Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

[Jessica Booker]

Would you recommend disclosing that you have received a TC offer on your CV when applying elsewhere?

I have received a offer but have until sept to accept. I want to apply elsewhere to see if I could have options not sure if I disclosing my TC offer would make me more appealing as an applicant or the opposite.

if you have until September, this isn’t an issue to declare it unless the firm is very different to the one you are applying to.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker ,

As part of my upcoming vac scheme I've been asked to write a mini bio about myself that will be circulated around. I'm not quite sure what this should include.
Any advice would be amazing on what sort of content I should include!

Thank you!

Don’t over think this - it’s not that important.

first of all understand what other information will be presented alongside the bio (eg will they list your degree subject or the like). Then focus on the interesting things about you - your bio is more of a conversation starter than anything else.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. My question is related to commercial awareness- how should we go ahead with it - will anybody ask us to recite a piece from January of the say 2021 if our VS is in 2021 May. There is only one goal to look forward to achieving while going through financial and commercial news: To develop a mind set which immediately makes us think about how will it impact different people - What's in it for firms and hopefully this will prepare us for the case studies at the AC,right?
I mean will the firm, under any circumstance give us an objective test asking us the biggest merger in January 2021 etc etc?

 

[NCLaw]

Hi @Jessica Booker

Thank you for your response to my previous question

On a question about my biggest personal achievement and why this stands out, how important is it to relate the experience back to why it means you'd be successful at the particular firm you're applying to? As well as obviously describing why this was an achievement for me personally, is there anything else important that recruiters want to see in this answer?

Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello @Jessica Booker hope you are doing well. My question is related to commercial awareness- how should we go ahead with it - will anybody ask us to recite a piece from January of the say 2021 if our VS is in 2021 May. There is only one goal to look forward to achieving while going through financial and commercial news: To develop a mind set which immediately makes us think about how will it impact different people - What's in it for firms and hopefully this will prepare us for the case studies at the AC,right?
I mean will the firm, under any circumstance give us an objective test asking us the biggest merger in January 2021 etc etc?

you’re never going to be asked to recite something.

You aren’t going to be asked factual questions like what was the biggest merger. If the odd chance you were, it’s not about knowing the correct answer, it’s more about whether you can think about deals that may have happened and why they might be the biggest (how do you define biggest for example could be up for debate).

commercial awareness is about the following:

1. Analytical skills
2. Interest in commercial matters
3. Knowledge of commercial matters

Everyone focuses on the last point but it’s actually the least relevant. The most important parts are 1 and 2 as this will continue your ability to learn over your career (which is important).

knowing the biggest merger in 2020 is likely to become irrelevant by 2022/23 when you start a training contract, and even more so by 2024/25 when you qualify.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker

Thank you for your response to my previous question

On a question about my biggest personal achievement and why this stands out, how important is it to relate the experience back to why it means you'd be successful at the particular firm you're applying to? As well as obviously describing why this was an achievement for me personally, is there anything else important that recruiters want to see in this answer?

Thank you!

unless the firm is explicitly telling you to do this, there is no need to do this at all.

it is a simple as what the question is asking you - don’t try to force other answers in to questions that don’t exist.

they just want to see some individuality/character with this answer. They want to see what stands out about you and what you are proud of achieving. It isn’t like they are sat there going “this individual must tick this box with this answer”

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Thank you for your detailed reply ma'am, never been so clear.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

How does one fool proof their inclination towards a practise area? As in, the reason why I started enjoy Venture Capital work was because of a TV Series known as 'Shark Tank' and what I really loved about it was that these small startups were pitching their ideas to investors- some of them were also in talks with big giants like Amazon and Google for being acquired- it just fascinated me that despite being a few years old- there is no limit to how big an entrepreneur can go. So what I really enjoyed was reading about small companies and ventures- their unique business models- new ideas- and how disruptive they could prove to be over a span of few years.
But then the same work could also be taken by the team which helps in making these companies go public (IPO) , or filing of a patent for them.
So if the Grad Rec was to ask me why only VC why not other areas- I wouldn't really be able to tell.
Anybody can help with this? @Alice G

