Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Holly]

Hi Holly,

really appreciate the advice and kind words. Will be taking it all on board for my subsequent applications. I will PM for any questions- thank you for the offer!

No problem at all, happy to help

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jaysen @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. I am really interested in Private Equity. As an Indian law student, I can only apply to Linklaters and HSF via their India Internship Program. The problem is that neither of the 2 firms is band 1 in PE. Links is Band 4 according to Chambers and HSF's PE practice isn't ranked at all (I couldn't find it so I could be wrong here). Would it still be ok to talk about PE in response to the question "What's a story that interests you?" in the HSF application form and at any relevant moment during the Links process.

They could very well question my motive to join the firm. Also, would it be too overconfident of me to say that rather than an established practise area, I'd join a lower-rung area and try my best to make it market-leading etc.?

Thank You.

 

[Als]

Hi @Jessica Booker
I am reapplying to a firm (I did not progress past the application stage previously), and was wondering whether firms typically return to our previous unsuccessful applications to look at the quality/reason for rejection? Thanks!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker
I am reapplying to a firm (I did not progress past the application stage previously), and was wondering whether firms typically return to our previous unsuccessful applications to look at the quality/reason for rejection? Thanks!

It’s not impossible. But it’s not typical. You can usually make a decision on the basis of the latest application alone, and in the modern era of GDPR, a lot of applications get wiped after 12 months anyway.

 

[Als]

P

It’s not impossible. But it’s not typical. You can usually make a decision on the basis of the latest application alone, and in the modern era of GDPR, a lot of applications get wiped after 12 months anyway.

Phew! Thanks!

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

I think for some reason, my posts aren't making it to your notifications. Apologies for posting it again.

Hello @Jaysen @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. I am really interested in Private Equity. As an Indian law student, I can only apply to Linklaters and HSF via their India Internship Program. The problem is that neither of the 2 firms is band 1 in PE. Links is Band 4 according to Chambers and HSF's PE practice isn't ranked at all (I couldn't find it so I could be wrong here). Would it still be ok to talk about PE in response to the question "What's a story that interests you?" in the HSF application form and at any relevant moment during the Links process.

They could very well question my motive to join the firm. Also, would it be too overconfident of me to say that rather than an established practise area, I'd join a lower-rung area and try my best to make it market-leading etc.?

Thank You.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I think for some reason, my posts aren't making it to your notifications. Apologies for posting it again.

Hello @Jaysen @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. I am really interested in Private Equity. As an Indian law student, I can only apply to Linklaters and HSF via their India Internship Program. The problem is that neither of the 2 firms is band 1 in PE. Links is Band 4 according to Chambers and HSF's PE practice isn't ranked at all (I couldn't find it so I could be wrong here). Would it still be ok to talk about PE in response to the question "What's a story that interests you?" in the HSF application form and at any relevant moment during the Links process.

They could very well question my motive to join the firm. Also, would it be too overconfident of me to say that rather than an established practise area, I'd join a lower-rung area and try my best to make it market-leading etc.?

Thank You.

I did see your post, but I am not an expert on Links or HSF’s PE capabilities so can’t really comment.

Please try to be patient. Some posts are much easier for us to respond to than others. I often post things I can respond to quickly, between other commitments but things that require more research/thought often can take me more time to respond to.

@Naomi U - would you have any insight into this?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker, I hope you are well. I found something I heard from a firm representative intriguing so put that in my application form. However, I just realised that I made a mistake with regard to the representative's name (e.g. it should be Margaret but I wrote Mary). Could I ask if that is likely to result in an out-right rejection? Thank you!

If it’s the person reading your app, possibly. But unlikely to be a full rejection based on that alone. Just another strike.

 

[PF'noooo!]

Hi Jessica,
Hope you are well.

My exams at BPP coincided directly with both the Winter and Spring Vacation Schemes at Baker McKenzie. This was frustrating as these schemes are targeted for graduates. As Baker McKenzie was one of my top firms and after a friend told me they recruit largely out of their VCs, I decided to apply for the Summer Scheme anyway despite it being aimed at penultimate year students.

This evening I received an invite to complete a WG for Baker after passing the initial application review stage. Do you think that they have read my application and let it slip that I am not a penultimate year student. This is because it is clear from my education records and my answers in my application that I am a career change/GDL student. Or rather, they haven't noticed and will disregard my application once they are aware of this fact.

