Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

For this Travers Smith's application question, "Please give details of any positions of responsibility and achievements or awards at school, university or elsewhere*", do I have to link my POR and achievements to Travers Smith or do I just have to discuss in detail what I did? Please note that they have a cover letter and the following question in addition to the question above for their application to a vacation scheme: Please give details of your main extra-curricular activities and leisure interests.*

Thank you for your continued support!

No you don’t have to link it to TS.

 

[Lastseasonwonder]

No you don’t have to link it to TS.

@Jessica Booker Thank you for letting me know.

At the moment I have one sentence linking my POR with something that the firm has initiated - is this bad?

 

[Jessica Booker]

@Jessica Booker Thank you for letting me know.

At the moment I have one sentence linking my POR with something that the firm has initiated - is this bad?

no - you can do it, you just don’t have to.

 

[Lastseasonwonder]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I have seen that people have started to hear back for A&O summer VS - but they seem to have applied in October. For those who applied in Nov do you think they have any chance to hear before xmas or will it be in Jan? Just curious about when grad rec take a break from reading apps in the winter break in general as well.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

I have seen that people have started to hear back for A&O summer VS - but they seem to have applied in October. For those who applied in Nov do you think they have any chance to hear before xmas or will it be in Jan? Just curious about when grad rec take a break from reading apps in the winter break in general as well.

It’s less likely you will hear in December considering there is only six and a half working days left of the month. A lot of grad rec won’t just not be reading apps, they won’t be in at all. Lots of people will be on holiday now until the new year.

 

[Lily721]

Hi @Jessica Booker,

I am a recent law graduate and am currently applying for vacation schemes in London firms.
I am, however, worried that while I do meet the requirements set by law firms (2:1 degree), I have a few 2:2s for some of my university modules.
I had one very shocking 2:2 in my first year, and then in my second year I got two 2:2s (I was struggling with mental health issues and have extenuating circumstances). My final year I got three 2:1s and two 1sts. And to be honest, I am not a good at tests though I do try to give it my best.

My questions is: in your opinion, how likely is it for my module grades to affect my applications negatively?

I always have this on my mind and think it definitely puts me at a disadvantage. Especially as I just got rejected from Baker McKenzie, when last year I got through to the video interview stage and so now I feel like I am going backwards rather than making any progress. I do have legal and non-legal experience but feel like my poor module grades will definitely act as a barrier for me to get a vacation scheme.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker,

I am a recent law graduate and am currently applying for vacation schemes in London firms.
I am, however, worried that while I do meet the requirements set by law firms (2:1 degree), I have a few 2:2s for some of my university modules.
I had one very shocking 2:2 in my first year, and then in my second year I got two 2:2s (I was struggling with mental health issues and have extenuating circumstances). My final year I got three 2:1s and two 1sts. And to be honest, I am not a good at tests though I do try to give it my best.

My questions is: in your opinion, how likely is it for my module grades to affect my applications negatively?

I always have this on my mind and think it definitely puts me at a disadvantage. Especially as I just got rejected from Baker McKenzie, when last year I got through to the video interview stage and so now I feel like I am going backwards rather than making any progress. I do have legal and non-legal experience but feel like my poor module grades will definitely act as a barrier for me to get a vacation scheme.

are you claiming the extenuating circumstances?

 

[Lily721]

are you claiming the extenuating circumstances?

I am not sure. I have for some firms by explaining I have extenuating circumstances as I was dealing with mental health problems and my university was made aware.

But then I also worry that talking about having dealt with such problems might be off-putting to some employers.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I am not sure. I have for some firms by explaining I have extenuating circumstances as I was dealing with mental health problems and my university was made aware.

But then I also worry that talking about having dealt with such problems might be off-putting to some employers.

Many firms won’t be off put by it (some unfortunately will). You just need to be clear in explaining why it specifically impacted those two modules rather than the others.

 

[Lily721]

Many firms won’t be off put by it (some unfortunately will). You just need to be clear in explaining why it specifically impacted those two modules rather than the others.

Okay, thank you, I will make sure to do that.

But leaving the extenuating circumstances to the side, do you think that not having great scores for a few of my modules, would negatively impact my applications to top London law firms, despite graduating with an overall 2:1 and having strong final year results?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Okay, thank you, I will make sure to do that.

But leaving the extenuating circumstances to the side, do you think that not having great scores for a few of my modules, would negatively impact my applications to top London law firms, despite graduating with an overall 2:1 and having strong final year results?

If we are just talking about academics, then yes. It will ultimately not look as good as an application who has consistently scored 2.1s or above in every module.

But a lot more goes into considering what makes a good application than academics. It’s about the only thing on an application that can be directly compared to other candidates and so people often think it is that which is making them successful or not, when reality is the decision is much more likely to be made by other factors on an application form.

