Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[SLKEJRWOI97]

Hi Jessica,

Do you have any advice on how to present education (pre-uni) on a CV (legal/graduate)?

Thanks!

 

[Jooooopp7]

Hey Jess, Was wondering what your stance and other firms views are on this.
I have an upcoming TC interview and obviously would like to gain a TC offer from this but have also secured a vac scheme for the summer. Since I am in my final year of non-law i assume that the window for acceptance of a TC offer will be relatively short - around a month? but am worried that I may have to give an answer before the summer VS, but would really rather give the Vac scheme a chance and hopefully get a TC from that as well before making any final decisions.
Is it really bad to accept one TC to then withdraw from it later in the year in favour of another one? Many thanks for your help!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hey Jess, Was wondering what your stance and other firms views are on this.
I have an upcoming TC interview and obviously would like to gain a TC offer from this but have also secured a vac scheme for the summer. Since I am in my final year of non-law i assume that the window for acceptance of a TC offer will be relatively short - around a month? but am worried that I may have to give an answer before the summer VS, but would really rather give the Vac scheme a chance and hopefully get a TC from that as well before making any final decisions.
Is it really bad to accept one TC to then withdraw from it later in the year in favour of another one? Many thanks for your help!

Posted about this before. Unfortunately no one size fits all approach to this - different firms will operate different policies/approaches about the timeframes you could be given. Some will give you a lot less than a month to consider the offer.

However, you approach should be as follows:

1) Ask for an extension of the offer - particularly given current circumstances, I expect firms may be more flexible this year
2) If they say no, make a decision to either:

1) accept and withdraw from your vac scheme
2) accept and continue with your vac scheme (check your T&Cs of both offers though to ensure this is ok)
3) decline the offer and continue with your vac scheme
​

Law firms will hate me saying this, but there is very little stopping you from accepting a job and then reneging at a later stage. Just don't do it if you have received financial support from the firm. At worst the risk is that you won't be able to apply to them again in the near future (e.g. upon qualification) but even then that risk is actually pretty low.

Reneging isn't great - but plenty of graduates do it each year. Plenty of people in other forms of jobs do it. Just one of the negative things of recruitment.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

Do you have any advice on how to present education (pre-uni) on a CV (legal/graduate)?

Thanks!

Always backdate the entries - most recent qualifications first.

Depends on what you are applying to and also what you want to highlight. Both of these things will influence the structure of your education section (so difficult to give advice on this).

Basic entry would be something like the following (literally my entry on my CV below):

EDUCATION

BA Hons – Economics and Social Studies, 1st class honours: The University of Manchester – September 2001 - June 2004

4 A-levels, 10 GCSEs: The Ashcombe School, Dorking, Surrey – September 1994 - June 2000


But you would consider including the following depending what you are applying to and what other information you have had to apply in other parts of the application:

• A-level grades (if the job you are applying to has an A-level/UCAS requirement)
• University module results (divided into years) or average year results
• Highlighting key degree modules relevant to the job you are applying to or that are of particular interest
• Highlighting GCSE maths and English grades if necessary

 

[Jessica Booker]

Been thinking about the live event thing a little more....

Wondered if anyone would be brave enough to submit some answer to application questions and for me to show how they would be viewed by a recruiter? Literally could do a live screen share, while I mark up the application.

Answers would be anonymous but just thought this might be a bit different and useful (as I am aware there are a lot of other live chat events going on at the moment!)

 

[S87]

Been thinking about the live event thing a little more....

Wondered if anyone would be brave enough to submit some answer to application questions and for me to show how they would be viewed by a recruiter? Literally could do a live screen share, while I mark up the application.

Answers would be anonymous but just thought this might be a bit different and useful (as I am aware there are a lot of other live chat events going on at the moment!)

I can send you a couple of apps if you want to.PM me

 

[Zoo]

Been thinking about the live event thing a little more....

Wondered if anyone would be brave enough to submit some answer to application questions and for me to show how they would be viewed by a recruiter? Literally could do a live screen share, while I mark up the application.

Answers would be anonymous but just thought this might be a bit different and useful (as I am aware there are a lot of other live chat events going on at the moment!)

This sounds great! I'm happy to send over some applications- I can send a mixture of successful and unsuccessful ones if that's helpful

 

[Juls]

Hi Jessica,

Following the dual-LLB and Master 1 in English Law and French Law between King's College London and Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne University in France, I will be undertaking an LLM, because I want to continue studying law, and develop an expertise in arbitration, and because where I'm from, master's study is expected and normalised. I have offers at UChicago, NYU, Cornell, and Georgetown in the US and UCL in the UK and am having a hard time deciding which country I want to continue studying in. On the one hand, while the US is expensive it would be an enriching experience and I can take the NY bar, on the other hand, the UK is ultimately where I want to work.

I know the LLM is less important than my LLB, but does it make a difference to firms where I do my LLM? Will they appreciate the experience of having studied in the US and the skills studying a different legal system can teach you, or will it make no difference to them because it is irrelevant to the work they do under English law?

