Suppose I’m a recruiter for a global law firm.
If I’m going to invite you to interview, I need to know that you truly want to work at my firm – not just any commercial law firm.
In your application form, if you write that you are applying to my firm because of its ‘headlining deals’, ‘international work’ and because ‘you want to work with the best lawyers’, that’s not really telling me anything. How do I know that you want to work at my firm and not Clifford Chance, Baker McKenzie or Dentons?
It’s no better if you say you want to work at my firm because we have ’36 offices across 26 countries’ or because of my firm’s ‘legal services centre in Belfast’. It’s great that you know about my firm, but I already know those things. How does that get me any closer to knowing why you are applying?
So you want to demonstrate that you understand a firm, but you also want to tell me why those things appeal to you. Do you have an international background? How does that link to your interest in my firm’s global reach? Why does my firm’s investment in a legal services centre matter to you?
Asking ‘so what?’ or ‘why?’ will help you to properly develop your answers.
If you can, try to also attend any events or open days from my firm. It’s not necessary, but it helps to show me that you’ve gone out of your way to find out more about my firm. But, remember, the same point applies; don’t simply list all the people you spoke to at the event, tell me what you learned and how that links to why you are applying.
Finally, a point about mentioning deals. Deals can work, but most of the time, I see candidates drop a deal into their answer in a way that doesn’t get me closer to understanding why they are applying. If you want to mention a deal, try to think about how you can be specific and how the deal is tied to why you are applying.