 

[IceFloe]

Hi @Jessica Booker ,

I'm answering the question "Please choose a current COVID related legal issue and describe how this may be impacting the legal sector and specifically [our firm]" in around 400 words.

Does national lockdown count as a 'legal issue'? I was planning to discuss how lockdown has led to construction sites adapting to conform with government guidance on health and safety. I wanted to address how lockdown has made WFH necessary in the legal sector, and how this has impacted training and the development of soft skills in trainees, but I wasn't sure if this link was too tenuous or not 'legal' enough.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker ,

I'm answering the question "Please choose a current COVID related legal issue and describe how this may be impacting the legal sector and specifically [our firm]" in around 400 words.

Does national lockdown count as a 'legal issue'? I was planning to discuss how lockdown has led to construction sites adapting to conform with government guidance on health and safety. I wanted to address how lockdown has made WFH necessary in the legal sector, and how this has impacted training and the development of soft skills in trainees, but I wasn't sure if this link was too tenuous or not 'legal' enough.

I wouldn’t say it is a direct legal issue really, although there are potential legal implications. The latter part of your answer is something that a lot of people will pick/talk about even if it was deemed legal, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. I don’t quite see how the health and safety of construction sites will impact law firms nor their clients, so you would need to make that much clearer.

 

[hopefullawyer123]

Hi @Jessica Booker, I hope you are well.
I am currently writing a cover letter for a firm and there is a minimal 500 word count. I have written around 250 words on 'why law' and 200 on 'why the firm'. I have mentioned 3 reasons - the success of the finance team, the low trainee intake and the secondment opportunities. I have had someone read over it and they said I need to discuss more about the work performed at the firm. I thought the finance aspect of my answer was sufficient. I am already at maximum word count and wanted your opinion before having to make large changes to the word count etc to make room for more reasons.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker, I hope you are well.
I am currently writing a cover letter for a firm and there is a minimal 500 word count. I have written around 250 words on 'why law' and 200 on 'why the firm'. I have mentioned 3 reasons - the success of the finance team, the low trainee intake and the secondment opportunities. I have had someone read over it and they said I need to discuss more about the work performed at the firm. I thought the finance aspect of my answer was sufficient. I am already at maximum word count and wanted your opinion before having to make large changes to the word count etc to make room for more reasons.

minimum word count or maximum word count?

what did your friend mean when they said you needed to include more on the work performed by the firm?

 

[hopefullawyer123]

minimum word count or maximum word count?

what did your friend mean when they said you needed to include more on the work performed by the firm?

maximum word count ** sorry! I’m not entirely sure but she was suggesting that I should discuss the international aspect of the firm or discuss another one of their practice areas. This has made me question whether the 3 reasons I discussed are satisfactory enough in quality ( as mentioned above)

 

[Jessica Booker]

maximum word count ** sorry! I’m not entirely sure but she was suggesting that I should discuss the international aspect of the firm or discuss another one of their practice areas. This has made me question whether the 3 reasons I discussed are satisfactory enough in quality ( as mentioned above)

I think it depends on a few factors - how detailed/multifaceted your reasons for wanting to work in Finance are along with how strong the firm is for Finance.

 

[IceFloe]

I wouldn’t say it is a direct legal issue really, although there are potential legal implications. The latter part of your answer is something that a lot of people will pick/talk about even if it was deemed legal, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. I don’t quite see how the health and safety of construction sites will impact law firms nor their clients, so you would need to make that much clearer.

Hi Jessica, thank you for getting back to me so quickly. Is discussing a legal issue like how COVID-19 affects force majeure clauses in commercial contracts too specific for the question (Please choose a current COVID related legal issue and describe how this may be impacting the legal sector and specifically [our firm]?)

I'm trying to think of how I could relate COVID/force majeure back to the legal sector / the firm specifically but can't really think of ideas outside the firm likely seeing increased client inquiries to do with force majeure + the firm should reassess its own force majeure clauses contracts with its service providers, so I'm worried that this legal issue is too narrow.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, thank you for getting back to me so quickly. Is discussing a legal issue like how COVID-19 affects force majeure clauses in commercial contracts too specific for the question (Please choose a current COVID related legal issue and describe how this may be impacting the legal sector and specifically [our firm]?)

I'm trying to think of how I could relate COVID/force majeure back to the legal sector / the firm specifically but can't really think of ideas outside the firm likely seeing increased client inquiries to do with force majeure + the firm should reassess its own force majeure clauses contracts with its service providers, so I'm worried that this legal issue is too narrow.

I suspect it may also be quite a common answer. Try to think about this more openly - what are the major impacts of COVID and then what are the legal implications of those impacts that would then affect firms or their clients.

 

[Lastseasonwonder]

Hi @Jessica Booker

Why do some firms ask if I have applied to a position at their firm previously?

Is it a disadvantage to have applied before?