Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,
A firm that I’m really interested in is having a Brexit event/talk. I’d really like to go but the website says “This event is suitable for anyone in the business community who wants to understand the landscape of Brexit“. Not sure the etiquette is for this, does this mean students can attend?

As Daniel has suggested, there is no harm in asking whether you could attend.

One Trainee (now associate) I recruited at FBD did exactly this on a subject matter they were interested in. Led to them getting work experience and then a TC (and then a NQ role).

The worst that can happen is say you can’t attend as it is for clients/prospective clients.

 

[E.TX]

Hi Jessica!

I'm working on an application currently, and one of the questions is "why are you applying for vacation scheme at xxx firm (150 words)"?

Is this answer structure correct:
1. I want to train as a solicitor at the firm/be a trainee at their firm
2. Why I want to train as a solicitor (with reference to the specifics of training program)
3. Why that firm

I'm worried that this structure isn't answering the question accurately, as the questions states 'vacation scheme' and not 'training contract'.

If I were to modify the questions to fit vacation scheme, would this structure be better?

1. Why vacation scheme: gain experience and insight into the firm's culture (possibly risk being generic?)
2. Why that firm (explaining more so on the firm's business model and sector expertise, rather their training contract program)

Thanks, looking forward to your reply

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica!

I'm working on an application currently, and one of the questions is "why are you applying for vacation scheme at xxx firm (150 words)"?

Is this answer structure correct:
1. I want to train as a solicitor at the firm/be a trainee at their firm
2. Why I want to train as a solicitor (with reference to the specifics of training program)
3. Why that firm

I'm worried that this structure isn't answering the question accurately, as the questions states 'vacation scheme' and not 'training contract'.

If I were to modify the questions to fit vacation scheme, would this structure be better?

1. Why vacation scheme: gain experience and insight into the firm's culture (possibly risk being generic?)
2. Why that firm (explaining more so on the firm's business model and sector expertise, rather their training contract program)

Thanks, looking forward to your reply

there is no right or wrong structure here, you could reverse that order of your first suggestion and it would still work. You could take either approaches you have suggested and it could work.

However 1 will be obvious if you state 2 and or 3 so wouldn’t be necessary.

the key things here is your reasons for applying. Focus on YOUR motivations - it doesn’t really matter what is driving them (as long as it isn’t money). If that’s because you are sure you want to training contract with them, state that - they will be fully aware a VS has a good chance of leading to a TC

 

[Kathryn]

personally, I’d try and stick to the categories - there is a reason they have limited it in the way they have. Don’t try and force information in sections - it won’t be viewed well.

voluntary work isn’t really “unpaid internships”. But if you are going to put them in this section make it very clear that they were unpaid, as it is a slight grey area.

Thanks very much for your help!

 

[Mohammed]

Hi Jessica,

I received an invite for an AC with CMS that says they recruit on a first-come, first-served basis within there assessment centre invite. So I was wondering does it make much difference if I choose the later date? For example, I'm most likely going to choose the 22nd January, but there are earlier dates next week on the 15th and 16th available.

Thanks!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

I received an invite for an AC with CMS that says they recruit on a first-come, first-served basis within there assessment centre invite. So I was wondering does it make much difference if I choose the later date? For example, I'm most likely going to choose the 22nd January, but there are earlier dates next week on the 15th and 16th available.

Thanks!

What’s the last date available?

 

[Mohammed]

What’s the last date available?

Yesterday, the last day available was 21st, but it has now changed to the 22nd since the slots were taken.

 

[E.TX]

there is no right or wrong structure here, you could reverse that order of your first suggestion and it would still work. You could take either approaches you have suggested and it could work.

However 1 will be obvious if you state 2 and or 3 so wouldn’t be necessary.

the key things here is your reasons for applying. Focus on YOUR motivations - it doesn’t really matter what is driving them (as long as it isn’t money). If that’s because you are sure you want to training contract with them, state that - they will be fully aware a VS has a good chance of leading to a TC

Thank you very much for your advice!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Yesterday, the last day available was 21st, but it has now changed to the 22nd since the slots were taken.

sounds like you haven’t got too much choice. I’d just book in and not worry about it.

don’t choose a bad date for you just for fear of places filling. It really isn’t worth the risk if you are not fully mentally focused on the AC.

 

[Castelli99]

sounds like you haven’t got too much choice. I’d just book in and not worry about it.

don’t choose a bad date for you just for fear of places filling. It really isn’t worth the risk if you are not fully mentally focused on the AC.

