Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jessica Booker]

Hi again,

What are your thoughts on having a 'Covid 19' section on a CV? ie - a section explaining everything you did, courses, virtual schemes ect.

No - I wouldn’t.

I would just have these things in other sections. No one had a “financial crisis” section on their CV in 2008/9

 

[Achint_NA]

@Jessica Booker Hi again, I have a Q ab work experience on application forms

So I currently plan to put 12-13 experiences- is this a lot or too much? It's a mixture of legal experiences(both commercial law firms, family, and society positions for various societies, as well as start-up experiences!) In one of my society positions, the word count is 350 words(just for that section though), but at the same time, I did a lot for that role, and have specified my skills/knowledge, so would that be an issue? I wouldn't want to annoy GR with excessive writing.

Btw, for a lot of firms this year, I have followed this method- describing my experiences, etc, even if it seems long for some sections. It hasn't posed to be a problem so far, I've gotten several AC invites. However, they were all exclusively from cover letter firms , so I'm wondering if I only got through the next stage because of my good cover letters. The 2 firms that I am planning to apply to soon don't have this format, rather, only have several 200-300 word limit questions. So I want to maximise my chances, and don't want to lose points because of work exp over explaining(if this counts?)!

Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker Hi again, I have a Q ab work experience on application forms

So I currently plan to put 12-13 experiences- is this a lot or too much? It's a mixture of legal experiences(both commercial law firms, family, and society positions for various societies, as well as start-up experiences!) In one of my society positions, the word count is 350 words(just for that section though), but at the same time, I did a lot for that role, and have specified my skills/knowledge, so would that be an issue? I wouldn't want to annoy GR with excessive writing.

Btw, for a lot of firms this year, I have followed this method- describing my experiences, etc, even if it seems long for some sections. It hasn't posed to be a problem so far, I've gotten several AC invites. However, they were all exclusively from cover letter firms , so I'm wondering if I only got through the next stage because of my good cover letters. The 2 firms that I am planning to apply to soon don't have this format, rather, only have several 200-300 word limit questions. So I want to maximise my chances, and don't want to lose points because of work exp over explaining(if this counts?)!

Thank you!

as separate entries yes, it is too many to talk about descriptively. Do you have all of them on your CV as separate entries?

Your society positions are different though - This is not work experience and should be covered separately. Depending on the specifics of the question, it may expect you to cover all of your extra curriculars in that 350 word count, not just one of them.

Explaining 12 different experiences sounds pretty long even for a cover letter. A cover letter is usually why the firm, why the opportunity and why you. It sounds a little repetitive if you are then also applying with a CV and have this detail on your CV.

 

[Achint_NA]

as separate entries yes, it is too many to talk about descriptively. Do you have all of them on your CV as separate entries?

Your society positions are different though - This is not work experience and should be covered separately. Depending on the specifics of the question, it may expect you to cover all of your extra curriculars in that 350 word count, not just one of them.

Explaining 12 different experiences sounds pretty long even for a cover letter. A cover letter is usually why the firm, why the opportunity and why you. It sounds a little repetitive if you are then also applying with a CV and have this detail on your CV.

Thanks, I was specifically referring to the work experience part regarding the society position,which I realised was 350 words(description). The firm has a 100 word limit for extracurriculars, but I have several achievements/skills learnt from being President of a newly founded society, so I thought I'd enter it in the work exp(I've done so before and it hasn't been an issue?)

Just to clarify, when I said explaining 12 different experiences, I was referring to the work experience section. The cover letter, and its contents, are ofc what you said earlier, my questions were if 12 experiences were excessive for work experience, and my second one was, if one of the description was 350 words, would it be too long. Apologies if I wasn't clear earlier

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks, I was specifically referring to the work experience part regarding the society position,which I realised was 350 words(description). The firm has a 100 word limit for extracurriculars, but I have several achievements/skills learnt from being President of a newly founded society, so I thought I'd enter it in the work exp(I've done so before and it hasn't been an issue?)

Just to clarify, when I said explaining 12 different experiences, I was referring to the work experience section. The cover letter, and its contents, are ofc what you said earlier, my questions were if 12 experiences were excessive for work experience, and my second one was, if one of the description was 350 words, would it be too long. Apologies if I wasn't clear earlier

Society positions aren’t work experience and so shouldn’t be included in that section. If a firm only has a 100 word limit of ECs they clearly are less bothered about them/place less weight on them.

12 work experience entries are too heavy if you are describing them all. I’d have a look at the advice a few posts up to get it down.

 

[Achint_NA]

Society positions aren’t work experience and so shouldn’t be included in that section. If a firm only has a 100 word limit of ECs they clearly are less bothered about them/place less weight on them.

12 work experience entries are too heavy if you are describing them all. I’d have a look at the advice a few posts up to get it down.

Thank you ! will cut it down asap!

 

[Lumree]

Hi Jessica,

Should I include work experience from five years ago during my gap year? I worked as a delivery driver for a local takeaway for 9 months.

I had initially left it out because I’ve had more relevant experience since then, and it was quite a while ago. However, after reading the past few posts I’m debating putting it in. I did built some useful skills I can talk about. It also explains what I did in my year out. Do you think it’s still relevant or has too much time passed?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

Should I include work experience from five years ago during my gap year? I worked as a delivery driver for a local takeaway for 9 months.

