Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Holly]

you have a legal right to request a SAR for anything, whatever stage you choose to do it.

A SAR would only provide you with the same written comments though - it won’t provide you with other detail/answers you were hoping for in the example above.

thank you!

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

@Jessica Booker
Hello Jessica. Hope you are doing well, could you tell me, other than IB and Consulting, are there other similar careers that a TC Aspirant needs to mention about, giving reasons to the interviewers as to why he/she discarded those?
Thank You.

 

[Alice G]

@Jessica Booker
Hello Jessica. Hope you are doing well, could you tell me, other than IB and Consulting, are there other similar careers that a TC Aspirant needs to mention about, giving reasons to the interviewers as to why he/she discarded those?
Thank You.

Hey there, just to chip into this - I appreciate what you mean here and think people can often be asked about why not banking etc but in my experience, questions like this are often asked because 1. you seem to have gone down a different path previously or your CV shows evidence of other career paths you have not mentioned yet as part of forming your motivations. Or 2. You have alluded to something in a motivation question which is quite vague and might apply to similar paths or you have said something quite niche which perhaps isn't really true for law.

I have always found these questions tend to come off the back of things you have said regards your motivation rather than just totally out of the blue. However, this has just been my experience.

In any case, one thing to do which is a good exercise for this is to really look at your CV/work experiences and see what it might say to someone else regards other paths you have considered. I did a lot of political history and even that sparked a partner to ask me why I am not looking into the civil service fast stream

Hope this helps

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker
Hello Jessica. Hope you are doing well, could you tell me, other than IB and Consulting, are there other similar careers that a TC Aspirant needs to mention about, giving reasons to the interviewers as to why he/she discarded those?
Thank You.

it’s not that you even need to mention IB or consulting - for many applicants this will never come up in conversation.

Ultimately you could be asked “what other careers have you considered” - that might be more specific on a particular career in you have some evidence of that on your application (eg you have studied Finance, they will probably ask why not this route, you have done some previous consultancy work experience, you’d probably be asked why you are not taking that route). Many people will have never considered a career in IB or consulting - it doesn’t mean they need to make up an answer for an interview, they just need a clear logic and reasoning as to what careers they have considered.

It is much more common to be asked why not other types of law (eg family law) or why not a barrister.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

@Alice G @Jessica Booker Thank you for explaining this well. I went from studying Science at high school to a degree in law, and I have also undertaken a litigation internship. I feel these 2 things are the only things that require an explanation.
Thanks again!

 

[CL20]

Hi @Jessica Booker

In terms of explaining your strategy (when asked what firms you have applied for), I wondered if it would be enough to say that I am applying to firms which I have met before and had a positive impression about?

Thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

In terms of explaining your strategy (when asked what firms you have applied for), I wondered if it would be enough to say that I am applying to firms which I have met before and had a positive impression about?

Thanks.

Strangely only asked this the other day!

No it won’t be.

The reason for this is that you made a decision to meet the firms so clearly had some criteria in place already when you choose to go to the events/speak to them.

You also need to explain why they made a favourable impression to you - that clearly also influenced your decision to apply but what was the difference between the firms that made a favourable impression versus those that didn’t.

If that is them just being nice, that isn’t enough though. To be frank people are nice at events on purpose, the schmooze is on. Speaking to someone at an event isn’t going to be like what it’s like working with them, so you need to delve deeper into why you would like doing the job there instead of somewhere else too.

 

[CL20]

Strangely only asked this the other day!

No it won’t be.

The reason for this is that you made a decision to meet the firms so clearly had some criteria in place already when you choose to go to the events/speak to them.

You also need to explain why they made a favourable impression to you - that clearly also influenced your decision to apply but what was the difference between the firms that made a favourable impression versus those that didn’t.

If that is them just being nice, that isn’t enough though. To be frank people are nice at events on purpose, the schmooze is on. Speaking to someone at an event isn’t going to be like what it’s like working with them, so you need to delve deeper into why you would like doing the job there instead of somewhere else too.

Thanks, Jessica.

Could I talk about how I have generally applied to the more 'independent' firms like Slaughters, Travers etc.?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks, Jessica.

Could I talk about how I have generally applied to the more 'independent' firms like Slaughters, Travers etc.?

as long as your explaining your logic as to why that is important to you, yes.

 

[CL20]

as long as your explaining your logic as to why that is important to you, yes.

Thank you!

 

[SA123]

Hi Jessica!