 

[Jessica Booker]

How does one fool proof their inclination towards a practise area? As in, the reason why I started enjoy Venture Capital work was because of a TV Series known as 'Shark Tank' and what I really loved about it was that these small startups were pitching their ideas to investors- some of them were also in talks with big giants like Amazon and Google for being acquired- it just fascinated me that despite being a few years old- there is no limit to how big an entrepreneur can go. So what I really enjoyed was reading about small companies and ventures- their unique business models- new ideas- and how disruptive they could prove to be over a span of few years.
But then the same work could also be taken by the team which helps in making these companies go public (IPO) , or filing of a patent for them.
So if the Grad Rec was to ask me why only VC why not other areas- I wouldn't really be able to tell.
Anybody can help with this? @Alice G

I think you need to first answer why law. An interest in VC does not in anyway explain why law and could question why not going into some form of investment company instead.

Unless it is an exceptionally niche firm, they don’t really care whether you are interested in VC or not. They care about why you are interested in doing the day job as a solicitor/lawyer (rather than an investor/consultant, which from what you have said above suggests where your interest could be).

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Ok Ma'am thank you.

 

[Alice G]

How does one fool proof their inclination towards a practise area? As in, the reason why I started enjoy Venture Capital work was because of a TV Series known as 'Shark Tank' and what I really loved about it was that these small startups were pitching their ideas to investors- some of them were also in talks with big giants like Amazon and Google for being acquired- it just fascinated me that despite being a few years old- there is no limit to how big an entrepreneur can go. So what I really enjoyed was reading about small companies and ventures- their unique business models- new ideas- and how disruptive they could prove to be over a span of few years.
But then the same work could also be taken by the team which helps in making these companies go public (IPO) , or filing of a patent for them.
So if the Grad Rec was to ask me why only VC why not other areas- I wouldn't really be able to tell.
Anybody can help with this? @Alice G

I think you could discuss entrepreneurship more generally in stating why you wish to go into commercial law over say family or criminal, but I would try to phrase this so it is stronger and less focused on VCs as city law firms do not tend to do venture capital or start-ups, other than in pro bono work perhaps.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

Hey Alice, thanks for your inputs but I was looking at firms like Bird& Bird, Taylor Wessing which are leaders in VC, so I thought they would like to hear more about an applicant's interest in their main area?

 

[Alice G]

Hey Alice, thanks for your inputs but I was looking at firms like Bird& Bird, Taylor Wessing which are leaders in VC, so I thought they would like to hear more about an applicant's interest in their main area?

Apologies if I overly generalised there, I’m not familiar with the firms with this specialism but if these firms you reference are strong in this space then of course mention it

 

[NCLaw]

Hiya! @Jessica Booker @Alice G @Jaysen

If an application question asks what attracts me to the "profile" of the firm's client base, what aspects of the client base exactly is it asking me to talk about?

I am slightly unsure as to how much detail I should go into about their clients. Is saying that I am attracted to its focus on high net worth, commercial, international clients enough (obviously supported by examples of why)? Or do you think I could go further than that into specific clients?

Sorry in advance if this is unclear!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hiya! @Jessica Booker @Alice G @Jaysen

If an application question asks what attracts me to the "profile" of the firm's client base, what aspects of the client base exactly is it asking me to talk about?

I am slightly unsure as to how much detail I should go into about their clients. Is saying that I am attracted to its focus on high net worth, commercial, international clients enough(obviously supported by examples of why)? Or do you think I could go further than that into specific clients?

Sorry in advance if this is unclear!

Depends on what you find attractive - thats what they are asking you to talk about...

