Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. Could you please answer a slightly odd question that I have. I wanted to know why the 'role of a trainee' is one question that is asked at the outset. I mean don't the firms want the trainees to qualify and become full-fledged lawyers. Why is their horizon in the interview just around the role of a trainee?
Thank You.

Because they want you to understand what job you will be committing to for the first two years (which can often be the least interesting part of your career).

 

[JW]

Hi Jessica,

If an application entails commercial awareness questions, a personal accomplishment question and a why the firm question- what sort of answers would you expect to see for "Please provide any further information about yourself that is relevant to your application (250 words)"?

Thanks

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

If an application entails commercial awareness questions, a personal accomplishment question and a why the firm question- what sort of answers would you expect to see for "Please provide any further information about yourself that is relevant to your application (250 words)"?

Thanks

Could be a whole range of things that just don’t naturally fit into other sections. Sometimes though candidates don’t have those things and this section can be relatively short/none existent. It can also be used to explain things like gaps on CVs, resits, extenuating circumstances too

 

[JW]

Could be a whole range of things that just don’t naturally fit into other sections. Sometimes though candidates don’t have those things and this section can be relatively short/none existent. It can also be used to explain things like gaps on CVs, resits, extenuating circumstances too

Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker, I hope you are well. Just building on my previous question--I applied to another firm for the Summer Vac Scheme 2020 back in January 2020. I still haven't heard back but obviously the scheme had ended and I wasn't invited. My peers also received rejection emails for the same vacancy. In this situation, should I still say I have yet to hear back, or if I should say I have been rejected?

Can I also ask if I can list my participation in ongoing competitions for the question 'list your academic scholarships and prizes'?

Thank you once again. I really appreciate your help

I’d still say you didn’t hear back or something like “Assumed unsuccessful” as you weren’t told you were unsuccessful.

Yes - you can list competitions if you know you are progressing in them

 

[jam1999]

@Jessica Booker
Hi! In October, I got given an ad hoc paid position to do legal admin work for a QC. Its only about a day a month of work and my main roles are:

• Setting up, organising and maintaining a more efficient paper and electronic filing systems of relevant case authorities (rather than authorities being sorted by case, they are now all alphabetical so easier to find etc)
• Scanning and printing off documents for court bundles

This is pretty much all I am tasked to do - its quite basic admin work so pretty much all I do is printing/filing/sorting (as opposed to writing letters / taking calls). Is the way I have described it ok for a TC or vac scheme application? Most my other work experience entries include times where I have taken on extra responsibility / achieved something for the company etc but here I cant really do that as I genuinely have quite little responsibility

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you very much once again

EDIT: @Jessica Booker sincere apologies for bothering you again. I would just like to ask one last question: during an application workshop, a firm mentioned that if candidates have written about a deal in their application form, they should be ready to discuss it in their interviews. On another occasion (an interview workshop), the same firm also said that candidates should be prepared to be asked questions like a recent deal done by the firm that interest them. Do these mean that the firm expects candidates to discuss a deal on their application forms, or is there no correlation at all? Thank you!

no correlation at all.

Anything on an application form is fair game and you should be ready to talk about it, that includes deals you reference. Same could be said if you said you had outstanding knowledge/skills.

All this says to me that the firm expects you to hold opinions on things you identify as important (because you put them in an application) and that they expect you to have done research on the firm.

 

[Lastseasonwonder]

Hello,

In the Macfarlanes App, there is the following section:

"On this page please give details of time spent out of education or work, for example time spent overseas."

It is not compulsory by the way so will I be at a disadvantage to not complete it? What is the point of this section? Also, are they asking for where I have been on holiday etc?

Thanks

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello,

In the Macfarlanes App, there is the following section:

"On this page please give details of time spent out of education or work, for example time spent overseas."

It is not compulsory by the way so will I be at a disadvantage to not complete it? What is the point of this section? Also, are they asking for where I have been on holiday etc?

Thanks

no - not at a disadvantage at all. It’s literally there to explain gaps in an application. Lots of people won’t have gaps.

For those who have gaps, it’s not about saying where you went on holiday it’s just to account for the time that’s unexplained on an application

 

[Sam55]

Hi Jessica,

I hope you are well. Upon receiving an invitation to an assessment centre, is it acceptable to email GR to ask who is going to interview you? I feel like it could be very helpful to know which partners are interviewing me because then I can look up a bit about their background and practice area beforehand but I wouldn't want to ask if its seen as an unprofessional thing to do.

Thanks!