I am seriously considering self-funding my LPC in 2021. From the point of view of a recruiter, if you see a candidate already has their LPC, does that make them more attractive to the firm? Also, if you were deciding between two candidates and liked each of them, if one had the LPC, would that tip the scales in their favour?

Thank you.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica!

I am seriously considering self-funding my LPC in 2021. From the point of view of a recruiter, if you see a candidate already has their LPC, does that make them more attractive to the firm? Also, if you were deciding between two candidates and liked each of them, if one had the LPC, would that tip the scales in their favour?

Thank you.

For most firms who sponsor, it doesn’t make a candidate more attractive unfortunately. Self funding is not a negative but it just isn’t really an outright positive either.

I would only expect a firm to have a preference for someone who had self funded/completed the LPC if there was a chance they wanted them to start earlier, if the firm didn’t sponsor anyway, or if the firm had a very small intake and a very small budget.

 

[Lawgrad98]

Hi Jessica,

Last year I completed a vacation scheme at a MC firm's overseas office. Do you think it will be ok if I apply to the same firm but this time for a vacation scheme in their London office? Will it make more sense to apply for their direct TC instead?

Thanks

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

Last year I completed a vacation scheme at a MC firm's overseas office. Do you think it will be ok if I apply to the same firm but this time for a vacation scheme in their London office? Will it make more sense to apply for their direct TC instead?

Thanks

This is quite common and not an issue if you meet the general eligibility criteria.

Only issue is if you need a work permit (likely if you are not studying in the U.K.)

You could choose to apply direct for a TC too though. It’s up to you preferences and your eligibility.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

I hope you are well!

I understand that firms often encourage candidates to reapply for a place on the Vacation Scheme only if there has been a significant improvement in the application. May I ask if the quality of my written answers counts, or must I have improved academically/gained significant work experiences? My average did improve by a few percentage points but my classification remains the same. I have also not been able to secure any work experiences since the last recruitment cycle officially ended so I am not sure if it is worth reapplying. Thank you very much !

if you think it was your written answers that were the reason for being unsuccessful last time and you were unsuccessful at the application stage, then yes this is ok. Changing your answers may not be sufficient if you were interviewed though.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you very much for your reply! I am not sure whether it was my written answers or my credentials that resulted in the rejection but I was definitely unsuccessful at the application stage. May I ask if a slightly improved average and (hopefully stronger) written answers would make it worthwhile for reapplying? May I also ask if it is less worthwhile to reapply if I have been unsuccessful in securing a place on the Open Day?

Thank you once again

If you were unsuccessful at application stage, it’s probably worthwhile reapplying - it’s difficult to quantify though. I don’t think applying for an open day makes any difference really compared to if your previous application was unsuccessful for a vac scheme or training contract - same principles apply. You have to critically evaluate whether you think your application is stronger and how much so, and then weigh up whether you think it’s worthwhile reapplying.

 

[IntrepidL]

Hi @Jessica Booker, in answering the question - 'What does exceptional client service look like from a future facing lawyer?' - can we use our experiences to describe what 'exceptional client service' may look like, or should we answer the question in abstract such as what the firm is doing to maintain exceptional client service?

I've had some personal experience which I was hoping to weave into the second part concerning 'future facing lawyer'.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker, in answering the question - 'What does exceptional client service look like from a future facing lawyer?' - can we use our experiences to describe what 'exceptional client service' may look like, or should we answer the question in abstract such as what the firm is doing to maintain exceptional client service?

I've had some personal experience which I was hoping to weave into the second part concerning 'future facing lawyer'.

To me this is more abstract - this isn’t asking about providing exceptional client service now, but what that would look like in the future, so has to be abstract in many ways. I think you can still reference your own experiences - but that is it - just referencing. I think there is a risk that people could talk about providing exceptional client service through their previous experiences but not necessarily cover the future facing bit or distract too much from the question.

 

[IntrepidL]

To me this is more abstract - this isn’t asking about providing exceptional client service now, but what that would look like in the future, so has to be abstract in many ways. I think you can still reference your own experiences - but that is it - just referencing. I think there is a risk that people could talk about providing exceptional client service through their previous experiences but not necessarily cover the future facing bit or distract too much from the question.

Ah, makes a lot of sense! Thank you

 

[XARA]

Hi Jessica, I was wondering whether you had an opinion on how to approach the question: "How is [Firm X] different to other firms you have applied to?". Does answering this entail listing the firms you have applied and drawing comparisons, or perhaps taking a more abstract approach? Thanks