I had initially left it out because I’ve had more relevant experience since then, and it was quite a while ago. However, after reading the past few posts I’m debating putting it in. I did built some useful skills I can talk about. It also explains what I did in my year out. Do you think it’s still relevant or has too much time passed?

Yes - if you think it’s appropriate to include it and/or it otherwise looks like you did nothing for 9 months, include it somewhere appropriate.

many people include work experience way beyond 5 years ago if it is appropriate/relevant to them.

 

[Lumree]

Yes - if you think it’s appropriate to include it and/or it otherwise looks like you did nothing for 9 months, include it somewhere appropriate.

many people include work experience way beyond 5 years ago if it is appropriate/relevant to them.

Thank you!

 

[tractor12]

Hi Jess, regarding work experience descriptions where you say it’s up to you to make your experience relevant to commercial law. Let’s say I demonstrated how X (non legal) experience equipped me with communication and organizational skills, would it be necessary to say why that is needed for a career in law or would that be self explanatory?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jess, regarding work experience descriptions where you say it’s up to you to make your experience relevant to commercial law. Let’s say I demonstrated how X (non legal) experience equipped me with communication and organizational skills, would it be necessary to say why that is needed for a career in law or would that be self explanatory?

definitely not needed to explain how it would be needed in a career in law (unless you are explicitly told to do so). You are teaching your grandmother to suck eggs by doing this.

 

[Lawgrad98]

Hi Jessica,

I just graduated this summer and am hoping to secure a TC in the upcoming VS cycle.

I have been offered a low skill administrative job and was wondering if I should accept it while applying for VS. Would such a low skill job benefit my applications, given that I have already previously completed a VS at an MC firm, a paralegal role and a summer internship at a small law firm?

Thank you.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

I just graduated this summer and am hoping to secure a TC in the upcoming VS cycle.

I have been offered a low skill administrative job and was wondering if I should accept it while applying for VS. Would such a low skill job benefit my applications, given that I have already previously completed a VS at an MC firm, a paralegal role and a summer internship at a small law firm?

Thank you.

Any job is better than no job in terms of an application if you are not studying or don’t have other major full-time commitments.

It’s never a case that any experience will automatically “benefit” an application.

 

[Plum]

Hi Jessica,

This is a little odd, but do you know if you are still eligible for the government student loan for the LLM LPC if you have a training contract? I appreciate that I am already in a fortunate position, but it would be so much easier to study if I could move out, and I can't afford to rent somewhere with just the grant from the TC.

Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

This is a little odd, but do you know if you are still eligible for the government student loan for the LLM LPC if you have a training contract? I appreciate that I am already in a fortunate position, but it would be so much easier to study if I could move out, and I can't afford to rent somewhere with just the grant from the TC.

Thank you!

Not an expert on this unfortunately. Not sure how it works in terms of proving you have paid the fees/are liable for the fees to the PG loan company. But if you are paying the fees and then the firm is reimbursing you that might not be an issue anyway.

Probably best to track down some of the Future Trainee members and ask them.

Having a quick read, it looks like you possibly won’t be eligible based on it saying if you are receiving other funding - EDIT - ignore this, it seems to only apply to public funding.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/postgraduate-loans/

 

[Jen E C]

Hi Jessica,

This is a little odd, but do you know if you are still eligible for the government student loan for the LLM LPC if you have a training contract? I appreciate that I am already in a fortunate position, but it would be so much easier to study if I could move out, and I can't afford to rent somewhere with just the grant from the TC.

Thank you!

I'm pretty sure a friend of mine did this and it was fine.

 

[avocadotoast]

Hi Jessica,

Hope you're well!

When reapplying to a firm, if the firm asks to only reapply if there has been "significant changes to your application", does this only mean grades, or can it also mean work experience?

Thanks for your help

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

Hope you're well!

When reapplying to a firm, if the firm asks to only reapply if there has been "significant changes to your application", does this only mean grades, or can it also mean work experience?

Thanks for your help

Doesn’t have to mean either. It just means a significant development - that could be transforming your career motivation. It could be a combination of elements of an application.

I think you have to critically evaluate why you didn’t get shortlisted/offered last year and think carefully whether enough has changed since then to warrant reapplying.

 

[LegalEagle10]

Just a shoutout- I work in Fuse for one of the businesses in there and so if anyone has any questions on this or legal tech more generally then please let me know

Hey Alice! Thank you for putting this out there.. I just wanted to ask what legal tech does A&O currently use that has got the best feedback till now? Could you tell me a bit more about it?

 

[Alice G]

Hey Alice! Thank you for putting this out there.. I just wanted to ask what legal tech does A&O currently use that has got the best feedback till now? Could you tell me a bit more about it?

The company I previously worked for are called Avvoka and A&O are a client and they’re part of Fuse. They’re a contract automation, negotiation and analytics company and their website is pretty informative. I would check out the Fuse cohort really in general as a starter to LegalTech. Legatics were also in Fuse and they’re more transaction orientated tech so really useful for banking for instance and Define is another great company currently in Fuse too. Hope this helps as a starting point but there will be lots of info online on their websites or on LinkedIn

I can’t really speak to the feedback question too much as I wouldn’t necessarily know but Avvoka have worked with A&O for some time and I helped to run some training with their trainees and lawyers in my time there which was an exceptional experience