Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jessica Booker]

So my initial reaction was to answer why I'm interested in commercial law and the types of firms, so I gave a brief answer there. Then when he asked again I think I went back to my IR degree and how my interest in law came from that. When he asked AGAIN I must've bs-ed really hard bc it was getting frustrating not knowing what he was looking for lol. I think it would be a lot to cram in those three points!

Next time you get an interviewer like this, ask them to clarify what they are looking for.

There are hundreds of ways you could approach this question. Has your experiences got you there, has you motivation got you there, has your attitudes got you there, has fate got you there etc.

 

[sabma]

Hey Jessica, hope you are well!
I have an interview later this afternoon but I am quite ill (a cold) and unable to reschedule it (I don’t have wifi after today).
What should I do? Is it alright to just mention it to my interviewers?

Thanks!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hey Jessica, hope you are well!
I have an interview later this afternoon but I am quite ill (a cold) and unable to reschedule it (I don’t have wifi after today).
What should I do? Is it alright to just mention it to my interviewers?

Thanks!

personally, I would reschedule and find a way to use an alternative Wi-fi. For instance, you can sometimes buy day passes for BT Wi-fi and go via someone else BT router.

Your interviewers cannot quantify how ill you are and how that may impact your performance. It would be better to do your interview when you are better.

 

[sabma]

personally, I would reschedule and find a way to use an alternative Wi-fi. For instance, you can sometimes buy day passes for BT Wi-fi and go via someone else BT router.

Your interviewers cannot quantify how ill you are and how that may impact your performance. It would be better to do your interview when you are better.

Thank you Jessica!

 

[nicole88]

Hi Jessica, I was wondering whether we are supposed to include all our work experience in our applications. I am preparing for an interview and I was thinking of using examples of certain competencies from a casual job I held for a couple of weeks. However, I didn't mention it in the app, simply because it was for a short period. Is it bad that I did not mention it? Can I still mention it during the interview? I am not concerned that in case I am successful it could appear on the background check and they may wonder why I didn't include it. Thank you

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, I was wondering whether we are supposed to include all our work experience in our applications. I am preparing for an interview and I was thinking of using examples of certain competencies from a casual job I held for a couple of weeks. However, I didn't mention it in the app, simply because it was for a short period. Is it bad that I did not mention it? Can I still mention it during the interview? I am not concerned that in case I am successful it could appear on the background check and they may wonder why I didn't include it. Thank you

Not bad to mention it, but your interviewers may ask why it wasn't on your application. You should always use the best examples rather than think whether it is on your application or not (lots of personal experiences and sometimes things like extra curriculars may not be on someone's application).

Whether you include all work experience entries on an application is dependent on the application format. Some limit your work experience entries, some only ask for specific work experience. Generally the more the better, but I was someone who had over 12 jobs before I even got to university, and so I would probably not list all of them on an application just because it would make my application form incredibly long and probably somewhat boring.

 

[thewaythecookiecrumbles]

Hi Jessica,

During a VS do the recruitment team generally keep their notes of how a candidate was during the AC and do they look to see if they've developed since then? Or is the decision for a TC solely dependant on VS performance? Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

During a VS do the recruitment team generally keep their notes of how a candidate was during the AC and do they look to see if they've developed since then? Or is the decision for a TC solely dependant on VS performance? Thank you!

It would be fairly normal to still use the recruitment process as part of the evidence alongside vacation scheme performance to make a decision on whether to offer someone a training contract.

 

[missw01]

Hi Jessica,
Sorry if this is a silly question, but should work experience be listed in chronological order with the start date or the end date. I have some overlaps with my experience so unsure how to structure it exactly.
Thanks

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,
Sorry if this is a silly question, but should work experience be listed in chronological order with the start date or the end date. I have some overlaps with my experience so unsure how to structure it exactly.
Thanks

Reverse chronological order by end date.

 

[ilovetheDLR]

Hi Jessica - Do firms have a certain number of TCs they give out per vacation scheme? I have a VS offer but it clashes with another offer so looking to change to a later scheme (last one of the cycle) and trying to work out whether my chance of getting a TC will be lower because most will have gone already in the spring and the first summer one. Would really appreciate any thoughts/insights. The firm is Jones Day.

