Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[BM99]

Thanks for the reply @Jessica Booker. Also, I would like to ask, in terms of Linklaters, what is the benchmark for their Watson Glaser test? Also, do they look at the percentile or the score I achieved?

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Thanks for the reply @Jessica Booker. Also, I would like to ask, in terms of Linklaters, what is the benchmark for their Watson Glaser test? Also, do they look at the percentile or the score I achieved?

Thanks for the reply @Jessica Booker. Also, I would like to ask, in terms of Linklaters, what is the benchmark for their Watson Glaser test? Also, do they look at the percentile or the score I achieved?

Hey. I had taken the test recently and didn't do too well. Just wanted to let you know that, in the past, people with percentiles as low as 28 have made it to the AC and people who were well in the 90s in terms of percentile didn't get through. This is obviously not to say that a bad score is better than a good score in the WG. You should still aim for the best but just know that the CAPP test is clearly more important to the firm than the WG score.

 

[BM99]

Hey. I had taken the test recently and didn't do too well. Just wanted to let you know that, in the past, people with percentiles as low as 28 have made it to the AC and people who were well in the 90s in terms of percentile didn't get through. This is obviously not to say that a bad score is better than a good score in the WG. You should still aim for the best but just know that the CAPP test is clearly more important to the firm than the WG score.

Thanks a lot for your answer! @futuretraineesolicitor. For the capp assessment do you know what attributes do the firm most emphasise?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thanks for the reply @Jessica Booker. Also, I would like to ask, in terms of Linklaters, what is the benchmark for their Watson Glaser test? Also, do they look at the percentile or the score I achieved?

I don't know what the benchmark is - we have known people get to ACs with a percentile in the high 20s though.

It will be a percentile score that you will be assessed against though.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Thanks a lot for your answer! @futuretraineesolicitor. For the capp assessment do you know what attributes do the firm most emphasise?

I don't think it's possible for people other than the grad rec members to get hold of this information. My guess would be that, in a trainee cohort of the size that Linklaters have, they'd take a healthy mix of people with divergent working preferences. What I mean is, if they ask you to choose between working on familiar matters vs working on something new, one might be tempted to show that they like taking on unprecedented work but if everyone in the cohort likes challenging work, then they'd run out of people to complete the routine jobs. Therefore, I don't think you should worry if your weakness was working on familiar matters and not being a go-getter because even people who show that they like challenging work will have other weaknesses and they need all kinds of people in the cohort.

I read about the underbelly of the CAPP assessment on this forum and the above theory is based on that so I could totally be wrong.

 

[Lastseasonwonder]

(1) it doesn’t really matter - but I would just go with how they put their job title in emails or on the university website.

(2) you don’t need to ask for their personal address - they have a work address at the university (usually the faculty building). This again might be on their signature on their emails though. If it is not getting it addressed to the main faculty office address in their name will be the most appropriate details.

Thank you for your response.

I believe you have misunderstood my second question. By personal tutor, I meant my non-academic tutor. For my academic tutor I have put a university building for the postal address, but what for my personal tutor? I don't want to ask them where they live - that is personal. I think I might just put down an address of one of the organisations that they are heavily involved in. What do you think?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you for your response.

I believe you have misunderstood my second question. By personal tutor, I meant my non-academic tutor. For my academic tutor I have put a university building for the postal address, but what for my personal tutor? I don't want to ask them where they live - that is personal. I think I might just put down an address of one of the organisations that they are heavily involved in. What do you think?

Apologies for any confusion - "Personal tutor" is typically used by universities in a similar terminology to an academic tutor, hence why I thought you meant it was someone at the university.

If they are working as a personal (private) tutor, they will have a business address they work through, so I would use that. I would not use other organisations they are also involved in as that is not how they know you. If this is someone you only know personally, then you should use their personal/home address.

 

[BM99]

I don't think it's possible for people other than the grad rec members to get hold of this information. My guess would be that, in a trainee cohort of the size that Linklaters have, they'd take a healthy mix of people with divergent working preferences. What I mean is, if they ask you to choose between working on familiar matters vs working on something new, one might be tempted to show that they like taking on unprecedented work but if everyone in the cohort likes challenging work, then they'd run out of people to complete the routine jobs. Therefore, I don't think you should worry if your weakness was working on familiar matters and not being a go-getter because even people who show that they like challenging work will have other weaknesses and they need all kinds of people in the cohort.

I read about the underbelly of the CAPP assessment on this forum and the above theory is based on that so I could totally be wrong.

Just out of curiosity, what are your attributes listed in the report?😄

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Just out of curiosity, what are your attributes listed in the report?😄

Hey! Critical thinking and respect were my strengths and leadership preference was my weakness. What about you?

 

[BM99]

Hey! Critical thinking and respect were my strengths and leadership preference was my weakness. What about you?

Mine are quite focused on social-emotional intelligence. My strengths are resilience and motivation, and my weakness is respect.

 

[Casual]

Hello @Jessica Booker.

Would an explicit link to the firm in the work experience section of the application form make the application stronger (or is it redundant)?
For example, "I worked at X ... Learnt Y ... This will be useful at [the firm I'm applying for]"

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker.

Would an explicit link to the firm in the work experience section of the application form make the application stronger (or is it redundant)?
For example, "I worked at X ... Learnt Y ... This will be useful at [the firm I'm applying for]"

It’s really not needed unless it is explicitly asked for in the application form.

I’d rather just see what you did in more detail - eg the responsibilities you had and the impact you had in the role.

 

[djqb]

Hi @Jessica Booker

Would it be suitable to mention achievements in a 250-word application question that only asks for extracurricular activities?

There doesn't seem to be any other place in the application to mention achievements, so I'm thinking I might just try and squeeze it in there

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

Would it be suitable to mention achievements in a 250-word application question that only asks for extracurricular activities?

There doesn't seem to be any other place in the application to mention achievements, so I'm thinking I might just try and squeeze it in there

What are the achievements? (Eg academic/personal/work related).

 

[djqb]

What are the achievements? (Eg academic/personal/work related).

Mostly high performance in commercial awareness competitions - so I guess more professionally oriented?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Mostly high performance in commercial awareness competitions - so I guess more professionally oriented?

The competitions would be extra curriculars anyway, so can be included.

 

[djqb]

The competitions would be extra curriculars anyway, so can be included.

Thanks Jessica

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hi @Jessica Booker , hope you are doing well. Could you please tell me, where can we read about the latest awards that a firm has won with respect to practice area strengths and other initiatives also? Is there a website that consolidates a firm's achievements?

Thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker , hope you are doing well. Could you please tell me, where can we read about the latest awards that a firm has won with respect to practice area strengths and other initiatives also? Is there a website that consolidates a firm's achievements?

Thanks.

The best place will be the firm’s website. There won’t be a place that collects all of this information unfortunately. The only other place is to look at the individual company’s that run the awards programmes, as that will list all winner and nominees but only for that particular set of awards.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

The best place will be the firm’s website. There won’t be a place that collects all of this information unfortunately. The only other place is to look at the individual company’s that run the awards programmes, as that will list all winner and nominees but only for that particular set of awards.

Thank you. Just a follow-up question please, what should we do if the firm hasn't won any award recently but is still market-leading in that particular practice area? Is it okay to reference an award from 2017/18 or should we not talk awards if the firm hasn't won anything recently and simply say "as evidence from its Band-1 rating by Chambers and Partners"

Thanks.