It's probably best I contact the firm anyway about this but wanted to hear you thoughts.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,
Hope you are well.

My exams at BPP coincided directly with both the Winter and Spring Vacation Schemes at Baker McKenzie. This was frustrating as these schemes are targeted for graduates. As Baker McKenzie was one of my top firms and after a friend told me they recruit largely out of their VCs, I decided to apply for the Summer Scheme anyway despite it being aimed at penultimate year students.

This evening I received an invite to complete a WG for Baker after passing the initial application review stage. Do you think that they have read my application and let it slip that I am not a penultimate year student. This is because it is clear from my education records and my answers in my application that I am a career change/GDL student. Or rather, they haven't noticed and will disregard my application once they are aware of this fact.

It's probably best I contact the firm anyway about this but wanted to hear you thoughts.

I think someone else has replied in the other thread to say you are eligible

 

[PF'noooo!]

I think someone else has replied in the other thread to say you are eligible

Hi Jessica, thanks & yes I have had this clarified on the other thread

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

hello @Alice G . I was watching the webinar recording on 'Why You' in which you say that majority of your competencies were drawn from the experience that you had as a barista. I've heard that we should ideally talk about just one competency from an experience. What are your views on this?

Thank you.

 

[Jessica Booker]

hello @Alice G . I was watching the webinar recording on 'Why You' in which you say that majority of your competencies were drawn from the experience that you had as a barista. I've heard that we should ideally talk about just one competency from an experience. What are your views on this?

Thank you.

I think this is a slightly different thing.

If you are talking about a specific work experience, I would expect someone to highlight the range of skills they developed from it.

However, if you are asked a lot of separate competency questions, I wouldn’t expect you to use the same example over and over again, as it’s going to make you look more one dimensional.

I suspect this is where the difference is there.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. Wanted to ask you if Brexit is going to stay relevant for interviews around August of this year. Unless we mention it ourselves, can we go unprepared for it as it might not be that likely to come up in interviews?

Thank You.

 

[DJMG]

Hi Jessica If an interviewer asked you what other careers you'd considered other than law do you think it would reflect poorly on you to say that you haven't seriously considered any others? It's the truth for me-I was drawn to law because I feel like it aligns with my skill set, and after first doing legal work experience when I was 16 I decided this was the career for me.

 

[_mxrkyyy]

HI Jessica

In video interviews when answering why law and why the firm do you answer it in the same manner as you would on an application form? For some reason it feels quite unnatural to do so even though it shouldn't be.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. Wanted to ask you if Brexit is going to stay relevant for interviews around August of this year. Unless we mention it ourselves, can we go unprepared for it as it might not be that likely to come up in interviews?

Thank You.

Undoubtedly. Will be a talking point for some time for some sectors/industries

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica If an interviewer asked you what other careers you'd considered other than law do you think it would reflect poorly on you to say that you haven't seriously considered any others? It's the truth for me-I was drawn to law because I feel like it aligns with my skill set, and after first doing legal work experience when I was 16 I decided this was the career for me.

If you haven’t truly considered other careers on any level, I would encourage you to do so. That doesn’t have to be through gaining work experience, but by just understanding other similar jobs and working out why you don’t want to do them is important.

 

[Jessica Booker]

HI Jessica

In video interviews when answering why law and why the firm do you answer it in the same manner as you would on an application form? For some reason it feels quite unnatural to do so even though it shouldn't be.

No - it will need much more depth in an interview situation.

 

[Alice G]

hello @Alice G . I was watching the webinar recording on 'Why You' in which you say that majority of your competencies were drawn from the experience that you had as a barista. I've heard that we should ideally talk about just one competency from an experience. What are your views on this?

Thank you.

@Jessica Booker is indeed right here - I held my role as a barista for 4.5 years and was a supervisor for just over 6 months so I had a wealth of different experiences in that time within those roles where I had to develop multiple skills and dealt with a host of situations. I never used the same scenario more than once, it was merely the context of many of my chosen scenarios/examples tended to be in my role as a barista/supervisor. The context of the example itself is not so important, it is important you don't just reiterate the same example constantly - this is the distinction.