Some people it will be the scale/size of the clients
Some people it will be the complexity of the work the client brings
Some people it will be the type of industry/industries the clients come from
Some people it will be the type of work the clients bring in

It is fine to say "high net worth, commercial, international clients" but you need rationale as to why these are important to you. It doesn't necessarily need specific examples/clients, but you do need to answer the "why?" or "so what?" question that comes up if you say a headline like this.

 

[NCLaw]

Depends on what you find attractive - thats what they are asking you to talk about...

Some people it will be the scale/size of the clients
Some people it will be the complexity of the work the client brings
Some people it will be the type of industry/industries the clients come from
Some people it will be the type of work the clients bring in

It is fine to say "high net worth, commercial, international clients" but you need rationale as to why these are important to you. It doesn't necessarily need specific examples/clients, but you do need to answer the "why?" or "so what?" question that comes up if you say a headline like this.

Thank you @Jessica Booker ! On this question as well, I want to say why the firm's mix of domestic and international clients attract me. I have got some reasons which are valid to me but is it important to say why the firm's particular international client base attracts me? As we are aware, many many London firms now operate internationally so should I put emphasis on why the firm's particular international clients interest me?

 

[Alice G]

Thank you @Jessica Booker ! On this question as well, I want to say why the firm's mix of domestic and international clients attract me. I have got some reasons which are valid to me but is it important to say why the firm's particular international client base attracts me? As we are aware, many many London firms now operate internationally so should I put emphasis on why the firm's particular international clients interest me?

I would advise you to tailor this as much to the firm and to yourself as best as you can. You're right that an international presence is not unique, but you can still make your answer so by being very specific in what you write and tying this back to why this matters to you as an individual.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you @Jessica Booker ! On this question as well, I want to say why the firm's mix of domestic and international clients attract me. I have got some reasons which are valid to me but is it important to say why the firm's particular international client base attracts me? As we are aware, many many London firms now operate internationally so should I put emphasis on why the firm's particular international clients interest me?

yes - just saying working on international matters is not enough. Firstly, why is international work important to you (and think about the practicalities of the day job not cliched statements), and then you also need to explain why is international at Firm X is important. There will be hundreds of firms out there doing international work, so you need to be more explicit about the international work at that firm, otherwise you are not answering the question.

 

[futuretraineesolicitor]

What does the term 'Work Life balance' really mean? I was looking at Legal Cheek's grades on work life balance of 2 firms, one was given the grade 'D' and one was given 'A' yet the difference in their leave time for the day was just 1 hour. Can @Jessica Booker explain please? I mean even the firm which has the grade 'D' might give lunch breaks to employees and even the firm which has 'A' grade might not give a 15 minute break every one hour? Both firms had 25 days annual holiday. And it can't be the occasional all nighter that might have affected the grade at the big firm?

 

[Jessica Booker]

What does the term 'Work Life balance' really mean? I was looking at Legal Cheek's grades on work life balance of 2 firms, one was given the grade 'D' and one was given 'A' yet the difference in their leave time for the day was just 1 hour. Can @Jessica Booker explain please? I mean even the firm which has the grade 'D' might give lunch breaks to employees and even the firm which has 'A' grade might not give a 15 minute break every one hour? Both firms had 25 days annual holiday. And it can't be the occasional all nighter that might have affected the grade at the big firm?

work life balance can mean a whole range of things in practical terms, but ultimately it will be whether you feel you have the right balance between work and home life.

a measure like Legal Cheeks will be pretty crude. For instance one firm may have recruited people who have a lower standard of what Work life balance is compared to the next. Their survey results could lead to a grade of A purely because they think they have an ok work life balance where their expectations are lower than the people who work at other firms.

In the U.K. everyone is entitled to lunch breaks and a minimum of 20 days holiday, so things like that hardly affect work life balance views.

It won’t just be about the amount of hours you put in. It will be the way in which you work those hours, the flexibility in those hours, working from home, whether you log in from home a lot, whether you are expected to check emails over the weekend, how hard you work, how stressful the work environment is, social activities in the work place, benefits you get that make your job or life easier.