Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[futuretraineesolicitor]

1) You can add your qualifications/grades and then in brackets put “GCSE equivalent” or “A-level equivalent”

2) There isn’t really isn’t an answer to this. Different people will allocate a number of words differently and still be successful. As you have suggested you might want to amalgamate the skills and achievements anyway too.

3) You need to think about this and present some form of answer that is relevant to you. You may want to explain that due to financial constraints compounded by relocating to the U.K. your decision to take a course would be determined by sponsorship provided by the firm but that as you have said you would look to complete the course as soon as possible upon receiving financial support/sponsorship from the firm you train with.

Thank you so much, Jessica.

 

[Law1099]

Hi Jessica

although I completely understand it is firm dependent, I wondered if you could offer more information on what work we would expect to do on the vacation scheme. I currently am a paralegal and I do a lot of the same work as trainees- is this the kind of thing we would be asked to do? Or are they more ‘made up’ by graduate recruitment so that they can be assessed.

beyond preparing for the final interview and researching the practice area where we are sat, I am at a bit of a loss of how to prepare for the day to day work on a VS
Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica

although I completely understand it is firm dependent, I wondered if you could offer more information on what work we would expect to do on the vacation scheme. I currently am a paralegal and I do a lot of the same work as trainees- is this the kind of thing we would be asked to do? Or are they more ‘made up’ by graduate recruitment so that they can be assessed.

beyond preparing for the final interview and researching the practice area where we are sat, I am at a bit of a loss of how to prepare for the day to day work on a VS
Thank you!

I don't think you can prepare for day-to-day work in all honesty, beyond researching the practice area anyway. That is even more so the case if you are already working in a law firm and are more accustomed to the workings of a law firm.

It is really difficult to know what work you will be given. With some firms/individual departments, you might be given more simulation type work. In other instances, you might be given a task that was previously done by someone else and be asked to do it in a "safe" manner as the work isn't actually being completed for a client (where it has already been done) but gives you the experience of having to deliver real work.

For many firms though, you will be given actual/live work that a trainee would do, so if you are used to these levels of responsibility already, it may not be anything that surprising for you.

 

[Lisa Lowe]

Hey - does anyone know if the recording is available from the live with Laura Brunnen?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hey - does anyone know if the recording is available from the live with Laura Brunnen?

I know we have been working on it - I’ll check in with Jaysen to see where it is up to.

 

[Law1099]

I don't think you can prepare for day-to-day work in all honesty, beyond researching the practice area anyway. That is even more so the case if you are already working in a law firm and are more accustomed to the workings of a law firm.

It is really difficult to know what work you will be given. With some firms/individual departments, you might be given more simulation type work. In other instances, you might be given a task that was previously done by someone else and be asked to do it in a "safe" manner as the work isn't actually being completed for a client (where it has already been done) but gives you the experience of having to deliver real work.

For many firms though, you will be given actual/live work that a trainee would do, so if you are used to these levels of responsibility already, it may not be anything that surprising for you.

Thank you so much Jessica!

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello, @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. Could you please tell me, for the question " Please use this section to tell us about yourself, your skills, achievements and why you want to train as a solicitor and work at Ashurst. (750 words max) *", what are they looking for when they say "tell us about yourself" - should we include why law, why commercial law or both or neither?

Thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello, @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. Could you please tell me, for the question " Please use this section to tell us about yourself, your skills, achievements and why you want to train as a solicitor and work at Ashurst. (750 words max) *", what are they looking for when they say "tell us about yourself" - should we include why law, why commercial law or both or neither?

Thanks.

As it says “and why you want to train as a solicitor” I would expect why law/why commercial law to be covered in some aspects.

The “tell us more about yourself” is just an introduction to the question. Think of this like Freshfields’ personal statement when you have a similar word count to cover everything outside of your work experience.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

As it says “and why you want to train as a solicitor” I would expect why law/why commercial law to be covered in some aspects.

The “tell us more about yourself” is just an introduction to the question. Think of this like Freshfields’ personal statement when you have a similar word count to cover everything outside of your work experience.

Thank you so much. Just one follow-up question, do we need to address this to any specific person like we are required to do in Freshfields' case? The application is silent on this.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you so much. Just one follow-up question, do we need to address this to any specific person like we are required to do in Freshfields' case? The application is silent on this.

You don’t have to address the Freshfields statement to anyone as far as I am aware, but there is no need to address it to anyone as it isn't a cover letter.

 

[lawnoob]

Hi Jessica! When applications ask you to disclose whether you've applied to this firm before, does this mean they look at your previous applications as well? Sometimes I just simply cannot remember if I have- if I say no and they see that I have, would it seem like I'm being dishonest?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica! When applications ask you to disclose whether you've applied to this firm before, does this mean they look at your previous applications as well? Sometimes I just simply cannot remember if I have- if I say no and they see that I have, would it seem like I'm being dishonest?

Yes, they technically could check. It really depends what their data retention policy is though. With GDPR, many employers will wipe all data after 12-24 months and so they may not be able to actually see the information (which is why they might be asking the question).

You'll typically find that if you have applied before and your data is still retained that you'd be unable to re-register with your same email address (which might give you an indication if you have applied before or not).

 

[Casual]

Hello @Jessica Booker !

I am going through a Vero background check soon for the upcoming vac scheme but can't seem to find my A-level certificates.
However, I do still have the emails from the school principal that includes transcript scan copies - would that be sufficient to pass the check or should I call the exam board and recover the physical transcripts?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker !

I am going through a Vero background check soon for the upcoming vac scheme but can't seem to find my A-level certificates.
However, I do still have the emails from the school principal that includes transcript scan copies - would that be sufficient to pass the check or should I call the exam board and recover the physical transcripts?

I would ask Vero as they will be able to confirm what they need or not, and what is sufficient from this particularly firm’s perspective. I suspect the scanned copies will be sufficient if they are on school recognised papers, but really only Vero can confirm this. It may be the case they don’t even need any proof of your A-level grades though.

 

[Lawbour]

Hi Jessica,

If a partner says you can email them about your upcoming VS, is it ok to send an email to their work email address? I forgot to ask them for their email but have found their work one online

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

If a partner says you can email them about your upcoming VS, is it ok to send an email to their work email address? I forgot to ask them for their email but have found their work one online

Yes, if they said you could, this is not a problem.

 

[Lawbour]

Hi Jessica, do you know how long it can take for grad rec to send through paperwork after giving you a verbal offer?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, do you know how long it can take for grad rec to send through paperwork after giving you a verbal offer?

Can be a couple of weeks. Is your job offer due to start soon or do you need to sign up to the LPC/SQE soon?

 

[Lawbour]

Can be a couple of weeks. Is your job offer due to start soon or do you need to sign up to the LPC/SQE soon?

Nope haha it's just a VS... I think I'm probably being too impatient but one day feels like a week ngl 😅

 

[Jessica Booker]

Nope haha it's just a VS... I think I'm probably being too impatient but one day feels like a week ngl 😅

Unless the VS is in the next week or so, I’d try to be patient. If you haven’t received it two weeks after your verbal offer, drop them a quick email just asking when you’d should expect to receive it.