Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

When a firm asks

"Is there anything else relevant to your application which you feel we ought to know when considering your application?" (500 words)

Is Grad Recruitment looking for something for candidates to write without making it seem like you have to. I just don't want to leave it out if the firm is actually looking for candidates who do fill out the section

Many thanks

The latter - just there as all all encompassing “if you didn’t have a chance to say something you think is important/relevant, here is your chance to say it”

 

[Lohana]

The latter - just there as all all encompassing “if you didn’t have a chance to say something you think is important/relevant, here is your chance to say it”

Thank you Jessica. Are there any examples of what could be important/relevant? Or is this completely subjective?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you Jessica. Are there any examples of what could be important/relevant? Or is this completely subjective?

There are some practical things you can put in there:

- Gaps in your CV
- Explaining grades structures that are atypical
- Extenuating circumstances
- Explaining how your grades were calculated during covid (especially important if you didn’t sit modules due to compensation systems)
- Resits

However, if there is something important in your application you haven’t had the chance to explain, I would put it in there.

It is important to not just run on answers to other questions just because you ran out of word count though. But sometimes you can’t put important information in because of the limits of the application form.

For instance, with me I wouldn’t be able to put down every job I ever had, but I might want to references I worked 40 hour weeks across 4 jobs during my A-levels because my A-level grades aren’t that good.

 

[Veep9]

I would take it as "you" but obviously the two are going to be somewhat interchangable.

To jump on, would you explain why those attributes and how you demonstrate them?

 

[Jessica Booker]

To jump on, would you explain why those attributes and how you demonstrate them?

i would explain why they are important. You can make brief references to how you have developed them, but you aren’t going to have the word count for full explainations.

 

[Veep9]

i would explain why they are important. You can make brief references to how you have developed them, but you aren’t going to have the word count for full explainations.

Thank you

 

[pbyrne]

I would take it as "you" but obviously the two are going to be somewhat interchangable.

Thanks you!

 

[pbyrne]

Hi Jessica - sorry another question! This firm has asked for the details of an academic referee and a professional one. I finished uni a long time ago and do not think any tutors/professors would be able to give an up to date reference (if they even remember me!). I finished undergrad in 2010), postgrad in 2012 and the LPC in 2017. I know from previous applications that my BPP tutor has left teaching. Would it be ok to put two professional referees instead?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica - sorry another question! This firm has asked for the details of an academic referee and a professional one. I finished uni a long time ago and do not think any tutors/professors would be able to give an up to date reference (if they even remember me!). I finished undergrad in 2010), postgrad in 2012 and the LPC in 2017. I know from previous applications that my BPP tutor has left teaching. Would it be ok to put two professional referees instead?

I think they will still want an academic reference to verify your grades. I would still put an academic reference, even if it is just an admin contact who would verify your grades.

 

[Lohana]

There are some practical things you can put in there:

- Gaps in your CV
- Explaining grades structures that are atypical
- Extenuating circumstances
- Explaining how your grades were calculated during covid (especially important if you didn’t sit modules due to compensation systems)
- Resits

However, if there is something important in your application you haven’t had the chance to explain, I would put it in there.

It is important to not just run on answers to other questions just because you ran out of word count though. But sometimes you can’t put important information in because of the limits of the application form.

For instance, with me I wouldn’t be able to put down every job I ever had, but I might want to references I worked 40 hour weeks across 4 jobs during my A-levels because my A-level grades aren’t that good.

Thank you that was extremely helpful!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica @Jessica Booker, I hope you are having a lovely weekend! This is a bit of a random question but I was wondering why do some firms use drastically different recruitment systems/processes for graduate recruitment in different offices, whereas some use the same recruitment system for global recruiting? Isn't it more cost-effective and convenient to adopt the same system and does this shed light on how 'integrated/one-firm' a law firm is? Thank you very much

Graduate recruitment isn’t like recruiting for a normal job. It’s much more “quirky” and high volume, which mean that separate systems can often make sense to use as a general system isn’t tailored enough to what you need for Graduate Recruitment.

That means there are some specialist graduate recruitment applicant tracking systems (ATS) purely designed for Graduate Recruitment in the UK that don’t work as well for other countries - Apply4Law/All Hires is a prime example. There are other added complications - if you want to use contextualised recruitment like the Rare platform, you need to ensure this will integrate into an ATS, but that system will only work for the UK.

So I wouldn’t see this as how integrated a firm is globally. It’s just going to be a decision based on what works for that firm.

 

[pbyrne]

I think they will still want an academic reference to verify your grades. I would still put an academic reference, even if it is just an admin contact who would verify your grades.

ok, thank you!

 

[Mxkry]

Hi Jessica,

Does graduate recruitment look at your application holistically? For example if you don't answer a particular question that well, will they discard your app or can you 'make up' for it in your other responses?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

Does graduate recruitment look at your application holistically? For example if you don't answer a particular question that well, will they discard your app or can you 'make up' for it in your other responses?

It is going to depend on the firm and the question. For instance, I would expect them to be stricter on a "why us" question than a competency question, especially if you could infer that competency in other evidence in your application.

More times than not an application will be looked at holistically, but at the same time there will be lots of applications that won't be fully reviewed because there will be something on the application that is enough for the firm to not consider it any further.

 

[Lily721]

hi @Jessica Booker ,

I am doing this last minute application and it is asking me for my Overall university average score. The trouble is that at my university, there were a lot of changes and each of my three years are weighted differently so at the moment, I cannot calculate my true average score. I don't want to put down anything because I don't want it to be wrong and this to result in a potential rejection. However, it is not letting me to continue without leaving it blank. It is not even letting me put a zero. I don't know what to do!

There is a box underneath stating: Please add any supplementary educational information. So I was thinking of putting down an average score, giving an equal weighting to each year and then in that box explaining that this may not be true due to....I don't even know what to say.

What would your advice be?

 

[Lily721]

Also, forgot to add - actually from what I remember, my university takes into account a student's top 4 modules and then gives a classification based on that. Could that mean that I calculate the average of my top four module marks? and then put that? But then it could also be wrong. @Jessica Booker

 

[Jessica Booker]

hi @Jessica Booker ,

I am doing this last minute application and it is asking me for my Overall university average score. The trouble is that at my university, there were a lot of changes and each of my three years are weighted differently so at the moment, I cannot calculate my true average score. I don't want to put down anything because I don't want it to be wrong and this to result in a potential rejection. However, it is not letting me to continue without leaving it blank. It is not even letting me put a zero. I don't know what to do!

There is a box underneath stating: Please add any supplementary educational information. So I was thinking of putting down an average score, giving an equal weighting to each year and then in that box explaining that this may not be true due to....I don't even know what to say.

What would your advice be?

Sounds like the best approach - definitely use the extra information secion to say you are not 100% sure of weighting due to the disruption of assessments in the last year.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Also, forgot to add - actually from what I remember, my university takes into account a student's top 4 modules and then gives a classification based on that. Could that mean that I calculate the average of my top four module marks? and then put that? But then it could also be wrong. @Jessica Booker

You could do that too - you will have to calculate it on what you think is best, but I would explain you are not 100% sure in the extra information section

 

[Lily721]

Thank you! That's what I will do and hope they don't reject me because of that.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you! That's what I will do and hope they don't reject me because of that.

Very much doubt they would. People know grades are all a bit crazy in the last 12 months