Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jaysen]

Hi @Jessica Booker for Baker McKenzies VC, they have this question: ''Law firms are all different - tell us about three things, which are personal to you, that you feel differentiate Baker McKenzie from other leading firms and encouraged you to apply? (300 words max)''. Is this essentially a wordier version of asking the same as why you are applying to BM? I have included three reasons which are personal to me, but I am worried I have not specified how they differ from their competitors explicitly.

Thanks in advance!

I take the change in phrasing of this question to mean:

- BM wants candidates to be more personal in their reasoning
- BM wants candidates to be thinking more deeply about what makes the firm different to other firms

I don't think you need to explicitly specify how BM differs from competitors, although it should be clear that you have identified reasons that differentiate BM from other firms.

 

[syw]

I take the change in phrasing of this question to mean:

- BM wants candidates to be more personal in their reasoning
- BM wants candidates to be thinking more deeply about what makes the firm different to other firms

I don't think you need to explicitly specify how BM differs from competitors, although it should be clear that you have identified reasons that differentiate BM from other firms.

Thanks Jaysen that clears it up a lot!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks Jaysen that clears it up a lot!

Jaysen’s nailed it - I couldn’t have explained it better. This is really that hey want to find out more about why YOU are applying And what’s important to you rather than just getting generic answers anyone could write.

 

[bethbristol]

Hi Jess, where would you put things like Forage Virtual Internships or the Bright Network internship on your CV. I have so far divided my CV into education, legal work experience, other relevant experience, volunteering/positions of responsibility (i have a lot of these so whole section is necessary), and activities and interests. I was thinking the last one but not sure if this would get a bit lost. Thanks!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jess, where would you put things like Forage Virtual Internships or the Bright Network internship on your CV. I have so far divided my CV into education, legal work experience, other relevant experience, volunteering/positions of responsibility (i have a lot of these so whole section is necessary), and activities and interests. I was thinking the last one but not sure if this would get a bit lost. Thanks!

Your "other relevant experience" can just be "other experience" - everything is relevant on a CV!

To me it either sits in work experience or sometimes people have an additional section that is titled something like "Events and online learning" and then they put these type of things in there, with things like open days, conferences etc. It is really a new trend so if you think it fits better in activities and interests that is fine too, I would just make sure that section is clearly structured so you can see its component parts

 

[Lawgirl445]

Hi @Jessica Booker just wondering whether it is appropriate to put upcoming vac schemes on direct TC apps even though they haven't taken place yet--as they show a commitment to corporate law. If so, would these go on the work experience section? Thanks!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker just wondering whether it is appropriate to put upcoming vac schemes on direct TC apps even though they haven't taken place yet--as they show a commitment to corporate law. If so, would these go on the work experience section? Thanks!

Yes, definitely appropriate to mention it somewhere.

I sometimes see this in extra info sections rather than work experience, just so it doesn’t take up a spot that could be far more detailed and show your skill set better.

Really all you can say is when the scheme will take place/how long it is/who it is with. As and when you know the department you are sat in, at best you can add that too, but there is no point writing anything else beyond these factual points.

 

[em311]

Hi @Jessica Booker ! I'm just wondering for the work experience sections on applications, do you need to use most/all of the 250 word count? I have written more in depth responses for my recent positions but for some older ones my responses are around 100 words. Is this too short?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker ! I'm just wondering for the work experience sections on applications, do you need to use most/all of the 250 word count? I have written more in depth responses for my recent positions but for some older ones my responses are around 100 words. Is this too short?

It can be fine to have shorter work experience sections, especially if it is fairly self explanatory (eg waitressing) or if the experience was short (eg open day/couple of days work shadowing), or where you didn’t have a lot of responsibilities (work shadowing/short work experience programmes that are more learning based)

Conciseness will be appreciated. Just be critical and ask yourself whether anything is missing (eg your personal impact in the role).

 

[Lawgirl123]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I hope you are well. Have a question:is it ok to use the same competency example in a video interview as you used on an application form? Obviously making sure its more detailed?