Sam

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

I hope you are well. Upon receiving an invitation to an assessment centre, is it acceptable to email GR to ask who is going to interview you? I feel like it could be very helpful to know which partners are interviewing me because then I can look up a bit about their background and practice area beforehand but I wouldn't want to ask if its seen as an unprofessional thing to do.

Thanks!

Sam

Its not unprofessional - lots of people ask...

But...

The interview is about you, not them. I personally wouldn’t waste time finding out more about your interviewers as it isn’t relevant to you beyond them working in a particular area you are interested in. I think there are better ways to invest your time.

Interviewers often change as well, so it can often be a massive waste of time.

Many firms won’t tell you who your interviews are because of the above points, so don’t be surprised if they don’t give you the details.

 

[dollyparton]

Hi @Jessica Booker. I don't have much legal work experience but I do have retail experience from working part-time while at school/uni.

On my applications, I have written about the client-service skills I have developed in these roles and team-work with colleagues. Are there any other key skills I could talk about in relation to these types of jobs?

I've worked as a sales assistant for both independent shops and market-leading brands so I was wondering if I could say something relating to commercial awareness, but I think this may be too large a stretch.

Thanks in advance.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jaysen, hope you are doing well! I wanted to ask you if the applications for TCLA Premium Scholarships are going to open anytime soon?
Thank You.

 

[SamsanTech]

Hi @Jessica Booker, I have an upcoming virtual interview (pre-recorded one), and I was wondering what the difference between a competency and a strength-based question was?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker, I have an upcoming virtual interview (pre-recorded one), and I was wondering what the difference between a competency and a strength-based question was?

Competency question is “tell me about a time” type questions, asking you to pull on your previous experiences to demonstrate you have developed that competency.

Strength based questions are one of two things. Either forward looking, asking you to place yourself in a situation that would happen in the workplace of where you have applied and you discussing how you would navigate that situation. It is basically asking you to be more self-reflective of your ability/attitude and demonstrate what strengths of yours you would pull upon in that situation. Strengths based questions can also be reflective of past experiences but ask you to talk about what you felt rather than what you did.

 

[hopefullawyer123]

Hi @Jessica Booker and @Jaysen - I am currently completing a TC form for Linklaters. I can only select up to 3 work experiences. The first two I selected are legal experiences at a law firm and law clinic. For the third, i can either select my previous part-time employment as a english and maths tutor ( non-legal ) or pro bono experience for a legal organisation campaigning against wrongful convictions ( legal). Which do you suggest?

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker. I don't have much legal work experience but I do have retail experience from working part-time while at school/uni.

On my applications, I have written about the client-service skills I have developed in these roles and team-work with colleagues. Are there any other key skills I could talk about in relation to these types of jobs?

I've worked as a sales assistant for both independent shops and market-leading brands so I was wondering if I could say something relating to commercial awareness, but I think this may be too large a stretch.

Thanks in advance.

Jobs are not identical so it is difficult To say what skills you have/haven’t developed. You will know what skills it developed in you though, and if you truly feel that is commercial awareness, then there is nothing wrong with saying that as long as you can substantiate how it developed your commercial awareness. I have seen enough people do it successfully - but that’s because they have the detail to back up that claim.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker and @Jaysen - I am currently completing a TC form for Linklaters. I can only select up to 3 work experiences. The first two I selected are legal experiences at a law firm and law clinic. For the third, i can either select my previous part-time employment as a english and maths tutor ( non-legal ) or pro bono experience for a legal organisation campaigning against wrongful convictions ( legal). Which do you suggest?

Thanks in advance for your time.

Impossible to say on that alone. Factors to consider when choosing though:

Which one is more recent
Which one is more substantial
Which one was more complex
Which one did you do for a longer period of time
Which one did you do at a busier time in life
Which one demonstrates more variety of skills
Which one are you most proud of
Which one do you think was the one that pushed you the most

 

[Jaysen]

Hello @Jaysen, hope you are doing well! I wanted to ask you if the applications for TCLA Premium Scholarships are going to open anytime soon?
Thank You.

Hey there,

Sorry, I know I keep promising that we'll be doing this soon. Speaking honestly, I am working quite madly at the moment to keep up with everything, but I do hope to launch this as soon as I possibly can.

 

[Jony]

Hey there,

Sorry, I know I keep promising that we'll be doing this soon. Speaking honestly, I am working quite madly at the moment to keep up with everything, but I do hope to launch this as soon as I possibly can.

You guys are doing legendary stuff on a 3-staff-team basis. HUGE kudos for the work y'all do! (not applying for the scholarship but just wanted to thank ya, Jaysen)