem like a typical topic but I justified my answer and I went through to the interview stage.</p><p></p><p></p><p>2. Know your strengths and know them very well. Everyone has good communication skills, everyone is a team player and these days, most applicants are commercially aware. The question is what makes you stand out from the rest? I came across the CC application which asks for your greatest achievement. I started out by explaining what I thought they would want to hear – how I went above and beyond for a client and how this had a (very) huge impact on the collaborative project I was working on. But I couldn’t go on. I don’t really care about this and it certainly is not my greatest achievement. So, I’ve gone with something more personal. It does not even involve a team element, it's more of an ongoing achievement. I can tell that I am extremely proud of it because of how easily the words flowed when I was drafting my answer. Only time will tell if CC shares my enthusiasm about the achievement. All in all, I would say dig deeper to understand what makes you unique. Remember that the thing which makes you unique can equally be another person’s USP. But, that’s not your business and it certainly does not matter at all. When you find out what that is, try and find a way to inject it into your application (it can be done very subtly and then further expanded on during the interview. </p><p></p><p></p><p>3. Know how to sell yourself. There is great <strong>power </strong>in words. Most times, it's not what you write but how you write it. Pick your choice of words carefully and then determine how best to structure your sentences. I’ve read a fair number of applications and I can always get a sense of someone’s personality through their style of writing and choice of words. Make sure to highlight what YOU did and how you made an impact. That said, it's totally fine if the result was a group effort or if what you did was so collaborative that there was no scope to be independent. Be flexible.</p><p></p><p></p><p>4. Understand what interests you about commercial law. I don’t know if it is just me, but commercial law is such a broad, broad term. From my perspective, it can be broken down into: the practice areas (finance etc), sectors (energy, tech etc), clients (private equity firms, private investors, investment banks, high-end, top-end), business development (the creation of long-term value for an organisation through customers, relationships and markets) and so much more. Personally, I’m quite interested in business development and so I have a keen interest in understanding how a business maintains its competitive advantage and how companies carve out new paths to growth etc. This interest led me to the retail industry, which you may know is one sector that is currently facing disruption. Business development also applies to law firms themselves - they are businesses in their own right! Commercial law is literally commerce and law working together; you have to narrow this broad concept into more specific reasons as to why you want to pursue a career in the field. </p><p></p><p></p><p>5. Finally, take your time to produce a well-written application. It can take days, weeks and for some months (if you start super early).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lawgirlxo, post: 3803, member: 191"] 1. Be brave enough to be yourself: I’ve found myself trying to edit the answers to the app questions because it just seemed that people were firing off applications with spectacular answers. There’s no need to reference a deal or a practice area of a firm if neither of them interests you. True honesty can be perceived from a mile. Answer the questions without the aim of ‘outshining’ the other applicants. Focus on explaining your answers to the best of your ability and the rest will take care of itself. E.g, there was this app question that asked about the biggest technical innovation facing the legal industry in the next 5 years. I went with generational change. It doesn’t seem like a typical topic but I justified my answer and I went through to the interview stage. 2. Know your strengths and know them very well. Everyone has good communication skills, everyone is a team player and these days, most applicants are commercially aware. The question is what makes you stand out from the rest? I came across the CC application which asks for your greatest achievement. I started out by explaining what I thought they would want to hear – how I went above and beyond for a client and how this had a (very) huge impact on the collaborative project I was working on. But I couldn’t go on. I don’t really care about this and it certainly is not my greatest achievement. So, I’ve gone with something more personal. It does not even involve a team element, it's more of an ongoing achievement. I can tell that I am extremely proud of it because of how easily the words flowed when I was drafting my answer. Only time will tell if CC shares my enthusiasm about the achievement. All in all, I would say dig deeper to understand what makes you unique. Remember that the thing which makes you unique can equally be another person’s USP. But, that’s not your business and it certainly does not matter at all. When you find out what that is, try and find a way to inject it into your application (it can be done very subtly and then further expanded on during the interview. 3. Know how to sell yourself. There is great [B]power [/B]in words. Most times, it's not what you write but how you write it. Pick your choice of words carefully and then determine how best to structure your sentences. I’ve read a fair number of applications and I can always get a sense of someone’s personality through their style of writing and choice of words. Make sure to highlight what YOU did and how you made an impact. That said, it's totally fine if the result was a group effort or if what you did was so collaborative that there was no scope to be independent. Be flexible. 4. Understand what interests you about commercial law. I don’t know if it is just me, but commercial law is such a broad, broad term. From my perspective, it can be broken down into: the practice areas (finance etc), sectors (energy, tech etc), clients (private equity firms, private investors, investment banks, high-end, top-end), business development (the creation of long-term value for an organisation through customers, relationships and markets) and so much more. Personally, I’m quite interested in business development and so I have a keen interest in understanding how a business maintains its competitive advantage and how companies carve out new paths to growth etc. This interest led me to the retail industry, which you may know is one sector that is currently facing disruption. Business development also applies to law firms themselves - they are businesses in their own right! Commercial law is literally commerce and law working together; you have to narrow this broad concept into more specific reasons as to why you want to pursue a career in the field. 5. Finally, take your time to produce a well-written application. It can take days, weeks and for some months (if you start super early). [/QUOTE]
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