Is it actually quite a reasonable factor which date your AC is on? I.e. is there a noticeable difference if on the first few?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Is it actually quite a reasonable factor which date your AC is on? I.e. is there a noticeable difference if on the first few?

no. This is going to sound blunt, but if you don’t meet the requirement you won’t get an offer, if you’re borderline you will be put on hold, and if you’re strong enough you’re likely to get an offer. Standards are not different - it would just be exceptionally bad luck for you if all the roles were filled by extremely good candidates very early on in the process.

Generally recruitment is fairly predictable - you know roughly how many interviews you need to do to fill a programme, you know roughly what your decline/withdraw rate will be. It means that employers don’t plan to over offer interview slots. If anything they probably slightly under offer, knowing that it isn’t awful if they slightly under hire.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Note to self - don’t post when tired! This week my working hours have been a little crazy, and until I edited the above post, I had put:

Your (incorrectly)
You’re
and
You are

All in the same post. It’s this kind of crazy consistency with formatting that can be picked up in applications, so don’t follow my lead

 

[DavidJC]

Hi Jessica, should I write about the VS or training in a cover letter for a firm that recruits through VS? I noticed that you previously responded to a similar question about discussing the training anyway because they would know it leads to a TC but I wanted to get your opinion as the firm doesn't specify what should be included in the cover letter. (I'm going with the why commercial law, why me, why this firm strategy)

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, should I write about the VS or training in a cover letter for a firm that recruits through VS? I noticed that you previously responded to a similar question about discussing the training anyway because they would know it leads to a TC but I wanted to get your opinion as the firm doesn't specify what should be included in the cover letter. (I'm going with the why commercial law, why me, why this firm strategy)

I don’t think it is any different - either way could work.

 

[KatieCCM]

Hi Jessica. With regard to case studies in assessment centres, would you be able to give any tips (if any) on how you'd recommend preparing? I know its hard to prepare for these exercises but would like to do the most that I can before my AC.

Also, from previous feedback, I understand that something that I need to work on for case studies is being more methodical with my analysis and having a good structure - would you mind expanding on this and how to improve in this area?

 

[Osh]

Covington and Burling's cover letter ask that, 'you should also use the covering letter as an opportunity to include any additional information that you feel is relevant to your application but is not covered in the rest of the form.'
The application form has quite a lot of questions and I feel I have covered most of my points that I would include in the 'why me' section of a covering letter by answering these. Do you think they expect you to include any additional information or are happy for people to ignore this part of the cover letter

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica. With regard to case studies in assessment centres, would you be able to give any tips (if any) on how you'd recommend preparing? I know its hard to prepare for these exercises but would like to do the most that I can before my AC.

Also, from previous feedback, I understand that something that I need to work on for case studies is being more methodical with my analysis and having a good structure - would you mind expanding on this and how to improve in this area?

unfortunately there isn’t really any advice I can give you about preparing before the AC - case studies can be a pretty broad spectrum, so it’s not like I can advise to brush up on certain terminology or commercial awareness.

the key things is using your preparation time on the day well. Again, it’s tricky to explain how to do this without knowing more about the individual context of the case study you will get.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Covington and Burling's cover letter ask that, 'you should also use the covering letter as an opportunity to include any additional information that you feel is relevant to your application but is not covered in the rest of the form.'
The application form has quite a lot of questions and I feel I have covered most of my points that I would include in the 'why me' section of a covering letter by answering these. Do you think they expect you to include any additional information or are happy for people to ignore this part of the cover letter

You can ignore it - it’s not to put more information in that could be put in other sections, it is for any information that is relevant but you haven’t had the opportunity to present (such as):

extenuating circumstances
Clarity on academic grading systems
Explaining things like significant gaps in CV
Any particular hardships that may not come up on ext circs - (eg going to a very poor performing state school but being able to say things like average grades for my school were CCC but I got AAA and was the top performing student).

 

[Jessica Booker]

REQUEST:

I am getting a lot of questions via PM that are generally the type of things that everyone would benefit from hearing about.

Unless your question is reliant on personal information or are sensitive (eg you need to explain some personal circumstances to me), please could I ask that you post on here or tag me in other forums if you would like me to respond.

 

[Osh]

You can ignore it - it’s not to put more information in that could be put in other sections, it is for any information that is relevant but you haven’t had the opportunity to present (such as):

extenuating circumstances
Clarity on academic grading systems
Explaining things like significant gaps in CV
Any particular hardships that may not come up on ext circs - (eg going to a very poor performing state school but being able to say things like average grades for my school were CCC but I got AAA and was the top performing student).

Ahh okay, thank you very much