Thanks!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I hope you are well. Have a question:is it ok to use the same competency example in a video interview as you used on an application form? Obviously making sure its more detailed?

Thanks!

Yes, it is ok to do this, especially if your application form is quite extensive. It is unlikely that they will ask you the exact same question though (if they do, that isn't very effective recruitment) so make sure you really understand the differences in what the question in asking you and tailor/adapt your answers on that basis.

 

[33c]

@Jessica Booker Hi! How would I find out who a firm's competitors are? would I look at highly ranked practice areas and try and find a pattern?

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker Hi! How would I find out who a firm's competitors are? would I look at highly ranked practice areas and try and find a pattern?

@Jaysen and @Alice G might be better placed to answer this.

To me, I would look at something like Chambers and see how firms are ranked by practice area and sector. I would also look at legal press to see how firms get dropped or added to big corporates/organisations legal panels.

The thing about competitors though is that you can get pretty generic quickly - and that won't necessarily be helpful or show your detailed analysis. For instance, a firm with offices in Manchester and Bristol probably see different competitors within those different locations. Within a firm in one office location, a Competition team will have very different competitors to their IP team, who will have very different competitors to their Corporate team.

 

[CT]

Hi @Jessica Booker. May I ask if it’s okay to answer shorter than the amount of time given in the video interview? For example if I only answer 45s instead of the whole one minute. Would that be viewed negatively? Thank you

 

[33c]

@Jaysen and @Alice G might be better placed to answer this.

To me, I would look at something like Chambers and see how firms are ranked by practice area and sector. I would also look at legal press to see how firms get dropped or added to big corporates/organisations legal panels.

The thing about competitors though is that you can get pretty generic quickly - and that won't necessarily be helpful or show your detailed analysis. For instance, a firm with offices in Manchester and Bristol probably see different competitors within those different locations. Within a firm in one office location, a Competition team will have very different competitors to their IP team, who will have very different competitors to their Corporate team.

@Jaysen and @Alice G any thoughts on how I should approach this question?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker. May I ask if it’s okay to answer shorter than the amount of time given in the video interview? For example if I only answer 45s instead of the whole one minute. Would that be viewed negatively? Thank you

no one will notice the difference between 45 and 60 seconds

 

[Alice G]

@Jaysen and @Alice G any thoughts on how I should approach this question?

Hi there,

I think it’s tricky as firms can compete according to numerous different criteria but I’d say their closest competitors in a business sense will be those who rank similarly to them in key practice areas. @Jessica Booker gives sound advice there in guiding you to look at Chambers to explore this and maybe look at awards too.

however, you could also look at how firms compete in terms of LegalTech, D&I etc.

 

[matpart]

Skadden has an open day on 30 nov. Their vac scheme deadline is 31 dec. Given that it is rolling I would like to send off my application for the vac scheme now. Or should I apply for the open day, attend that on the 30. nov and then send off my vac scheme app?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Skadden has an open day on 30 nov. Their vac scheme deadline is 31 dec. Given that it is rolling I would like to send off my application for the vac scheme now. Or should I apply for the open day, attend that on the 30. nov and then send off my vac scheme app?

I would wait if you got the Open Day. If you didn't you'd know before the 30th November and could apply earlier than that now.

You might as well start drafting the application now (while you are also writing your Open Day application) and get it as ready as you can to go, and then adapt/amend/refine once you know whether you have the open day or not.

 

[matpart]

I would wait if you got the Open Day. If you didn't you'd know before the 30th November and could apply earlier than that now.

You might as well start drafting the application now (while you are also writing your Open Day application) and get it as ready as you can to go, and then adapt/amend/refine once you know whether you have the open day or not.

Thank you! One final question. Baker McKenzies deadline for the spring vacation scheme is 1 dec, but I see people with offers and ACs already. Is it worth applying? The deadline for the summer scheme is 1 jan. It says on the application that it is aimed at second years, but that finalists also can apply. As a third year, should I apply here instead?