Thank you!

 

[Jane]

Hi Jessica, do you know whether the Chambers UK numbers for Vac Scheme to TC places are correct? Say for Freshfields, if they accept 50% of their 80 Trainees from Direct TC Apps, and there are 60 Vacation Scheme places, would it make sense to estimate that the offer rate is 67%?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica - Do firms have a certain number of TCs they give out per vacation scheme? I have a VS offer but it clashes with another offer so looking to change to a later scheme (last one of the cycle) and trying to work out whether my chance of getting a TC will be lower because most will have gone already in the spring and the first summer one. Would really appreciate any thoughts/insights. The firm is Jones Day.

Thank you!

They will have a set number of TC vacancies in total but it won’t be a case of them allocating X number of places per scheme. If the cohort isn’t good enough, no one would get an offer.

It doesn’t make sense to make offers to more people in the first scheme when the better talent could be in the latter scheme.

Not everyone is going to get an offer and not everyone who gets an offer will accept.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, do you know whether the Chambers UK numbers for Vac Scheme to TC places are correct? Say for Freshfields, if they accept 50% of their 80 Trainees from Direct TC Apps, and there are 60 Vacation Scheme places, would it make sense to estimate that the offer rate is 67%?

No - you are not factoring in people declining their offers for other firms. Also doesn’t account for people who choose a deferred intake.

But a firm like Freshfields would just recruit more direct TC candidates if they had a poor year in conversion rates/decline rates. They aren’t going to be aiming to offer X percentage of vac schemers, they just naturally know it bounces between a certain percentage and will work around that no matter what the outcome.

 

[Pallatablelawyer]

hey Jessica.. I got an invite to an interview .. however I was asked to provide transcripts prior to the interview and stuff. However, I just noticed that I omitted two grades by mistake. It was 57 and 52.. one in first year and the other in second year.. I wrote all my other low grades which were 50s and two were even 40s so I was not honestly not trying to hide this. In fact, I was asked to provide year average grades which would have been higher if those grades were not recorded but I wrote my lower year average grade so it was clearly an error.
Will they reject me based on this? I never intended to lie or anything.

 

[Jessica Booker]

hey Jessica.. I got an invite to an interview .. however I was asked to provide transcripts prior to the interview and stuff. However, I just noticed that I omitted two grades by mistake. It was 57 and 52.. one in first year and the other in second year.. I wrote all my other low grades which were 50s and two were even 40s so I was not honestly not trying to hide this. In fact, I was asked to provide year average grades which would have been higher if those grades were not recorded but I wrote my lower year average grade so it was clearly an error.
Will they reject me based on this? I never intended to lie or anything.

Not necessarily but you need to clarify the situation with them.

 

[Pallatablelawyer]

Not necessarily but you need to clarify the situation with them.

Thank you, I will email them to bring it to their attention. I noticed I seem to have done this with a lot of applications because I was simply copying the grades from each other.

 

[thirdtimelucky]

Hi Jessica,

I was thinking of applying to do the GDL for the September start if i don’t secure a TC this cycle. With the SQE coming in and my reluctance to immediately do the LPC after the GDL, will doing the GDL be pointless given the transition?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

I was thinking of applying to do the GDL for the September start if i don’t secure a TC this cycle. With the SQE coming in and my reluctance to immediately do the LPC after the GDL, will doing the GDL be pointless given the transition?

If you aren’t willing to do the LPC straight away, then there is a risk that more TCs will be on the SQE route by then but you won’t be exempt from SQE1. If you complete the LPC you will at least be exempt from SQE1

 

[Pallatablelawyer]

Thank you, I will email them to bring it to their attention. I noticed I seem to have done this with a lot of applications because I was simply copying the grades from each other.

Jessica in regards to this again, do you think they could say I was trying to lie or be deceptive ? Additionally, I noticed there’s a module on my transcript called career mgt .. I never partook in the module and so I was never assessed on it.. The university however did put it in my transcript cause that’s their policy.. but I never took the module .. so actually, do you think they’ll just conclude that I am a liar ?