Thanks so much in advance!
Julie

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

Following the dual-LLB and Master 1 in English Law and French Law between King's College London and Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne University in France, I will be undertaking an LLM, because I want to continue studying law, and develop an expertise in arbitration, and because where I'm from, master's study is expected and normalised. I have offers at UChicago, NYU, Cornell, and Georgetown in the US and UCL in the UK and am having a hard time deciding which country I want to continue studying in. On the one hand, while the US is expensive it would be an enriching experience and I can take the NY bar, on the other hand, the UK is ultimately where I want to work.

I know the LLM is less important than my LLB, but does it make a difference to firms where I do my LLM? Will they appreciate the experience of having studied in the US and the skills studying a different legal system can teach you, or will it make no difference to them because it is irrelevant to the work they do under English law?

Thanks so much in advance!
Julie

makes no difference whatsoever for a training contract.

I suspect if you want to work in the US at any point in your career a US education may be more beneficial (but even then, they are more used to seeing a JD rather than a LLM). But plenty of trainees/associates work in the US with just an undergrad degree, let alone a specific LLM.

 

[Changes]

Hi Jess,

I have some mitigating circumstances that impacted my first and part of second year grades. But overall still got a 2.1 because first year didn’t count (averaged 65 due to doing well in 3rd year which counted for 2/3s of my grade).

A TC application asks about extenuating circumstances that prevented me from meeting their minimum requirements. As I meet their minimum requirements I assume I shouldn’t write about these? My first year average was 59 if that helps.

Thanks.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jess,

I have some mitigating circumstances that impacted my first and part of second year grades. But overall still got a 2.1 because first year didn’t count (averaged 65 due to doing well in 3rd year which counted for 2/3s of my grade).

A TC application asks about extenuating circumstances that prevented me from meeting their minimum requirements. As I meet their minimum requirements I assume I shouldn’t write about these? My first year average was 59 if that helps.

Thanks.

you will still need to provide your first year grades on your application. Firms will care about them even though they didn’t count towards your degree, so I would include the ex circs in the appropriate place as you didn’t achieve a 2.1 in your first year

 

[MM]

Hi Jessica, for Baker McKenzie's cover letter, I was wondering should I put my name at the bottom - they don't mention anything about this but I know they operate on a name-blind basis so should I just assume this is what they want? Thanks!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, for Baker McKenzie's cover letter, I was wondering should I put my name at the bottom - they don't mention anything about this but I know they operate on a name-blind basis so should I just assume this is what they want? Thanks!

Hard for me to answer this.

it may be the case that only part of the process is name blind (eg at screening or at interview) and therefore including your name is probably still required (if it is an uploaded document rather than a free text box)

I would contact the Grad Rec team at The firm and ask them for clarity.

 

[MM]

Hard for me to answer this.

it may be the case that only part of the process is name blind (eg at screening or at interview) and therefore including your name is probably still required (if it is an uploaded document rather than a free text box)

I would contact the Grad Rec team at The firm and ask them for clarity.

thanks for your replying, ive tried calling and emailing but have received no reply. It is a free text box, so do you think I should omit it?

 

[Jessica Booker]

thanks for your replying, ive tried calling and emailing but have received no reply. It is a free text box, so do you think I should omit it?

I can’t give you a definite answer on this.

might be worthwhile posting in the general application threads to see if anyone can advise on this.

 

[R203]

Hi Jessica, I am a second-year penultimate LLB student. Can I apply for a direct-TC? Or must I wait for when I have done my penultimate year examinations with results to submit? (by then the deadline for direct-TC apps would have passed)

Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica, I am a second-year penultimate LLB student. Can I apply for a direct-TC? Or must I wait for when I have done my penultimate year examinations with results to submit? (by then the deadline for direct-TC apps would have passed)

Thank you!

You can apply - you are usually asked to provide your updated results part way through the recruitment process anyway

 

[Daniel Boden]

thanks for your replying, ive tried calling and emailing but have received no reply. It is a free text box, so do you think I should omit it?

In a cover letter I always end with 'yours sincerely, my name' as if I was sending it to the person via email or by post and I did the same in my BM app if that helps!

 

[Alice G]

In a cover letter I always end with 'yours sincerely, my name' as if I was sending it to the person via email or by post and I did the same in my BM app if that helps!

I would agree with @Daniel Boden on this. Unless they very clearly on the app form state that they are name blind, I would always ensure to sign off properly with ‘Yours sincerely,’ (if I have addressed the letter to a person by name) and my name beneath, as not doing so could be a mark against you if that is the expectation. I personally just feel it is the safer option to do this because a cover letter is meant to be a formal letter style. I would like to think that if they would prefer you not to, it would be stated very clearly. I appreciate you already tried to contact HR as that too would’ve been my approach to get clarity but given the situation, I think it would be best to play it safe and stick to convention.

best of luck with your app!

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hi Jessica, I wanted to ask you that, as an Indian student, is there anything else other than a visa that is different to the normal route that the native students take, I mean , any other potential roadblock that I may have to prepare for other than preparing for the Vac scheme and TC applications? Also, should I even worry about the Visa, I mean if I make it to the Vac scheme, then definitely visa shouldn't be a problem? @Jessica Booker